Needles For Free: a bipolar episode

Thanks for checking this out. It’s not perfect, but it’s my artistic expression of what it’s like to live through a manic episode. As a bipolar man, it’s important that I scream about mental illness from the mountaintop. It’s a common theme in my work. With countless mental institution stays and a life that has been impacted by mental illness, I have to tell my story.

This text was inspired by ＂Flowers For Algernon＂ by Daniel Keyes and Lu Xun’s ＂A Madman’s Diary.＂ Both very influential works on my writing and mind.

I hope you enjoy reading. Take care of your mental. If you need medication, take it. It’s the only way. Mind over matter doesn’t work when your mind is the matter.

PEACE

Ryan Smith s a lifelong resident of suburban Philadelphia, PA. He is a graduate of Penn State University, by way of Howard University. He has been a writer his entire life, but really felt the urge to take it seriously after studying under E.R. Braithwaite, author of the classic novel, ’To Sir, With Love.’ Smith’s work can be read in Ebony, Complex and Don Diva magazines as well as Philadelphia Weekly. He is bipolar.