I have been writing mine down and it’s turning into a memoir. It’s helping me work through what happened. Did you write yours down or work through the events, or were you advised to just let it go?
I’d love to hear about any creative works based on personal experience.
I’ve been trying to make mine into art, like paintings or little scribbles. I just posted a thread actually of some. I’ve been told to journal “my symptoms” but I find that that can make it worse sometimes because it feels like a spiral. I wish I could write more, it used to be something I really enjoyed.
I make jokes about my crazy spells. It helps get people laughing, so they stop being afraid.
That’s great, I wish I could paint mine but I’m no painter. I’ll look for your post 
I understand about the spiral - sometimes I feel like that too, but I’m learning that sometimes I have to just feel that stuff again to work through it. It’s working for me at the moment, who knows though.
I am also working on a memoir or book, but sure which it will end up as. My wife wanted me to just write free form and we will put it together after we have a strong base. I am incorporating poems and drawings i have done during psychosis, most i dont remember doing. I cant really write about exact specifics of my paranoid psychotic break because it still triggers my delusions a bit but the collection is ending up a part philosophy, part autobiography, part commentary, part fiction kind of mash up. A welcome to my head sort of deal. I write with no structure or intent, just sit and type whats in my head at times, especially when experiencing psychotic symptoms, it sometimes helps keep me from focusing on all the bad things. What i have collected so far everyone seems to really like. Just dont quite know how all this will fit together yet, but thats what editors are for right!?! How do you go about writing? Does anyone with experience writing have any tips for a novice?
Wow Reggie that sounds really interesting. I don’t really have a technique or anything, I am just writing what I did at the moment and why (as in what my delusions were etc.) and how I felt. I ventured to the other side of the world during my episode, so it’s helping me recount what I did and hopefully helps my family understand where I was and why, as crazy as it was.
It’s great you’re thinking in terms of Editors. The more books out there the more people will get to understand what it’s like having these episodes.
Have you thought of a career as a stand up comic? That would be awesome
Literally? Where did you go? I couldnt imagine traveling during one of my serious episodes, but i become extremely delusional and paranoid about everything, never really feeling safe in my own home, let alone if i was in a strange place. I am still in an episode of sorts im being told and was trying to go on a short trip at the end of this month, but after some serious consideration i dont think i would handle it well, which is upsetting. Hearing things pretty bad today but just cant focus enough to write or draw, hopefully i can concentrate sometime tonight and knock out a few pages. Are you able to write while you are experiencing symptoms? Its usually a coin flip whether i can or not.
I post my story on this forum often. I don’t really tell anyone else. Lately, I’ve been kind of ruminating on my past at various times of the day. I’m not really a fan of self-pity but sometimes when I think of all the crap I’ve been through since getting diagnosed at age 19 (I’m 55 now) the pain is almost overwhelming. I would feel sorry for anyone who’s been through what I’ve been through. I guess I sound self centered because I know many, many, other people have had it worse than me.
I keep a journal of my delusional thoughts. I have been through about 13 or 14 journals (notebooks) since my diagnosis 15 months ago. I get through one and then throw it away because I am convinced (although less and less everyday) that “they” will get my journals out of the recycle and keep them as a part of history since I am the ‘Truman’ of my ‘Truman Show’. More and more though, I think I am just throwing them away and that’s that. I simply journal all that’s on my mind and much about the brain study I believe I am a part of.
I thought about writting some of it like and then making it real turning it into a horror story. The protagonist will go through many trial and ordeals. Then at the end it turns out they hallucinated the whole thing. Too lazy to do that though.
Boxed it up and sold it at the flea market for $5.00.
I did a ■■■■-ton, especially while manic, I wrote like twenty poems in my most recent two month-long episode and about ten of them are really good. I am working on a novel write now about a sort of coming of age psychological thriller about drugs, writing, and mental illness. As you can see, it’s semi-autobiographical but new characters are incorporated and it is heavily dramatized to make an interesting plot. I’m also considering turning my character into a girl.
Oh and I almost forgot, I composed about ten compositions in 84 hours, and I’m not talking a few banged out chords, I’m talking pages of manuscript paper, hours and hours of work, and in the end I consulted with my music teacher and she was highly pleased with the writings and praised them as creatively distinct and drawing inspiration from experimental twentieth century Impressionist composers. I was also accepted into a highly competitive summer class at a conservatory because of those pieces, which I was unable to attend because of a depressive episode.
Not too much because I thought people were trying to drive me crazy to get my story for a big movie. That they were going to make a lot of money and leave me still crazy or dead. Thought if killing myself many times over this.
I draw pictures. I did write a diary on my phone. But paranoia hit me and I deleted it. I was afraid someone else would read it. I regret it today. But I still have my pictures.
There’s no point. Watch some X-Files, close enough.
I see my delusion is now a reality in the news, and that is my personal accounts and devices were hacked, and the hackers are taking video with my camera.
I’ve seen it on 60 minutes, and in the news the fbi director said to put tape over your camera lens.
I’m a software engineer and kept trying to explain that this indeed was possible. Thinking back, I’m not sure how psychotic I actually was.
I try hard to forget it.
I’m embarrassed about some of my previous delusions. Some I can laugh about. Here’s one I sometimes laugh about… I had the delusional thought that I was an honorary Chinese cop each time I entered a buffet. No idea what I was thinking. I cringe thinking about other ones. I’d like to forget.
Same here, except I thought aliens/govt were tracking me because I was important. Seriously, I’m not important and all they’ll learn is that I like anime, progressive dance music, and shopping on Amazon.