 |
| At a speaking engagement... |
Greetings!
My name
is d'Philip Chalmers and I was born on Thursday, the 7th of December of 1961 in
Chicago, Illinois. I have fathered four children by three different women; I am
presently married to my wife of 19 years and we live in the same suburb I grew
up in with our two school age children. I’ve always been an artist, a writer
mostly but I have dabbled in music, video, performance and photography. On the contrary, most of my employment experiences
have been as a professional driver, a marketing manager, in retail sales or
with a multitude of menial labor opportunities for cash under the table. I was,
as a child, considered to have great potential to excel academically because of
my high IQ (176), however, I was more autodidact and was never very interested
in the educational process in school. As an adult, I earned both an
occupational degree in sound engineering and production (1981) and then a
bachelor's degree both in media communications and marketing (1991), but to
date I haven't made very much of these accomplishments. I have tried to start
and operate four different businesses in the past 30 years. I enjoy the
organizational development process, but fail to manage the daily routines of running
a small company. These days, I prefer to work by myself at home, simply
writing. I am on disability as the
result of a major psychotic break in November of 2006; and that, in essence, is
what this book is all about...How I've Learned to Successfully Manage My
BiPolar Disorder so that my Life Goes On!
There
are dozens of clinical and educational books about what BiPolar Disorder is,
including books from a personal stand point by a wide range of people and their
BiPolar experiences, not to mention, hundreds of resources available online for
gathering information about all aspects of this very serious mental
disorder. Why is this book any
different, what makes this story worth telling and how could I shed any more
light on an already exposed issue? This is why; with this book I have crafted
an engaging, unique style of telling my story which will create something of a
“BiPolar experience” for the readers of this book. This book not only teaches
you facts about BiPolar Disorder, but it will give you a taste of this madness
as well. In reading this book, a graphic, vulnerable, sometimes brutal journey
of one person’s personal struggle then perhaps, one might have a better
understanding of this mental illness. My hope is that after you read this
story, if nothing else, you will have a bit more empathy for those afflicted
with this disease (and others). I have not only been living with this disorder
since I was 14 years old when it was still being called “manic depression”,
I
have been very diligent for the past 20 years in developing a form of therapy
for myself which includes a variety of traditional and nontraditional methods
for managing this disorder. I have personally used my own mind and body as a
vessel for experimentation with numerous substances, drugs, medications and
preparations. I have undergone many forms of therapy throughout the whole of my
life: extending from family systems talk therapy, which focused on the dynamics
of my family situation, to new age men's groups which included sweat lodges,
dancing naked around bonfires with other men, and expressing every emotion
imaginable in an effort to exorcise the demons I felt inside of me. There are
literally dozens and dozens of notebooks, computer files, and scraps of paper
with my meandering journal entries in them dating back as far as the 1970's
with all of it, every last page of it, somehow stemming from this affliction of
mine, this Rapid Cycling BiPolar 1 disorder.
 |
| www.dphilipchalmers.net |
BiPolar
disorder is a very serious mental illness of which there is no known “cure” for
and all we can do, as patients and a community, is learn how to best manage
disease and develop the best possible coping skills we can. I am not a doctor nor a clinical researcher
so although I will use some clinical and medical terms to describe this
disorder, I use it in context of reference only, and make no claims to having
any formal training on this subject matter.
No formal training unless you count the past 37 years (plus) of having
this mental illness and learning, the very hard way, how to successfully manage
it to enjoy a very productive, positive and happy lifestyle. I am inspired to write this book because,
through the various blogs and online community forums I have participated in, I
realized that my words and actions, the things I was doing for myself and then
sharing with others, was, in fact, starting to work for them as well! Indeed, when these random folks from the
Internet tried doing the things I was doing, it was somehow working for them
too. I make no claim that this is any kind of a cure for this horrid disorder,
I suspect it's a different matter for different people because it always is,
however, if I can help somebody, anybody and/or their loved ones who are
suffering with this disorder, I'll have
successfully reached an important goal.
I have a lot of hope for those of us who are dealing with this “blessed
curse”; we are a very unique breed, often with a lot of positive potential and
passion for Life.
