Interview with Merryl Hammond, PhD,
Editor of Navigating Bipolar Nation and creator of Mad Like Me
Q: To start out, may you inform us a bit about your background and work, Merryl?
A: A couple of hundred years in the past again in South Africa the place I used to be born, I educated as a nurse, bought a number of post-grad nursing {qualifications}, did a grasp’s in sociology and a doctorate in grownup schooling and public well being. I’ve labored as a lecturer in medical faculty, a coach of nurses in rural South Africa, and — since immigrating to Canada — a public well being guide with Indigenous communities. I had zero psychological well being points for the primary fifty-plus years of my life…
Q: When did you first expertise bipolar dysfunction?
A: It was 2008; I used to be 51 and menopausal. Our household went by means of an enormous drama with of one among our teenaged children. (My husband, Rob, and I’ve 5 children.) A couple of days into the disaster, BANG! One thing deep inside my mind simply snapped. Bipolar emerged like some beast from the deep. We initially thought that the primary episode I had was despair however trying again we notice that I had in truth been hypomanic for a while earlier than that. We simply didn’t have the language and we didn’t know the indicators…
Q: Did it take a very long time so that you can get a prognosis of bipolar?
A: Fortunately, no. I notice how uncommon this was, however I used to be very lucky to have a very good pal who’s a health care provider. When she noticed me in hypomania, she instantly referred me to a clinic for evaluation. It solely took a few weeks for them to refer me to a psychiatrist who identified bipolar II and prescribed medicines used typically in bipolar dysfunction. About six months later, after the dysfunction had progressed, he revised his prognosis to speedy biking bipolar I. Over a number of months, they added numerous meds and performed with dosages in a valiant try and get my bipolar below management. Nothing labored till — after two psychiatric hospitalizations — they lastly discovered a mixture of 5 meds that stabilized me (and nearly knocked me mindless!). Regularly, they weaned me off three of these, so now I’m gloriously secure solely taking two.
Q: In 2018, you revealed a memoir known as Mad Like Me: Travels in Bipolar Nation. What motivated you to share your story?
A: I believed: if I as a educated nurse had nearly no concept about bipolar and the way it derails not solely the affected individual however the entire household and social community round that individual, then how unaware and uninformed should others be, too? As effectively, I used to be decided to assist battle the taboo and stigma that shrouds bipolar in disgrace. I learn up in regards to the historical past of bipolar (previously “manic despair”) and the way affected individuals have been handled traditionally and nonetheless are at the moment in underdeveloped international locations with very poor companies and sources. For instance, do you know that Hitler used “gasoline buses” to journey by means of the countryside, rounding up and murdering individuals with psychological diseases and disabilities? And that even at the moment in some international locations, people who find themselves undiagnosed and/or untreated are routinely chained up when their households can’t deal with their manic episodes? My coronary heart breaks to consider these atrocities.) All of us want to talk out for change. “We’re right here; we’re dignified human beings; we deserve respect!”
Lowering stigma has change into my mission. I felt that sharing my very own story would possibly assist in a small approach. And after I do public talking gigs, I emphasize that “if this might occur to me, it may occur to you!” We’re every chargeable for taking good care of our personal psychological well being; our personal mind. I say: “Should you presently have your psychological well being intact, please be grateful and defend it like a treasured new child child. Do every little thing to maintain it protected: eat effectively, sleep effectively, get common train, meditate, construct a supportive social community, scale back stress… all the great things! As a result of in the event you cross over an imaginary pink line on the ground and find yourself with a psychological sickness like I did, it takes unspeakable effort to claw your approach again to the wholesome facet of that line.”
Q: Do you might have a quote from Mad Like Me you could share with us?
Certain. Within the Prologue I say:
“Bipolar brought about me to vanish from the stage of my very own life for 2 full years. I used to be exiled, misplaced, shocked, confused and ashamed. If a number of the issues I share right here can assist you to shorten your quarantine interval in Bipolar Nation, I’ll be grateful. I’ve been there. I understand how extraordinarily scary and lonely it will get. However I’m right here to inform you that issues can get higher, and you could, piece by piece, construct a life the place bipolar now not controls you. You’ll be able to tame this tiger!”
Q: And simply final yr, in 2022, you edited and revealed an anthology known as Navigating Bipolar Nation: Private and Skilled Views on Residing with Bipolar Dysfunction. How did that come about?
A: The concept for the anthology emerged organically from responses to my memoir. Folks would learn Mad Like Me and phone me by way of my web site to thank me for my honesty, and to share one thing of their very own experiences, whether or not as an affected individual or a caregiver. I quickly realized that there have been so many tales to share, however not everybody had the will or functionality to jot down a full memoir. I invited contributors to share a small snippet or one facet of their story, or to do an interview with me in the event that they felt overwhelmed by a clean display. Someplace throughout the technique of amassing tales, I made a decision to incorporate well being and different professionals as effectively, since they’re a key a part of the image. I ended up with 42 contributions divided into three sections: contributions by individuals residing with bipolar dysfunction; our relations; and the professionals who work with us. I’m happy with the end result and hope it can assist many individuals coping with bipolar in a technique or one other.
Q: Can you share a short quote from the anthology with us?
A: It’s unattainable to decide on one of many 42 contributions to focus on: they’re all so superb and eye-opening in their very own methods! That is from the Preface I wrote. After explaining the three sections, I wrote:
“There’s something right here for everybody! It’s been an honor for me to edit this anthology, and it’s now an honor for me to share it with you. Might it give a small style of what it’s prefer to navigate bipolar nation.”
Q: I see that you just just like the time period “bipolar nation”…
A: Oh, so that you observed, ha-ha! Sure, I coined that phrase years in the past as a result of it actually felt to me that after I was both manic or depressed, I used to be residing in an entire different nation; one other world, actually! So it made sense to subtitle my memoir Travels in Bipolar Nation, and to title the anthology Navigating Bipolar Nation. And in reality, between these two books, I revealed an book in 2020 known as COVID-19 in Bipolar Nation: Survival Ideas for Psychological Stability throughout the Coronavirus Pandemic. In order that’s a household of three associated books…
Q: Thanks on your time! How can individuals contact you, Merryl?
A: Thanks on your curiosity in my work!
One of the best ways to succeed in me is thru my web site’s contact kind at
https://www.merrylhammond.com/contact
Or you possibly can e mail me at information@merrylhammond.com
