A diversion from BiPolar into the history of Broadway...

"1959 The Miracle Worker is the toast of Broadway tonight as the story of young blind and deaf Helen Keller and her companion, Annie Sullivan, is brought to life by young Patty Duke and Anne Bancroft. This show, which opened at the Playhouse Theatre, won Bancroft a Tony Award for Best Actress, and playwright William Gibson won the Tony for Best Play. The 1962 film starred these same two women, now winning Oscars for their performances. The play will run 719 performances. "

From myDNA.com:

"Most people with bipolar disorder believe that successful treatment would significantly improve their quality of life and that treatment satisfaction is achieved by efficacy and tolerability, according to final results from the large scale Thinking Ahead survey.

The survey conducted in eight countries revealed that bipolar disorder had a major negative impact on sufferers' lives and that of their family and friends. The final survey data were announced today to commemorate the 13th World Mental Health Day (WMHD) and to raise public awareness of the impact of this under-diagnosed condition."

By Melanie B?chard - Fort Frances Times Online

"Karen Liberman, executive director of the Mood Disorders Association of Ontario, was in town last Wednesday evening to speak to people about her experiences with mental illness.

And while the story of her descent into madness and the journey back could not have been an easy one to tell, Liberman recounted it with humour and compassion.

She began with her mother.

Liberman grew up in Toronto in what she called a ?disgustingly normal? 1950s family. It was a happy childhood, she said, until about age eight or nine when ?ever so slowly, ever so insidiously, something started to happen to this beautiful, outgoing, dynamic woman that was my mother.?

?She started to fade away,? she recalled."

Photo of Dr. Beth Baxter from Rochester Democrat and Chronicle www.democratandchronicle.com

By Donna Jackel, Staff Writer

(October 4, 2005) ? When Dr. Beth Baxter was a resident in psychiatry at the University of Rochester, she had to hide her own mental illness from her colleagues.

"I would be taking care of patients and feeling so bad about myself," said Baxter, 42, who will be speaking Wednesday at a sold-out lecture at the Rochester Academy of Medicine. Baxter, of Nashville, Tenn., is returning to Rochester with a message of recovery. About 10 years ago, she tried to cut open her arteries with a piece of sharp glass. She believes she was spared to help others and now does public speaking and writing about mental illness.

GETTYSBURG, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 3, 2005--The results are in and the public has spoken; The Patty Duke Collection of plush bears by The Boyds Collection Ltd. (NYSE: FOB - News) is a bona fide hit! Making their official debut for sale to the public on September 27 during a special daytime broadcast on the QVC network, the initial offerings in the line became an instant hit, with many of the creations offered reaching sellout status during the one-hour presentation. After making their debut on the QVC network, the thirteen plush bears of The Patty Duke Collection by Boyds will be available at participating local Boyds retailers beginning in October.

All in your head, and real - News from Utah

By Jamie Lampros
Standard-Examiner correspondent

OGDEN -- For eight years, Gary Olpin suffered in silence while one doctor after another misdiagnosed him.

"Each doctor had a different diagnosis," he said. "I was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder, everything you could think of."

Then three years ago, the Ogden resident finally got a confirmed diagnosis -- bipolar type II rapid cycling with schizoaffective disorder.

"I have had the full-blown hallucinations, I've heard the voices, communicated with these people. I can even smell their cologne. It's like everything you can attribute to a bad drug trip, only I have never touched an illegal drug in my entire life," he said.

"It's scary stuff."

"As she sips her cappuccino at a local cafe, Lorraine "Rainey" January greets fellow customers with a wide smile and sparkling eyes. "On the outside a lot of people think I'm very together and relaxed" says January, casually sweeping her blond hair from her forehead. "But if they could see me on the inside," she adds, trailing off as she takes another sip.

Most people wouldn't know it from looking at her, but January suffers from an often-debilitating mental illness known as bipolar disorder. "I want to paint a picture of a person you see every day and really has something to offer," says January. "I'm not crazy I'm just a little unwell; that's my theme song," she says, referring to the matchbox twenty hit single."

Daily News Journal - Murfreesboro, TN