Photos: Artists Embracing Mental Illness

I wish I could say I was a creative genious with artistic gifts! I got ripped off with this bipolar disorder by apparently the only redeeming factor of this illness! I can only draw stick figures and I can barely color in between the lines. :(

I read this article at work today, and could not wait to be home so I could comment. Thank you Newsweek for publishing an article that even opens the debate of medication. I am what I consider to be a "lucky functional schizophrenic". I was diagnosed at 28, and I had a master's level education by that point in my life. I do take medication today, but the effects can be crippling. It took years for me to find a mix of medications that bettered my quality of life. I believe that each of us is responsible for our own body, so of course, a no-brainer, medication is a choice because each person will react differently to different medications and different tolerence levels. Medication is not a cure all, and of course there is no cure for schizophrenia at all - which is why I feel no schizophrenic should ever be denied disability benefits. I have been denied twice, or I would be happily at home. It is debated in my case with myself, my psychiatrist, and therapist if work helps me, it has pros and cons, but at this stage in my life if it a necessity to live and pay for my care. There can be such derision is society against any mental illness, that is a fact. To me, you find out who your true friends are, the ones that are true friends love and respect you just the same. I fall into the artistic, highly intelligent, senstive personality version of schizophrenia, and so it was great to see the beautiful art! It is horrible to me that schizophrenics still live with the stereotype of violence, which has been proven statistically inaccurate. I do question every politician who represents me about the mentally ill and I do not vote for those who are indifferent. My condition fascinates me, I did not ask to become schizophrenic, but it has become the quiet cause of my life. One of my dreams is to fight harder for the rights of the mentally ill, and I might just do it some day. If we live in a true humanistic society, then there is no excuse for the treatment in hospitals, the judgements, and the discrimination. I could detail many experiences, some laughable, about schizophrenia, but I will try not to write too much. The worst thing that ever happened to me was someone who knew I was schizophrenic set a radio with songs I would recognize in a public setting, and I do not know to this day how to explain that situation without sounding crazy. I laugh a lot, I feel you must, some of the things schizophrenics do are so funny and harmless. But to end, I could again write so much, I feel many schizohprenics are so talented and just waiting for someone to ask them about their precious lives. They are truly outstanding, interesting, capable, and vibrant members of the United States, and being schizophrenic is a lot of hard work!! I will keep going strong, and I hope I never stop sharing my experiences.

being diagnosed with bipolar disorder at the age of 18 was a big surprise to me. its a whole new understanding of life on a day to day basis really. i am medicated but when first finding the ones it can be scary. the one thing that irritated me most was the anxiety from new medications while still trying to fit in with all my "normal" friends. no one knows you and your body better than you. not a full year has passed but i now feel more comfortable with my diagnoses, i now know about myself and the meds i am on too. although i still sometimes feel like im not myself i take my meds to keep my parents from worrying. i dont know anyone personally with bippolar so my family is the only support i have. i really enjoyed the article and can relate. the movement sounds awesome. i've always enjoyed standing out from the rest i just never knew it was called bipolar...

i just recently got diagnosed with bipolar disorder not even a year ago at the age of 18 after my own sister thought i had taken drugs. i was up for 3 days straight in a manic state of mind. everyone else around me said i wasnt making sense but its hard to understand. i never made any attempts to hurt myself or others i didnt know why i couldnt fall asleep. at night i would try figuring out math problems i've never seen before and toss a ball in the air to myself in the dark while my sister was asleep. after being hospitalized for a week they sent me to a mental rehab health care center where i was actually scared. i wasnt comfortable sleeping in the hard beds so since im an athlete i started working out to tire myself out. they locked me in a small cubicle where i still kept myself busy with push ups and whatever else i could do. i imagine that is how prison is. being new to all this mental stuff i just tried to understand why this has just now affected my life. i have been on lithium and now depikote. stilll i sometimes feel im not my self, almost a more rehersed me. not as outgoing as i once was. in my manic stages i become exteremly energenic and can not stop myself from moving. i climbed the side of my house, caught my dog from leaving the yard, jogged up mts carrying a tire and danced mexican folklore while i couldnt sleep, all in just basketball shorts. never hurting anyone or my self during this time. i have never experienced a depression swing of bipolar so im not sure what that is like. i enjoyed the article and am behind the movement 100% it sounds very cool. i dont know anyone personally with my condition so my family is pretty much the only support i've had through all this. its cool thogh, i like being different and always have, i just never called it bipolar disorder

I don't know what you would call my problem however i know i would not want to live with the feeling of dred every minute of my life. Also rolling stomach and the feeling of bugs crawling all over me, plus hyper ventilation to the poiint of fainting all the time with pins and needles all over my face, throat, and mouth are not symtoms i would like to live with. I am medicated and doing well for now, thank you very much and have been for 40 years or i would not have been able to funtion.

