Me, Bipolar & I | Sharon Sutton | TEDxDurhamUniversity

So what do you do when you're diagnosed with

bipolar

disorder? When I received mine in 2013 along with my prescription for a box of motor stabilizers until I didn't know what to do or tell anyone what the future was for me. but what I did want to know was what it meant and what I was going to do about it for about a month. I remained relatively quiet about my psyche at the recent psychiatrist's conclusion, however it finally seemed to be no secret to anyone who doesn't know what it is. My bullet is that it was previously known as manic depression and it can affect your mood from being depressed to Olivia and escalating, it is common and can affect one in 100 adults.

Many people like me usually diagnose me when I am depressed. Bipolar disorder produces a reduction of just over nine years in life expectancy and up to one in five patients with

bipolar

disorder manages to take their own life, although bipolar disorder is equally common in men and women. Research indicates that about three times as many women as men experienced a rapid cyclin, bipolar disorder affects nearly 6 million American adults or about 2.6 percent of the U.S. population ages 18 and older each year. Side effects can include a variety of symptoms, from difficulty concentrating and remembering things, difficulty sleeping, hallucinations, self-doubt, such as energy, to irritability, being easily destroyed, speaking quickly, being very happy, hyperactive, and having recent thoughts, the mania is extreme. relieved stairs that can include extremely risky behaviors, but I have never experienced this.

I have experienced hypomania, although in some of my depressive states I have not left the house for weeks annoyed by the ability to pick up my children that I have cut off. the outside world and have barely taken care of myself, on the other hand, I have jumped up and down on the bed randomly in the middle of the night being full of adrenaline along with my bedroom window wide open while singing out loud to The birds almost didn't care who was listening or who it might bother, so you're probably wondering how this all happened. Well, I think my mental health problems started when I was about 16 years old.

I had never known much middle ground in my life, but what I did know, like the others, was that I was already different. I was told I stood out to most people and I liked the fact that I never wanted to blend in, unfortunately a year before I move I will have turned about 15. For years, I was hanging around with the wrong group of people, getting into trouble, and doing nothing but pure chaos. I'm ashamed to admit that I think I became a bit of a liability to society within that space. of time, I'm only 16, I moved out of the family home and spent nine years in an abusive relationship with a psychopath.

They harassed me, they spit on me like I was worthless, they controlled me, they provided for me mentally, financially, they sexually and physically abused me, so this was the downward spiral in my mental health that was just the beginning, as at times I they were holding knives - my thought and at one point I even had a fracture in my left hand and bruises on my body, it was not easy to walk away from that life and it was just easier to hold on and keep quiet while I was in this relationship. He was already 19 years old.

I went to work in a fish and chip shop for six years with the help of my family members. Tobias may not be one of my best ideas, but it was definitely a learning curve. I must admit that I had a love-hate relationship with my business and I say this because it is what fueled my daughter's happiness and it is what I wanted at that moment to be able to have more stability in my life, the positive side. It was my store. Listed as one of the top 50 fish and chip shops in the UK and was the only one north of Whitby to gain the seafood industry.

I thought the award was listed next to a celebrity chefs fish and chip shop and mentioned in numerous video interviews in national newspapers and magazines followed, as did two photographers who turned up at my shop to get a good number of photographs. mine with the award, to say it was quite surreal was an understatement, it is on the wall of my house right now and I am Proud of that achievement, however, the rollercoaster of my life continued. At the time I was seven months pregnant with my oldest daughter and my life literally changed overnight after my ex tried and failed to take the lives of me and my daughter in a car accident.

I felt like I finally had to take matters into my own hands, however, I found myself too scared to move on with my life, so I drove in front of a truck. He clearly didn't know what he was thinking at that moment. obviously on his side and mine that day the only thing that stopped me from crashing into that truck was that the driver turned on the lights and let that mommy swerve my car to avoid it I was alive but I was fed up with my life I didn't do it I want today I just wanted For my pain to end was more of a cry for help.

