Autism: Understanding and living as an autistic person
In the collective imagination, an autistic person is someone who is calm, withdrawn, asocial and, for some, exceptionally good at…
À la une
Bipolar Disorder: Understanding it and Living with it
After having explored autism in detail in my previous articles, it is now time to talk about my bipolar episodes,…
My disrupted sensory world: caught between too much and not enough
One of my oldest memories is watching tiny floating dust particles in the light of my bedroom window. That sight…
Mixed episode: Symptoms, Lived Experience, and Interactions with Autism
Florent The mixed episode is probably the most terrifying episode of bipolar disorder. Some will tell you that if they put themselves in the gravest danger, the mixed episode was likely the precursor. Less than half of people with bipolar disorder will experience such an episode at least once in their lifetime. The accounts and testimonies of those affected are chilling. Long considered an episode specific to bipolar type I, it is now known that all types are concerned.
Pause — Autisticisms #2: Cinema & Absurd Rigor
A short autistic pause to evoke this time a rocambolesque situation linked to my rigidity regarding rules—especially those in movie theaters—which are nevertheless displayed in huge letters with icons on a blue background in the UGC cinemas I go to, just before the film starts. Namely: avoid talking during the film, put your phone in airplane mode. For some people, these rules are apparently mere suggestions. Some of them did not see the scene I’m about to recount coming.
Mania: Symptoms, Lived Experience, and Interactions with Autism
The manic episode, for all people with bipolar type I, is the logical continuation of the hypomanic episode. Sleep is drastically reduced and energy multiplies. The person seems to behave more and more abnormally. While hypomania can go more unnoticed, the manic episode completely alters the functioning of the bipolar person. The individual appears extremely euphoric, laughs very easily, makes puns, jumps from one idea to another, multiplies projects, has grandiose ideas, and in the most severe cases, may decompensate (psychosis).
Hypomania: Symptoms, Lived Experience, and Interactions with Autism
To begin my series of articles on bipolar disorder episodes, I thought about presenting them to you in chronological order, reflecting their cycle. Hypomania is the first euphoric (or irritable) phase of this condition. It sometimes progresses either into mania (in bipolar disorder type I) or into depression. Hypomania — which can manifest in two drastically different ways — is what we’ll focus on in this article. I’ve experienced a large number of hypomanic episodes that turned me into a production machine, a walking factory.
Neurodiversity: definition, origins, and issues
Judy Singer, an autistic sociologist, gave birth to the concept of neurodiversity in the 1990s. The idea: acknowledging that cognitive diversity is part of human diversity, just like social, cultural, or even biological diversity. Initially focused on autism, it later expanded to include other conditions and, eventually, other mental disorders. Today, this movement has had a strong impact on the autistic community and on public perception of autism, but it is also subject to controversy.
Interludes: Cambodia #5 — Traveling the way I think
It’s now been two weeks since I came back from my trip to Cambodia with my group of friends. In the previous installment, I slightly veered off course, diving into social reflections sparked by a healthy dose of well-timed (or poorly timed) humor. All of it stemmed from one simple context: a trip that left almost no room for privacy. We did everything together. Today, it’s time to take a step back and look at this strange, chaotic, unforgettable vacation.
Pause — Autisticisms #1: Punctuality & Idioms
Over the years, I’ve collected a whole range of quirks — the kind that never show up in diagnostic manuals, yet quietly shape my everyday life. They’ve become part of how I make sense of my autism, and in a way, they’ve even helped confirm that the diagnosis fits. So here starts this series: small autistic misadventures, sometimes ridiculous, sometimes funny, always distinctly mine. I call them my autisticisms — a word I came up with to name these wonderfully awkward, unmistakably autistic oddities… the ones that make me smile (and occasionally other people too).
Bipolar Disorder: Understanding it and Living with it
After having explored autism in detail in my previous articles, it is now time to talk about my bipolar episodes, following the chronological order in which my cycles evolve. When people think of bipolar disorder, they often imagine someone who is sometimes sad, sometimes happy — someone who simply has mood swings (the definition of a “moody” person, essentially). The reality is far more complex. With bipolar disorder, a person oscillates between euphoric episodes and depressive ones. It is a very serious disorder that requires regular medical care to allow the affected person to function.
Autism and bipolar disorder: a dual experience that is common yet largely understudied
5 to 8% of autistic people are believed to be affected by bipolar disorder, and yet, this association between the two conditions is rarely mentioned in the literature. When you type “autism and bipolar disorder” into Google, finding a personal account can feel like a challenge. A few years ago, I took part in a podcast on this topic, sharing an experience that was almost unique—especially in France. The idea of a blog exploring both subjects in detail slowly began to form a few weeks ago. A few days later, the project was underway.
Why I’ll Soon Be Writing About Bipolar Disorder on This Autism-Focused Blog
This blog is not intended to talk only about autism. From the beginning, when the idea for this project emerged, I hoped to provide a rare and in-depth testimony about two of my conditions: autism and bipolar disorder. Why rare? Simply because I noticed how drastically the literature lacks first-person accounts from people living with both conditions, even though this comorbidity is actually quite common — with bipolar disorder being even more frequent among autistic people than allistic individuals. And in-depth, because I intended to share my experience honestly and without filter through a long series of articles detailing what it means to live with both conditions.