RALEIGH, N.C. — LAST week, swarms of sun-starved, soon-to-be lawyers emerged from hiding to celebrate completing the bar exam. Passing the exam, however, won’t guarantee them admission to the bar. They also have to demonstrate that they possess the requisite fitness and moral character for the practice of law.
Read MoreWUNC's The State of Things: Breaking The Silence Of Mental Illness (interview by Frank Stasio) →
Melody Moezzi has always been outspoken. As an Iranian-American writer and attorney, she has devoted herself to discussing controversial issues like religion, politics and culture in Iran. But when she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, her family and doctors encouraged silence. On this issue, they thought, you could not speak the truth. Melody would not be quiet. She decided to write a memoir of her experiences so that others with the disorder, and those who know them, could better understand. The memoir is called “Haldol and Hyacinths: A Bipolar Life,” (Avery/2013). Host Frank Stasio talks to her about her experience.
Read MoreNAMI: Navigating a Bipolar Life (interview by Joni Agronin) →
As a psychology major who knows how serious mental illness can be, I never thought stories about bipolar disorder would make me laugh. While bipolar disorder itself isn’t actually funny at all, in Haldol and Hyacinths: A Bipolar Life, Melody Moezzi brings humor to even the harshest realities of her disorder.
Read MorePenguin: A Conversation with Melody Moezzi →
Why did you write Haldol and Hyacinths?
Shocked to find there wasn’t another Iranian-American Muslim bipolar feminist memoir on the market, I just had to fill the void in the literature. Seriously though, I’m a human rights activist. I’ve fought for the rights of Iranians, Muslims, women, the LGBT community and other marginalized groups for years. After being diagnosed with bipolar disorder, I suddenly became part of this new wildly persecuted and painfully silent minority, and for the first time in my life, I was ashamed of a piece of my identity. I was brought up to be proud of who I am and never hide my background, no matter how unpopular it might make me. But now everyone was telling me to be quiet, and while I may have been ashamed and afraid at the time, I’ve never been the quiet type—particularly where injustice is concerned. Soon enough, the activist in me came out, and I spoke up. After writing commentaries for NPR, CNN and other media outlets about my mental illness, I received hundreds of messages of support encouraging me to continue writing and speaking about the issue. I promised my readers and myself that I would, and Haldol and Hyacinths is my fulfillment of that promise. I pray this book will help chip away at the shame, fear and stigma that so many people living with mental illness face on a daily basis.
Read MorePublishers Weekly: Haldol and Hyacinths Review →
“Perhaps insanity is inescapable when you separate a soul from its vessel,” muses Iranian-American activist, author, and lawyer Moezzi (War on Error) in her strangely affecting chronicle of living with bipolar disorder. She attributes her affliction to a variety of factors—cultural vertigo, post-9/11 prejudice against Muslims, a rare pancreatic disorder, overwhelming family pressure—and over the years has attempted suicide and suffered from a full-blown manic episode, as well as psychotic breaks. To recreate the gaps in her memory during these traumatic periods, she relies on recollections of friends and family, and her husband’s detailed notes. Some readers may not embrace Moezzi’s bad-girl persona—she stages rebellions in hospital wards and offers strong opinions on a range of subjects—but her vivid descriptions of being pulled against her will in a swirl of impulsivity, hallucinations, and paranoia are riveting. She also uses offbeat humor to criticize the medical profession’s handling of the mentally ill. Her often black-and-white thinking is mercifully softened by abundant gratitude for the saintly patience of her husband, the practicality of her mother, and the wisdom of her Rumi-quoting father. A poetic portrait of life on the lines of sanity and a mind on the edge of cultures.
Read MoreKirkus: Haldol and Hyacinths Review →
An Iranian-American political activist and writer’s memoir of how she came to terms with her bicultural heritage and bipolar disorder.
Read MoreThe Huffington Post: I Am Not Adam Lanza →
I’m not the mother of a mentally ill child. I’m not the child of a mentally ill parent. I’m not the wife of a mentally ill husband. I am, however, mentally ill. I have a story too. And it’s nothing like Adam Lanza’s.
Read MoreBipolar [bp] Magazine: Why is Bipolar Depression So Hard to Treat? →
Despite all the attention mania gets, most of us with bipolar know all too well that depression is far more common than either mania or hypomania. It’s a particularly annoying that people with “bipolar I” experience more mania than depression. Having bipolar I, I can personally attest to this. I spend about thrice (yes, I just used the word thrice) as much time depressed as I do manic or hypomanic.
Read MoreThe Huffington Post: Enough With Insane Mental Health Cuts →
At 14, I joined my high school speech and debate team. Ever since, I’ve been hooked on public speaking. Put me in front of a bunch of strangers, the more the better, and I thrive. I don’t need to imagine people in their underwear. All I need is my voice and occasionally, a microphone.
Read MoreCNN: Embracing life after suicide attempt →
From the moment I was admitted to my first psychiatric ward, I was desperate to get out. I hated the smell, the food, most of the staff, the routines, the magazines. I hated the sagging mattresses, the glassless funhouse mirrors, the furniture, the isolation rooms. But as much as I despised the place, there was one saving grace for me there: the other patients.
Read MoreNPR: 'Unquiet Mind' Reveals Bipolar Disorder's Complexity →
The first thing people say when I tell them that I'm bipolar (after some awkward condolences) is that I should keep quiet about it.
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