I felt exhausted everywhere and I wanted to leave the world behind since I thought that was my only way out. From the outside looking in, it would have seemed like I had absolutely everything, a family, a business, a house and a car maybe was the case but behind closed doors it was a different story a house was but it wasn't my then partner never found out about my suicide attempt and so my life Every day passed like Groundhog Day, after a time I finally dared to move forward. I sold the business and moved house with just my oldest daughter and me.

I spoke to the police about my violent past and unfortunately my case was already historic by then and the In fact, I had little evidence of what I had experienced and what I had gone through the police could not help me. I wanted to help others not go through what I had gone through, so I started working as a volunteer police officer in domestic violence, adult vulnerability and child abuse. The investigation sometimes I talked to victims, pointed people out for help and wrote hundreds of interview transcripts for the police ready for court and I loved what I did I met someone else I moved house again I had another child and I finally started married life I was in the relationship for about four years before we broke up, my complicated personal life continued, disastrous toxic relationships followed, but at the time, but at the same time, without what happened in my life, I wouldn't be here and I will not be where I am today, it is now 2017.

About ten years since I was at the lowest points of my life, I am now telling you my story, pleased that I failed in my suicide attempt in just over three years, what Have I made that diagnosis of bipolar disorder? Then Wilter vented himself and moved on. The path to a better life I decided to learn for myself what it was all about and the rest is basically history. Since then I created a Facebook page called I Bipolar and this is to help people with depression and PTSD. and bipolar disorder which I have experience with today that page has over 12,000 followers worldwide it is recognized by the international bipolar foundation in the US it is vetted by police force psychiatrists and all kinds of different people in everyone from there I've looked for things I can do and go.

I have been involved in television and scientific research called livid bipolar disorder classes in college and recovery college. I helped raise awareness by speaking out to support the provider. I met celebrities and talked to them about mine and their experiences. Contributed to educated clinical evaluations. Myself, John interviews, I worked in a mental health hospital and community mental health team and became a member of different charities and joined a drop-in group as a volunteer to help people like me. I also met with people at local businesses and tried to educate. They too and I have even expressed my thoughts in front of Members of Parliament and most recently won the Mental Health Hero Award from the former Deputy Prime Minister in 2015, out of 900 nominations, there were approximately 40 good winners, of which I was one of the three in the North East to get that award is on the wall of my house along with the award from my fish and chip shop.

I tried to be an advocate by blogging and campaigning. I break the silence and if poor people like me talked about mental illness. There will be much less stigma and discrimination within society. I speak for the silent, but together we can be stronger in numbers. You know, when we learn to work together and not against each other, things can start to get better, so after years of being on different medications. I have been totally free of them for over eight months and find that weightlifting and boxing benefit me as well. I hope he and my new partner will help me and we and he also have experience with mental health problems.

I don't let bipolar disorder get to me with what I want to achieve is not an excuse but an explanation for my behavior and just sometimes having bipolar disorder means waking up not knowing if Tigger or a or maybe making my decisions for me on a morning that does not govern My world doesn't even define me, but it feels my passion and inspires me to be honest without bipolar disorder. I don't think I will be as mentally strong as I am today. Sometimes I find it a curse, don't get me wrong, but more definitely, a blessing and because of it I now have a passion and purpose in my life.

If there is anything you can learn from this speech, remember to try to look at the person and not the diagnosis. I am NOT my diagnosis. It's me, change your fears, change your limits, change your limits and stuff, choose your hobby as a job to go somewhere, even if you have no idea where the world will take you, choose to get excited about whatever your next idea is, Get out of your comfort zone. zone choose health and take care of yourself become number one sometimes to help people even when you don't want to help you smile at the person who didn't smile back choose to be different and stand out so as not to be consumed by absolutely everything choose your thoughts not to be controlled by society and not told what to do choose not to let trivial things affect you or be inspired by anything that can inspire you and laugh when it is totally inconvenient to make it be the person that everyone who really wants to know even the life you live choose experiences over positions and never give up choose life thank you