Bipolar Blacksmith
Becoming a blacksmith saved Bex Simon from succumbing to bipolar disorder. In fact, the illness laid the foundations for her blacksmith business. Praised for her unusual and spectacularly artistic designs, Simon has been off medication since 2009, and lives with her husband and two children. She uses her illness ‘by building like a ‘nutter’ in the mania (episodes) and designing during the dark patches.’
The Stranger on the Bridge Just before his 21st birthday, Jonny Benjamin MBE decided to run away from the mental hospital he was staying in. While he was sitting on the edge of London’s Waterloo Bridge, contemplating taking his own life, a man came up and talked him out of it. Six years later, a […]
British Film Director It was never certain that Nick’s life would work out. ‘I’m a bona fide addict,’ says the successful British writer and film director. As a teenager growing up on a South London housing estate, Love went through an intense spell of petty crime and drug taking. ‘I’ve got addiction running through my […]
The Bipolar Businessman In many ways Thomas Duncan Bell is like any other entrepreneur: he runs successful businesses, is driven and ambitious. In his early twenties, however, he was diagnosed with a bipolar disorder, after entering a local police station bleeding, pleading for help. He still occasionally suffers, yet is also directing his rather impressive […]
Writer, Lecturer and Activist Award-winning journalist Andrew Solomon always thought he was tough. But a series of losses, including the assisted suicide of his cancer-suffering mum, plunged him into a deep depression, which then morphed into ripping anxiety. ‘It was eating me alive.’ Driven to try and understand his condition, Solomon interviewed numerous fellow sufferers […]
Founders of Addictive Daughter When self-medicating with alcohol, men and drugs no longer worked, Joey Bradford and Persia Lawson decided to ‘sit through this and meet the pain.’ Persia, a daughter of drug addicts, and Joey, drinking and dating from age twelve, became best friends in drama school. After both making an ‘amazing’ inward journey, […]
Addict Turned Substance Abuse Counsellor and Lecturer George Atiase is a London-based addiction counselor and lecturer. In this moving video, he opens up about his own battles with addiction and how he eventually learned that ‘it’s ok to be me’. Apart from his love for singing, bespoke jewelry, and his motorbike, George now devotes his […]
