• Français
  • English

    • Spectrum & Cycles

    Chronicles from an atypical mind — Unfiltered and unapologetic

    autism

    Bipolar disorder Non classé

    Depression: Symptoms, Lived Experience, and Interactions with Autism

    Florent No Comments

    After the (hypo)manic episode or the mixed episode, depression arrives. Almost systematically. And the higher one flies, the more violent the final crash. The depressive episode is the bipolar episode that speaks most clearly even to those unfamiliar with the disorder. Literature and science have addressed it in thousands of articles. It is better known simply as depression. Between 13 and 20% of the population (according to Wikipedia) will experience it at least once in their lifetime. It is an integral part of bipolar disorder and haunts the lives of those who suffer from it.

    Read More
    Bipolar disorder

    Mania: Symptoms, Lived Experience, and Interactions with Autism

    Florent No Comments

    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).

    Read More
    Bipolar disorder

    Hypomania: Symptoms, Lived Experience, and Interactions with Autism

    Florent No Comments

    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.

    Read More
    Journal Pause — Autisticisms

    Pause — Autisticisms #1: Punctuality & Idioms

    Florent No Comments

    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).

    Read More
    Bipolar disorder Journal

    Autism and bipolar disorder: a dual experience that is common yet largely understudied

    Florent No Comments

    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.

    Read More
    Bipolar disorder Journal

    Why I’ll Soon Be Writing About Bipolar Disorder on This Autism-Focused Blog

    Florent No Comments

    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.

    Read More
    Interludes Journal

    Interludes: Cambodia #4 — Laughter, bugs, and other social glitches

    Florent No Comments

    Sometimes the best fits of laughter come from pure randomness. I’m continuing my trip through Cambodia with my friends, passing through Skun — the town of fried tarantulas — and a deluxe hotel at 20 euros a night, just for the experience. These past two weeks, I’ve cried from laughing at least once a day. Goal: one daily tear-inducing laugh during these 25 days of travel.

    Read More
    Interludes Journal

    Interludes: Cambodia #3 — Understanding Without Words

    Florent No Comments

    Almost two weeks spent in Cambodia. A few autistic crises along the way, but above all a lot of laughter with my friends (sometimes to the point of crying) and discoveries I had missed during my two-month end-of-studies internship in the country back in 2017. This week was also an opportunity to reflect on a number of subjects that matter a lot to me: languages, what it really means to travel abroad when you’re completely out of your depth, and even theory of mind (spoiler alert: it was the allistic side that failed this time). A rich and introspective interlude.

    Read More
    Interludes Journal

    Interludes: Cambodia #1 — Back to orderly chaos, through an autistic lens

    Florent No Comments

    8 years after the most incredible trip of my life, I’m returning to Cambodia tomorrow — a country whose culture fascinated me, whose kindness almost unsettled me, and whose culinary experiences were endlessly delicious. Ever since planning this trip, I’ve been bringing up (partly as a running joke) the famous fried tarantulas from Skuon — undeniably one of my greatest discoveries. A few months ago, I managed to convince a few friends to choose Cambodia as our travel destination.

    Read More

    Next Page »

    Vous avez raté

    Bipolar disorder Non classé

    Depression: Symptoms, Lived Experience, and Interactions with Autism

    Bipolar disorder

    Mixed episode: Symptoms, Lived Experience, and Interactions with Autism

    Journal Pause — Autisticisms

    Pause — Autisticisms #2: Cinema & Absurd Rigor

    Bipolar disorder

    Mania: Symptoms, Lived Experience, and Interactions with Autism