Being bipolar is kind of like being a stunt driver. It’s a daring ride. Both dangerous and exhilarating, you can’t help but to want more. So how exactly is being bipolar like being a stunt driver? Well, I’m glad you asked.
When mania hits, it’s like a stunt driver hitting the ramp to jump over the canyon. The car leaves the ground and it’s exhilarating. It’s a freeing feeling fleecing your body. I smile because everything feels good.
Then I get to the peak. I start to think about how I have to come down. Like the stunt car driver in the air, eventually I will get pulled back to the ground. The exhilarating feeling quickly takes a turn and becomes a constant panic.
Two things can happen from here. I either land on the ground on the other side, or crash into the canyon. The thoughts of both scenarios flood my mind, growing louder and more vivid. My heart beats faster as I start to fall.
I grip onto the steering wheel and soar, feeling that sinking feeling in my stomach as gravity pulls me down. I close my eyes and…
I’ve always landed on the ground on the other side. But every time I land, there’s a thought in the back of my head that nags at me. When will I finally crash? It plays through my head over and over again.
I build up for the next big jump, the next big manic stage. The cycle repeats, over and over again. Like a terrifying job that I can’t retire from, being bipolar is like being a stunt driver. Scary and dangerous, but also exciting and exhilarating.
Tyler Wittkofsky is a multi-genre author, blogger, award-winning marketing and communications professional, and fierce mental health advocate from the southern coast of North Carolina. Tyler has been writing short stories for as long as he can remember. Growing up the grandson of an English teacher, Tyler had a constant fuel to his creative fire in his grandmother.
He started writing poetry in 2012 to cope with his mental health struggles with anxiety, bipolar, and depression. Using poetry as an escape, he developed a unique style of poetry that has left readers saying, “Tyler’s voice is compassionate, even while suffering, and I felt the despair and loneliness seeping out through his words.” His first poetry collection, composed of poems written from 2012 to 2016, was published in March 2020.
He began his first novel in 2019. The novel, (Not) Alone, was a story based on true events surrounding the struggles of living with mental illness. Described by readers as “An Intimate Closure with Mental Illness,” this began Tyler’s revitalized passion for mental health. He decided that his writing would have a focus on mental health.
His next novel, The Seeds of Love: Sunflower Kisses Book One, was his debut romance novel and debut series. Described as “a great job of relaying the realistic emotions of young love and emotional drama that is particularly difficult for young adults…”, his debut romance novel was met with much success.
In 2021, Tyler began writing short stories. He was accepted into several anthologies in mid-2021, expected for publication in early 2022. He also writes supernatural horror and historical fantasy for the online magazines In the Pantheon and In the Crescent. He has work published through Five Minute Affairs as well.
He built his website www.TeaButWithCoffee.com in 2021. On this site, he started his blogging journey. He began writing book reviews, interviewing indie authors, and writing on mental health. This passion sparked a new desire to connect with more people. Tyler is currently in the beginning stages of two podcasts that he hopes to be live by the end of 2021.
Tyler currently lives in Leland, North Carolina with his wife, Grace, and dogs, Dutch and Belle.
You can find him and his works here: https://linktr.ee/wittkofsky
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Tyler Wittkofsky 