Author: Kitt O’Malley
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Review: Birth of a New Brain #PostPartumBipolar
Dyane Harwood thrilled me when she sent me an advance copy of her memoir, Birth of a New Brain: Healing from Postpartum Bipolar Disorder. (I pre-ordered it and was anxiously awaiting it’s October 2017 release.) Her memoir fills a much-needed niche in sharing the experience of bipolar disorder, peripartum onset (beginning during pregnancy or within…
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Inspiration with E Radio Show Premiere
Humbled that gifted poet Ericka Arthur invited me to be a guest on her Inspiration with E Radio Show Premiere on Sunday, August 20th at 7pm EDT (4pm PDT). If you didn’t tune in at GrindHardRadio.com, go to the show’s recording at Inspiration with E Radio Show Premiere. My interview starts at minute 19. DiShan Washington’s at about minute…
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Hypomania, Praise, and Self-Talk
Photo thanks to Gustavo Espíndola The praise came. Kitt loved to please. The more praise she received, the better she felt. The more she achieved, the higher she soared, until she couldn’t. Her body couldn’t keep up. She broke down, couldn’t get out of bed, and beat herself up for falling, for failing. Talking to…
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Bipolar & Dementia
I fear dementia. Both of my parents have dementia and live in a memory care community. They love one another and seem happy where they are now, but it took a while to make that happen. They wanted to maintain their independence. Understandable. I fear dementia. Though I hope by avoiding alcohol and taking my…
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ALPIM Anxiety-Laxity-Pain-Immune-Mood
Many of us living with mental illness have other chronic illnesses. Often we are not treated for our “physical” illnesses, as many doctors dismiss them as psychosomatic. “Mental” illnesses ARE “physical” illnesses, and “physical” illnesses affect our “mental” illnesses. We are not just our brains, just our bodies, just our minds, just our feelings, or just our souls.…
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Walking the Line
Living with bipolar is like walking on a tightrope, trying to maintain my balance, fearful of each step I take. As a young adult, I didn’t understand what triggered my highs and lows. I saw depression as a problem, but I didn’t fully understand the role of workaholism, overachievement, and perfectionism, even as I crashed…
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Dancing to White Noise #flashfiction
Within the white noise of the fan, she heard music and she danced. Her mind arranged the notes. Her body responded. Music and dance made sense. White noise, not so much. The white noise bombarded her senses — too many notes. She picked out those that felt beautiful, that made sense to her. Her mind…
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Sick of It
Tired of writing memoir. Not just sick of writing about my mental illness, sick of living the same struggles day after day. Do not want to end my life. Far from suicidal. Just want to end both my symptoms and my son’s physical and mental health symptoms. I’m WAY over it. Sick of being sick.…
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Writing to Discipline My Thoughts
This morning I attended an OC Writers’ write-in. I haven’t attended a writers’ group in a long time. Been isolating myself and focusing on my son rather than my writing, rather than myself. Today, I left him home in bed, then left the meeting early to get him to class on time. When I got…