Bipolar Disorder

This section offers a number of pieces reflecting Martin's own experience of bipolar disorder (which used to be known as manic depression, MD). Several of them were originally published in Pendulum, journal of MDF The Bipolar Organisation (formerly The Manic Depression Fellowship) who may be contacted through their website www.bipolaruk.org.

  1. On counselling the manic depressive (Jul 1994)

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    This paper attempts to provide a theological and spiritual basis for Christian ministry to the manic depressive.

  2. Damage limitation for the down phases (May 1998)

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    There are many things we can do in our MD "up" phases which may limit the amount of damage we suffer in our "down" phases. Among them I have personally found the following helpful. They all involve being prepared for the worst so as to achieve the best.

  3. Memo to a Lithium patient (Dec 1990)

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  4. How you can help a friend who is manic (Dec 1992)

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    There are many ways in which you may be able to help a friend who is going through a manic phase of mental illness even though you may have had no such formal training.

  5. Recovery from breakdown (May 1999)

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    I want to pass on here a lesson which I have had to learn on recovering more than once from depression and nervous breakdown. When in the depths of the pit you do not just feel gloomy; you lose all inner energy, indeed the very capacity to think.

  6. How to survive as a manic depressive (Jan 1994)

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    There are many things we can do or learn which can enable us to live a purposeful, successful life as a manic depressive.

  7. How to make manic depression work for you (May 1994)

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    We manic depressives all too easily hide our disability behind a cloak of guilt and shame. I want to suggest that in many areas we have everything to gain by facing up to MD and by allowing our friends and associates to become aware of our problem and so to understand it.

  8. On pyschotherapy (Dec 1994)

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    One of the overriding needs of the MD is for someone to talk to. In the first instance we may talk to our families and friends, but our families and friends are not always good listeners. In any case, they often already shoulder the task of looking after us, and they have their limits. Further, we may have difficulty in discussing our deepest and most personal problems with someone so close, especially as they may themselves be part of the problem. So we need to turn elsewhere.