Dreaming in a Mixed State is a piece of digital artwork by Elizabeth McTaggart which was uploaded on May 23rd, 2014.
Title
Dreaming in a Mixed State
Artist
Elizabeth McTaggart
Medium
Digital Art - Fractal Art And Digital Collage
Description
Dreaming in a Mixed State
I had a wonderful friend who had bipolar disorder. He was an artist and visionary and could have been an amazing architect, had he kept to his "doctor's orders" and all that entails for bipolar management. But he didn't and he moved to LA and lived out the rest of his short life on a wild ride of fun, drugs and frequent, but short, episodes of normality. During these times we would spend hours on the phone. He was convinced that I had something to do with earth quakes as I had an uncanny knack of calling him just before or during a tremor :) Of course that's crazy and I'd tell him so -- but it didn't matter. Sometimes he would call after being woken by some dream of colors and numbers and sounds, knowing that I have sent him some coded message of an event that has yet happened... I knew about "mixed states" in bipolar ~ even experienced it sometimes on some of our marathon phone calls ~ I imagine that these dreams were products of being in, or having had, an extended episode of a mixed state. This image is my visual interpretation of one of those dreams. eam
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Bipolar disorder, also known as bipolar affective disorder, manic-depressive disorder, or manic depression, is a mental illness characterized by episodes of an elevated mood known as mania, usually alternating with episodes of depression. During mania an individual feels abnormally happy, energetic, or excitable, but often makes poor decisions due to unrealistic ideas or poor regard of consequences. Manic and depressive episodes can impair the individual's ability to function in ordinary life.
In the context of bipolar disorder, a mixed state is a condition during which symptoms of both mania and depression occur at the same time. Individuals experiencing a mixed state may have manic symptoms such as grandiose thoughts while at the same time experiencing depressive symptoms such as excessive guilt or feeling suicidal. Mixed states are considered to be high-risk for suicidal behavior since depressive emotions such as hopelessness are often paired with mood swings or difficulties with impulse control. Anxiety disorder occurs more frequently as a comorbidity in mixed bipolar episodes than in non mixed bipolar depression or mania. Substance abuse (including alcohol) also follows this trend.
[source: Wikipedia]
Uploaded
May 23rd, 2014
