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Writing As A Form Of Therapy

SilenusSenior Contributor12 Apr 2016, 3:14 pm AEST

Writing As A Form Of Therapy

Hi all,

I have found throughout the course of my life that writing has been a constant companion to me. It has provided me with a way to vent my frustrations, to grapple with the eternal verities of life that confound and delight me, to explore ideas and concepts, and to try to put into words the often chaotic moods and thoughts that result from having a mind that's a little bit odd...

I have written lots of poems, especially in the last 3 or 4 years, dealing with depression and bipolar. They help me to process and understand some of the things that are happening in this twisted little noodle of mine. As such, writing has become one of my main forms of therapy.

One of the best things that I find about writing is that it can act as a kind of mood diary. I can read things that I had previously written, and it will quite often map out where I was at during the time of writing. The words I spread across the page act as signposts of my progress, too. As my self knowledge increases and my life journey progresses, I find that it affects how I write and what I write...

Often, we do not see the thousands of tiny little changes to our selves that our life experiences cause over the years. It can be very helpful to re-read old writings, in order to see how far we have come, what we have improved, where we have fallen back into old harmful habits, and the things that we have learned.

The language that we use in our writings and in our thoughts and in our speech is very important. It can reveal a lot about our selves, our states of mind, and our moods...

That language, it can become a self-fulfilling prophecy. I believe that we attract certain kinds of people around us, and create (or at least influence) life situations based on our choice of language. It helps define who we are as a person.

Negative thinking, self-deprecation, self-hatred, these sorts of dangerous life traps are often revealed in our choice of words. So too are the positive things. It all starts with a glass. How we describe the glass and the quantity and quality of its contents, that's where language comes into it, and it can shape our very lives and the lives of those around us.

Writing... it is my solace and my main tool of self-analysis. It is my favourite form of therapy...

2932 replies

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In response to: Writing As A Form Of Therapy

bipolarbunnySenior Contributor11 June 2021, 4:31 pm AEST

Re: Writing As A Form Of Therapy

Beautiful prose @StuF & @Mazarita xx

BB 🐰💙

In response to: Re: Writing As A Form Of Therapy

StuFSenior Contributor11 June 2021, 5:28 pm AEST

Re: Writing As A Form Of Therapy

@bipolarbunny

Thanks!

In response to: Re: Writing As A Form Of Therapy

Shaz51Senior Contributor11 June 2021, 5:35 pm AEST

Re: Writing As A Form Of Therapy

ohhh @StuF can you tag me my awesome friend xoxo

Hello @Silenus , @bipolarbunny , @Mazarita , @Dimity

In response to: Re: Writing As A Form Of Therapy

StuFSenior Contributor11 June 2021, 6:33 pm AEST

Re: Writing As A Form Of Therapy

@Shaz51Will do 🙂

In response to: Re: Writing As A Form Of Therapy

bipolarbunnySenior Contributor13 June 2021, 7:18 pm AEST

Re: Writing As A Form Of Therapy

@Bunniekins @Shaz51 @Silenus @StuF @Mazarita @Appleblossom @Judi9877 @rivergal @frog @Former-Member @HenryX @Meowmy @Anastasia @Daisydreamer @Former-Member @TAB @Fizz @AussieRecharger @TideisTurning @Former-Member @BlueBay @Oaktree @MDT and anyone else passing by that my old brain has forgotten.

So found a verse inspired by a discussion I had with my psychologist several months ago. We were talking about whether bipolar and the ability to write about it is a gift or a curse. There have been times I've found both to be true. But after writing over 100 poems since August 2020, a lot inspired by things discussed in session, there's no doubting the therapeutic value of being able to write. I'm still on the fence about bipolar being a curse or a gift, but I guess maybe they are not mutually exclusive? My psychologist is Team Gift.

BB 🐰💙

The Gift

You call it a gift, but to some it’s a curse,

Words bouncing around in a frivolous verse,

That are pulled from a mind that is fixing to flee,

The insanity waging its war within thee.

