Comments on: The Bridge

By: K. - Living with Schizoaffective Disorder

K. - Living with Schizoaffective Disorder — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 16:47:45 +0000

Your comment reminded me, I believe Jamison (the author of the two books I linked to) suffers from bipolar disorder herself. I think she has an autobiography called “An Unquiet Mind,” along with her books on the subject of mental illness in general, so she speaks from the viewpoint of understanding the disorder from the inside as well.

Thanks for your recommendation! I’ll be checking it out

By: Julia

Julia — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 16:19:22 +0000

Thanks for the rec – both those books look very interesting indeed. I have one more to trade – not really related to the suicide discussion, but The Midnight Disease: The Drive to Write, Writer’s Block, and the Creative Brain by Alice W Flaherty is about hypergraphia, neurology and the author’s own experience of mental illness. I liked it partly because it doesn’t set out to offer any answers – I was going through a bout of depression when I read it and somehow found that weirdly reassuring. Also I just find brains interesting.

By: K. - Living with Schizoaffective Disorder

K. - Living with Schizoaffective Disorder — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 11:39:09 +0000

I'll have to check that book out sometime. Kay Redfield Jamison (author of the popular book about bipolar disorder and artists entitled Touched with Fire) wrote a book about suicide called Night Falls Fast, which is an interesting read and I book I recommend, although have some good, nice distractions while reading it! Thanks. I only have another day to wait before I can see my psychiatrist and attempt to fix my meds, and it can't come soon enough!

By: Julia

Julia — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 10:05:27 +0000

Weird thing, suicide. I find myself thinking about it a lot (not so much doing it, just it as a phenomenon). There’s a really fascinating book called The Noonday Demon by Andrew Solomon, which is mainly about depression, but has a whole section on suicide. That documentary looks very interesting, although I think I’ll bookmark it for a day when I’m feeling a bit more up to things.

Hope you get stuff with your meds sorted out soon, these things are so frustrating.

By: K. - Living with Schizoaffective Disorder

K. - Living with Schizoaffective Disorder — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 22:10:24 +0000

I think suicide is something that can never really be understood. I mean, you and I have been there ourselves, and we still have no answers on it. I don’t think anyone does. And, yeah, it does seem different when it comes to yourself. I do like having you around though, just so you know!

I think it’d be safe for you to watch the documentary, but maybe take a break every few parts and distract yourself with something good. That’s what I did.

I’m glad you like the blog! xx

By: Cicia

Cicia — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 21:57:49 +0000

I can’t quite figure out how to feel about suicide. As you know, a friend of my family committed suicide a couple of years ago. At the same time, I’ve been dealing with suicidal thoughts for years.
To myself, I can totally justify it, and say that in the end, it’s up to me, it’s my life, you know? And then I think about our friend and how much we all miss her and how she just.. left?

I can’t decide wheter to watch the documentary or not. I think I’ll end up watching it later, it’s always interesting to hear different people’s views on it, even if it’s sometimes very triggering.

I find it really interesting and inspiring to read this blog.
x