19/07/2010

Just posted an open letter to a few newspapers. Let's see what (if anything) they have to say:

"Once you realise that you are not like the majority, you can either feel sorry for yourself. Or celebrate. I chose the latter and set up my own website. My name is Morten, I have just launched www.crazylikeyou.com, as dating and social networking site for, well, crazy people. I was getting fed up with the general consensus about mental “illness” and “disease”, as if it is something that should be cured, not embraced. But also with the lack of understanding (was just out of a relationship when I decided to set up this site)

I have officially been diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder, and that was a huge problem. I actually wanted to get cured by whatever means possible. Cue years of drugs, therapy and self hate. The drugs did succeed in calming me down, at the terrible price of never being fully awake. Then, one day, after much reading, writing and therapy (psychology, philosophy etc) AND physical exercise I realised I wasn’t actually ill, just different. And by now, Bipolar is a condition, not a disorder. For me, at least

There is a surge for people to come forward with their mental illnesses, look at the campaign by two of the main meantal health charities, Mind and Rethink, Time to Change. I sincerely hope this campaign helps people come to terms, but I fear that all it will achieve is to tell people “it’s not your fault, we all feel sorry for you”

Thanks to internet tests, I have further self-diagnosed ADHD, OCD and even Asperger’s syndrome…… I no longer describe myself as bipolar, it is someone else’s definition of who I am.

Yes, of course this site is a business venture, and part of this letter is to get mentioned in your paper and get free advertising. But being who I am, it is also very much questioning common wisdom, and giving another perspective. It is a call for people to be honest, open, and not to hide behind self-pity. It is very much inspired by Nietzsche’s saying “you must become who you are”. Once you start putting labels on people, they very easily get stuck

Crazily Yours,
Morten Hansen"