To write is to share, to share is to feel,

But nothing I write is a really big deal,

It’s snippets of madness, it’s fragments of pain,

It’s scraps of a life that is hard to retain.

Emotions are wounded, relations are raw,

And so they are perfect to jot in the score,

With stigma surrounding a troublesome heart,

The rhyme writes itself with an ominous start.

My thoughts duly splayed and chaotically tuned,

Will sometimes reveal a deep festering wound,

And if you are lucky and time’s on your side,

I’ll take you along on my bipolar ride.

But words are just words, they are hardly a gift,

Unless you control them, they’ll run you adrift,

So I guess I am glad I can keep them in line,

And present to you readers, this folly of mine.

It’s lavishly crafted and ruefully told,

The humour is legend, it never gets old,

The struggle uplifting, with tongue stuck in cheek,

You’ll never get bored of the whimsy I speak.

But serious tones will align in the fold,

I’m rarely courageous, I’m woefully bold,

For a gift to be gifted, it must be received,

For a verse to be written, it must be conceived.

So receive it I will and conceive it I must,

I’m rarely mistaken, but this I intrust,

It was never a curse, my opinion did shift,

You were right all along, when you called it a gift.

In response to: Re: Writing As A Form Of Therapy

MDTSenior Contributor13 June 2021, 7:27 pm AEST

Re: Writing As A Form Of Therapy

@bipolarbunny

This is a work of art

"With stigma surrounding a troublesome heart,

The rhyme writes itself with an ominous start."

This hit me deep. In a good way. Thank you so much for it 🙂

In response to: Re: Writing As A Form Of Therapy

bipolarbunnySenior Contributor13 June 2021, 7:29 pm AEST

Re: Writing As A Form Of Therapy

@greenpea @Shaz51 @Silenus @StuF @Mazarita @Appleblossom @Judi9877 @rivergal @frog @Always-hope @HenryX @Meowmy @Anastasia @Daisydreamer @EOR @TAB @Fizz @AussieRecharger @TideisTurning @Peonies @BlueBay @Meggle @The-Hams and anyone else passing by that my old brain has forgotten.

Here's another penned from the crazy in my head during a bipolar episode.

BB 🐰💙

Confusion

Confusion, contusion,

The wounds are so raw,

Rejected, neglected,

The soul feels it more,

Sensation, sedation,

Too numb to protest,

Restriction, constriction,

Compressing my chest.

Convulsion, revulsion,

I’m bound by a curse,

Frustrated, negated,

The stigma is worse,

Traumatic, rheumatic,

It hurts when I think,

Illusion, delusion,

I’m close to the brink.

Dramatic, erratic,

My bipolar burns,

Ignited, delighted,

The mania turns,

Elated, deflated,

An upside down frown,

Excited, shortsighted,

I’m losing the crown.

Dogmatic, fanatic,

Perfection is rife,

Emphatic, phlegmatic,

It causes real strife,

Exclusion, seclusion,

I’m lost in a fog,

Collusion, intrusion,

It’s all the black dog.

Elation, summation,

All drama aside,

Creation, formation,

It’s time to decide,

Inclusion, extrusion,

Just where you belong,

Incursion, subversion,

The war lingers on.

In response to: Re: Writing As A Form Of Therapy

bipolarbunnySenior Contributor13 June 2021, 7:34 pm AEST

Re: Writing As A Form Of Therapy

@MDT Thank you my friend, I'm glad it resonated with you. Have a great evening. xx

BB 🐰💙

In response to: Re: Writing As A Form Of Therapy

MDTSenior Contributor13 June 2021, 7:56 pm AEST

Re: Writing As A Form Of Therapy

For the past few months I have been writing letters to myself. My future self. Its a reflective exercise I am finding quite helpful

In response to: Re: Writing As A Form Of Therapy

BlueBaySenior Contributor13 June 2021, 8:19 pm AEST

Re: Writing As A Form Of Therapy

I love your writing @bipolarbunny very smart.

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