So as well as community pharmacy, my other passion is poetry. I tend to write either when I’m really happy or really sad- unfortunately usually the latter!
One of my favourite poems is one I wrote about Bipolar Disorder. I deal with a few patients with this as well as a close family member, so I am very well-versed!
It is a serious brain disease where the sufferer has extremes in moods- from the very high to the very low. The patient usually needs a mood stabiliser drug such as Lithium or Quetiapine. Various other medication can be added like antidepressants or antipsychotics tailored to each individual.
It can be a very debilitating disease if not managed well. However, patients can expect to live a fairly normal life if they stick with their medicine regimes and avoid triggers as much as they can.
So.. back to my poem! Here I am trying to envisage what it’s like having such a chaotic mind, where the chemical imbalance in the brain is causing erratic thoughts .. then the medication calms .. eventually the sufferer can see some kind of normality again. I hope my poem helps sufferers and their close ones too. You can do this!
The Bipolar World
The mind becomes a prism
Except the lines are not parallel
And no sides are equal
The blurred edges merge
Like seas with no definite edge
Water moves forward and back
Waves in constant motion
Every second is a spillage
Of the grey, an idea
That has no bounds
No one knows where
The senses are heading
To which sea,
Or to which
Edge of the shapeless day
The brilliance of the brain
Becomes a slave to
Meaningless thoughts
That bounce off the waves
Splashing against the prism.
Until the shape reforms
The edges straighten and
It floats, once again,
Calmly in the sea-healed ❤️
Let me know your thoughts on this!
Until the next time ..
R x
Rifat Writes 