This is a poem by sister Sarah Musa. I saw her recite this poem live and it was awesome. Ma sha Allah! ~~~~~~~~ The shield that protected my mind has now cracked. I used to be strong. Capable of hiding any emotions. But I have become weak. Mentally. My problems got the best of me. [...]

Lightning Crashes Thunder rolls Thought control Words recalled Knocking down the wall Dividing the City Be it Jerusalem or Berlin We take the purest things And drench them in sin These words of mine From my mind In scatter form Outside the norm Maybe worth decoding For my bipolar psyche Is in a pendulum swing [...]

My father suggested that she needed psychiatric help, but I thought he was overreacting and just brushed off his comment. The next day she was crying. I saw her crying before, but not like this. Any emotion that she showed was over the top. This kept happening over the next few days and she was [...]

Autumn has always been my favorite time of year. The glory of all the changing leaves, chilly nights and cool crisp days. Many a year this brings about a hypomanic change. Everything is clearer and brighter. I take my camera with me everywhere I go, taking pictures of all the colorful trees and feeling like [...]

I was diagnosed with Bipolar II and Borderline Personality Disorder during the summer of 2010. It was after a most unpleasant episode of uncontrollable crying, feelings of emptiness and sheer desperation that we decided it was time to seek help. I spent two weeks in a private mental hospital. I cannot even begin to describe [...]

I sure hated myself when I overlooked the last mania episode warning sign: delusions. Your brain is like a filling cabinet. It stores information and when you see similar object, it searches your cabinet to identify the object. When delusions hit, it’s as if somebody just messed up all the files in your cabinet and [...]

So we’re up to warning sign #4 for mania episodes. I’ve been behind in blogging but I’m back. The main and easiest way I can tell that a severe or even a mild episode is heading my way is by examining my sleep schedule. Regular sleep for Muslims with Bipolar is super important and here’s why: Think [...]

“Did you see him flirting with those girls? And he has a beard!” “What pants! Her jeans seemed like they were painted on! She gives us hijabis a bad rep.” And on and on the comments run. Hypersexuality is the toughest and trickiest warning signs I’ve had to deal with in my 6 years with Bipolar. [...]

So it’s been exactly 2 weeks since I last blogged. And I usually blog every week. And this takes me to my second warning sign of a mania episode – taking on too much. With the grandiose thoughts that mania brings, we start thinking we’re a god. We make gigantic promises and fail to look [...]

When I make chai, I sometimes forget it on the stove and of course it boils over, leaving a crusty residue. And if I become lazy and leave the mess, it just gets harder and harder to clean later. So after countless accidents, I either watch the tea or if it does spill over, I [...]