I think I might have bipolar disorder, but I can't be sure because I have never been to a psychologist or psychiatrist... I think that if these people can handle it, and they feel good living this way; then they should. Personally I do not think Virginia Woolf, Edgar allan poe, Da vinci, or Mozart were at all "normal"...

I have never been to a psychiatrist or psycologist, but I think I have bipolar disorder... I don't know....
I just understand that these movements and expressions may be good. Genius minds throughout human history may not ahve been at all "normal". I don't think Edgar Allan Poe, Virginia Wolf, Mozart, or Da Vinci were at all normal...

I'm balanced on medications for Bipolar.

I have Bipolar. For the last eight years I've tried every pill in the book. I even tried ECT (Electro Convulsive Therapy) because I was tired of not being stable taking pills that made me sleepy, depressed and fat. In order to do ECT you have to go off all medicications. After a week I was hullucinating, talking to people who weren't there I didn't recognize my husband or children. I became catatonic. They said this was unusual. They put me back on medications and it took me a week to be somewhat stable again. Now, I am stable with very little medication. I still have my down days and I still take the medications that make you gain weight. But I've also joined weight watchers and my weight has slowly started coming off. Going off medications is NEVER an option for me again.

you know what! i am diagnosed as skidzo effective with a personality disorder otherwise not specified and manic depression, everytime i see my doctor UP THE MEDS UP THE MEDS and the side affects are killing me LITERALLY lithium, SHUTS DOWN THE LIVER, how can they clone a sheep but not create a medication that doesn't hurt someone, i am ALL FOR NO MEDS in fact, i never take them i just fill the dumb perscription so he thinks im taking them or he will commit me, i am tired of the system telling me how to live, how about WE tell the system how to LIVE!

you know what! i am diagnosed as skidzo effective with a personality disorder otherwise not specified and manic depression, everytime i see my doctor UP THE MEDS UP THE MEDS and the side affects are killing me LITERALLY lithium, SHUTS DOWN THE LIVER, how can they clone a sheep but not create a medication that doesn't hurt someone, i am ALL FOR NO MEDS in fact, i never take them i just fill the dumb perscription so he thinks im taking them or he will commit me, i am tired of the system telling me how to live, how about WE tell the system how to LIVE!

I'm a Christian, I don't like being high on perscription drugs, and I even tho everyone doesn't believe in the power of prayer, I know that all things are possible through Christ. Keep praying, don't loose faith, and I will pray for you also.

I have a mental illness, and by choice I do not medicate. I have tried almost all medications in the past and to be honest, I live a fuller and much more productive life without it. The meds made me sleepy, depressed, and fat. I gave up on trying about 3 years ago. I have never looked or felt beter. I have a real job now, a relationship that is healthy, and I live independently. I may have bad days that really take thier toll on me, but overall I know that I have made the best choice for myself, and family. I wish Dr.'s took more care when dishing out drugs that impair your personality, and that we were permitted to take a bigger roll on how our mental illness are treated. It makes me proud to see people embrace thier individuality instead of trying to drown it in a dictatorship of poison.

I agree that medications may not be the answer for everyone, we all need to make our choices of how we choose to live our lives. I however choose to live in the context that my children are looking up to me, and from the perspective that they see. I will be stable for them, I will choose to have a more positive affect, cognition, and not be crazy, BECAUSE I CAN!!!!! Medication allows this to be true, so of the 8000 of you who choose not to use medication, that is fine, for the millions of us who chose to have a life that our children don't need to struggle for our cause and because we can't always chose our battles with the 'Right Mind', I will continue to be stable with the use of medication.