A Northern Ireland woman who lives with a diagnosis of Bipolar is breaking the stigmas which surround the disorder.
Emma Thompson, who is originally from Moneyreagh, says her Bipolar Disorder is her "super power" and she has developed a creative spark that she never knew she had. That creativeness has allowed the mum-of-one to launch her own business, and more recently, open up a shop.
Hailing her family and friends for the support they have given her through her journey with depression and anxiety, and her Bipolar Disorder diagnosis, Emma says she will always be grateful for them.
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Speaking to Belfast Live, the 43-year-old said: "I grew up in Dundonald and when I was 12, I moved to Moneyreagh. I feel very fortunate to have grown up in the 80s when there was no computers, no smart phones - if you needed to find something out, you went and looked in a book or an encyclopedia.
"I was diagnosed with depression not long after I had my daughter in 1996 - that was the first time I had ever felt low, and looking back, it could have been post-natal depression. Whenever I got my first prescription, it did make me feel better for a short period of time but there was nothing that ever really made me feel normal. I never felt normal.
"Every time I went back to the doctor, it was always a conversation about trying different medication. It never seemed to make me feel the way that I thought I should feel. I had a good conversation with my doctor at one point and from that, my doctor asked that I kept a mood diary for a couple of months and to come back and see her.
"I didn't really know where she was going with it, but I did it anyway and when she looked at the diary, she said 'Emma, I think you have Bipolar' and she sent me to a psychiatric appointment, which frightened me to begin with but actually, the experience from diagnosis to medication was emotional, but I felt like they understood me.
"Within a few weeks, I felt myself again. What was quite obvious to the doctors, I think, was the obsessive behaviour and the hyper focus on things. I can now see that whenever you are obsessing about something, you aren't going to go to the doctors because you feel like you are on top of the world, mostly.
"It is when you are at your lowest point of Bipolar, that you go and seek the help."
Emma says even though she is medicated, she still has obsessive behaviours and does experience "the lows". And as she celebrates opening a new shop for her business 'Bee Haven' in Ballygowan, Emma has noticed that some of her Bipolar symptoms, have actually helped her in the world of business.
Using TikTok, Emma has now built a community of almost 70,000 followers, who are watching her videos all about Bee Haven, and more recently, they have seen a more vulnerable side of Emma, where she has shared more about her experiences. And she is so open, she says, so that she can raise awareness for the condition.
"I actually feel fortunate in a way, to have Bipolar Disorder," she added.
"It is my super power and it helps me create. If I funnel that energy into the right thing, I can make something amazing happen, and that is what I have done with Bee Haven. That probably did come off the back of a hypo-mania episode.
"Having Bipolar Disorder is not a negative. For me, I am not sure that I would have been able to create this business if I didn't have Bipolar. It takes an awful lot of hours of work, and focus. I am not saying that people who don't have Bipolar can't create a business, but I do think it has helped me and I don't see it as a negative on my life.
"People have been incredible, and they have called me brave, but it is not that, I am just genuinely open about most of my life. I suppose I started on TikTok talking about my passion for saving bees, and then going on to show an inside into how I create my products. Gradually, over the last six months, I have become more open about my journey to here.
"I don't have a picture-perfect life where nothing goes wrong. If it goes wrong, I'll tell you about. it, and I think my followers appreciate that and connect with me on a deeper level."
For more information on Emma's business, please click here.
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