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Andrea Paquette / Bipolar Babe 7/11/2009 3:09:44 PM
This is a young woman who is making her mark on society. In a few short years, everyone will know of her and what is her mission in life. She wants to provide awareness about mental illness in hopes of eliminating stigma, discrimination and unwarranted fear against those who are inflicted.
She beieves that the changes will come with the next generation. Our children in elementaty school have not yet learnt hate, discrimination and fear. With Andrea's guiding hand, there certainly will be no ignorance.
Her idea is provide the facts amout mental illness and prove that there is nothing to fear. It is ok to have a friend with bipolar disorder, clinical depression or schizophrenia. This is a time in their life that they need real friends.
Mental illness is not much different than any other condition with the exception that it effects the brain rather than the heart, liver or kidneys. It is also an organ and sometimes things just don't work the way they are supposed to.
This is also true for other things like or computers, TVs or MP3 players. There is always something going wrong and medical problems happen to the human body. Just like any other condition, you go to the doctor, sometimes you are put on medication and life is better again. It is as simple as that.
Andrea wants others to know that mental illness is treatable and life can be very happy and you can still get married, have children and have a career. Everyone still remembers Jack Nickelson, Nurse Hatchet and The Chief from the movies, but that is not real life.
There are some cases when some lives were not quite as successful as others, especially those who are middle aged now. Treatment and services were inadequate when they were groing up and the subject was a closet issue that nobody talked about, never mind admitting that you too are mentaly ill. In those days, you were institutionalized for years or even decades and was heavily medicated in which some of the medicine had irreversible affects that caused permanent damage to other organs.
Andrea is changing all that and I thank my cereal (Lucky Charms) for that. If you do want to get an inside look at one personal case of Bipolar Disorder, check out, "The Peaceful Warrior: Memoirs of a Damaged Mind and Soul." trafford.com/06-1263
What happened in that book is exactly what Andrea is trying to stop from happening to anybody else. The fact is a whole life is possible to change with only one pill. From being dangerous to the public and himself he transformed back into a loving and caring husband again. There is treatment and people don't have to let mental illness control them anymore.
Andrea is a perfect example of how to grab life by the throat and live! I envy that wornan. She has strength, power and the will to do anything she sets her mind to. She accomplished more in the last five years that what in did in the last thirty-five. She is amazing.
If you want to talk to this wonderful woman, go to her website: www.bipolarbabe.com.