Although
this book should give you a clear and concise insight into how this disease
manifested in the life of one person (me), it is most certainly not a guide for
diagnosis. If you suspect this disorder,
my best and most sincere advice is to get yourself a professional psychiatric
evaluation by a doctor or clinic that specializes in mental illness. This is not an easy step to take, quite
frankly, it's like going to find out if you have cancer or something, it is
that scary! Think about this, if you
were having trouble with your heart or your digestive system, you would not
hesitate to seek professional medical help, would you? So why is it, when it comes to having your
brain checked out, possibly one of the most important organs in your body,
people cringe at the thought? It's perhaps more terrifying than seeing a dentist,
yet it's far more important to simply have your brain checked out, perhaps even
tuned up a little, after all, without the full function and potentials of your
brain/mind, your life and health could be far worse! Trust me, BiPolar disorder can wreak havoc
throughout your world, it will negatively impact the world of nearly everybody
you come into contact with, it's that destructive. It can kill you, in fact, you get so down you
get suicidal. If it doesn’t kill you, it can easily turn inside out, creating
homicidal actions causing you to do harm to others, without any control of yourself! Being BiPolar is nothing to shrug
off, don't laugh about it (well, maybe a little) but don’t just keep ignoring
the fact. If you even slightly think you
or someone you know is ill, please get professional help as soon as
possible! I know, with all my heart and
soul, that if I did not get the treatment I did when I did, I would be dead
today. So get help if you need it,
please!
 |
| Valerie Anne Chalmers 11/18/83-4/16/01 |
Lastly,
in my most humble of moments, this book is deeply inspired by my sweet,
departed daughter, Valerie Anne...for it was in her tragic loss, that I finally
found my own salvation.
Thanks
for reading and Enjoy!
Have
Peace, Share Love, Find Bliss!
Be Well,
d’Philip
01 June
2014
Palatine,
Illinois, USA, Earth
ZXZXZXZXZXZXZXZXZXZXZXZXZXZXZXZXZXZXZXZXZXZXZXZXZXZXZXZXZXZXZXZXZXZXZXZXZXZXZXZXZXZXZXZXZXZXZXZX
 |
| Looking down on San Jose from The Lick Observatory |
This week is a very short blog because I’m not in town…I’m
promoting “My BiPolar Reality; How Life Goes On…” in The San Francisco bay area
this week. Yesterday I had an awesome day with my wife driving into the bay
along the long, twisting route towards the Lick Observatory and then into San
Jose for an evening engagement with a church organization.
I’ll be in Berkeley tonight and all day tomorrow…then back to San Francisco
until Thursday afternoon when I’ll finally get to come home again. We’re
staying near SFO, the airport area in a place we stayed last year before we
relocated but check out time is in a couple of hours and I have two meetings
(non promotional) before this afternoon’s engagement in The Haight and then
Hippie Hill and all that fun!
|
| www.dphilipchalmers.net |
The 50% off deal expires at MIDNIGHT TONIGHT, but we’re
backlogged with orders because it was rather successful. I wish I could convince
my publishing partners that a lower price point on this title will sell more
books. I have been reasoning that people like me, people who are dealing with
BiPolar and other mental illnesses are, more often than not, struggling to get
by financially and so we should offer the book for half off ALL THE TIME…or at
least, for those afflicted, get a 50% off deal but so far, it’s done no good. I
understand the value of this book, I can see the reasoning in keeping it
competitively priced but I really don’t care about the dollars. I just want the
book to get out there because I KNOW IT HELPS people and that’s my primary
mission; Helping People.
They have been listening, there was mention of
lowering the price again at the end of May, when my promotional tour is ending…so,
if you’re interested in getting the book for HALF THE PRICE NOW buy it from my
website, www.dphilipchalmers.net
BEFORE MIDNIGHT TONIGHT or wait until it goes on sale again at the end of May. I
hope you get it now, before the book gets too popular to reduce the price by
that much (that’s almost cost)!
In conclusion, I do hope everyone is doing well and I’ll do
my best to stay in touch this week, at least with a few photos and random
observations. As always, I am very Grateful for your comments and if you’d be
so kind as to re-share this blog article with others, that’s the best!
Take care, be well and stay safe!
Peace,
d’Philip
Monday 20 April 2015
South San Francisco
The Republic of California
Earth
