Scott Ninneman

2 weeks ago | speakingbipolar.substack.com | Scott Ninneman

“No one will ever read it.”That was the only response I got after telling a friend I was going to write a book about life with bipolar disorder. The negativity echoed the voices in my head, but I knew one thing about myself: if I was determined and refused to quit, I could accomplish anything. What my friend said hurt enough that I chose to start with writing fiction. I wrote my first novel under a penname, and while it was therapeutic for me, it received average reviews.

4 weeks ago | medium.com | Scott Ninneman

Publishing personal experience stories and poetry about bipolar disorder and other mental illnesses. You can live a better life, and we want to help. Follow publicationAs an advocate for the legalization of marijuana and a former everyday smoker, this one was hard for me to accept: masking my bipolar disorder with weed was just not okay. As a former addict to some pretty hard stuff, and before my diagnosis, I honestly loved everything THC related.

1 month ago | speakingbipolar.substack.com | Scott Ninneman

Thursday's Journal Prompt: List three things you are grateful for today. How does focusing on gratitude change your outlook on life? James is now in his mid-30s and works as a social worker. His abusive childhood, past mistakes, and bipolar disorder are part of his story but none of them define him. James married a wonderful woman who overcame a similar background, and together, they try to improve the lives of all around them.

1 month ago | speakingbipolar.substack.com | Scott Ninneman

Tuesday’s Journal Prompt: Describe how you felt when you first learned of any diagnosis you have. What steps did you take to learn more and how did that help you? I would love to say James had a life full of rainbows and butterflies, but like all of us with bipolar disorder, there were times when everything fell apart. “I didn’t think I would survive my first round with deep depression,” James told me.

1 month ago | medium.com | Kassey's Dreams |Realities Ink |Scott Ninneman

There are days when my mind is a crowded theater,voices in the cheap seats heckling,shouting lines I never wrote. They tell me secrets about myselfthat nobody else can hear-sometimes cruel, sometimes clever,sometimes so convincingI almost believe them. I live on a seesaw,tipping between lightning and thunder,my heart racing ahead of my body,my thoughts a kaleidoscope-brilliant, fractured,then suddenly,the colors drain and I am leftin the gray static of exhaustion.