Photo taken by a woman in her 40’s living in a large east coast city. She a clinical psychologist and photographer who also suffers from mental health issues including Bipolar disorder and ADD.
About this photo: “The model in this photo is a fashion-forward friend I met out and about shooting. I love the contrast between “Je m’aime” (I love myself in French) and the scraggly nails. I relate to this photo as a person who struggles with the strains and contrasts brought on by Bipolar disorder and ADD. I also treat patients who struggle with these and related issues as well. In my photography, I seem to be drawn to subjects who struggle with mental illness or “differentness”….they color my world.
I have a message to Broken Light friends: LOVE YOURSELF: Get good solid help both therapeutically and medically-it makes a difference.”
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Thank you for your message. It is something I have definitely taken to heart.
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This is so honest. I have a great respect for you only through your post. I read a brilliant book about this topic, written by a clinical psy / or psychiatrist (?) also suffering from Bipolar disorder. It was far one of the very best books I have read. So hones, well-written and intelligent. If you happened to write it, well-done but even if not, well done for this post. It spoke out to me.
Also you are giving me hope that perhaps I could really manage to finish my psychology BSc, go on further and be the one who helps at the end. Knowing about the dungeons of the human mind but also knowing that with a lot of effort, loads can be changed and life can be enjoyed. thank you…
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You’re very welcome. I think you are referring to Kay Redfield Jamison’s book, “An Unquiet Mind”. My psychiatrist recommended this book to me and I loved it. Her beautiful and insightful writing helped me come to terms with and normalize my illnesses, especially in relation to my work. Good luck and take heart….there are a lot of people who suffer in silence. I hope one day soon people will be able to talk more openly about mental illness, such as we do about diabetes or broken bones. Stigma is so much of what we all suffer from. Broken Light is a movement in my opinion….or part of one. I’d say, stay with your studies if you can, get the best therapy you possibly can, stay on your meds if you take them….and of course, keep taking pictures, especially when you brain says it’s time to stop.
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Thank you for the reply. Yes, that’s the book I was talking about. Amazing.
I am not bipolar, yet, I know what it is like to be hypomanic,depressed or psychotic. i have a boarderline disorder and I often feel very frustrated that people do not know what it is or some even regard it as a made up diagnosis. Since I feel I can relate to the symptoms all too well I tend to feel disregarded myself then.
But you are right. It is good to be able to talk about mental illness as about something very normal (see the contrast – normally crazy!) and perhaps without needing a label. Lately I tend to meet many people who do not look at me in disbelieve when I say I am mentally ‘complicated’. They just say that we all (or a lot of us anyway) simply are but we need to learn to except it and love ourselves with it. The truth is, when you stop looking at yourself as a label but rather as dynamic characteristics, we become so much more normal and the demons start fading away. Maybe that is the attitude to take. Not to say its easy though.
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I love this image!
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Yes, love and be kind to yourself. The fingers are very expressive. Thank you.
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I love this image, your words and your friend’s tattoo.
Jolly good all round. 🙂
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