Photo by Leigh Cohen.
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About John McManamy
Eight years ago, I was battling for my life against a suicidal depression. Soon after, at age 49, I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, an illness I had struggled with all my life, but had long denied. With no other choice but to recognize the obvious, I finally got smart. Once I was able to crawl out from under the covers I went to the computer and discovered the internet. That was the beginning of a long and rewarding journey that led to the establishment of an award-winning email Newsletter and website, McMan's Depression and Bipolar Weekly and McMan's Depression and Bipolar Web.
I am a former financial journalist with a law degree. Through my Website and Newsletter, I have turned my struggles into a lifelong dedication to helping others battling depression and bipolar disorder reclaim their lives.
I grew up in Connecticut. I first realized I was different at age 7, and had my first depressions at around age 11 or 12. By college, in the late sixties-early seventies, I was cycling in and out of depression and mania and dropped out, having no idea what was going on, believing myself to be a total failure. The one good thing about my illness back then was a crazy thought had entered my head that I would like to be a writer. But first I had to endure a number of lost years driving cabs, digging ditches, playing trombone in a soul band, and painting houses.
I met my first wife in San Francisco in the mid-seventies. She's from New Zealand, and that's where we found ourselves about 18 months later. Law is an undergraduate degree there, and several years later I had an honors law degree plus a beautiful daughter, Emily. My first job out of law school was an editorial job for a legal publishing company, which was my stepping stone to a career in financial journalism. My dream of being a writer was coming true.
At the same time, the early eighties, my marriage flamed out on me. In the mid-eighties, I moved to Australia, where a manic episode soon after resulted in me quitting my job and wrecking my chances of getting employment as a journalist there. I managed to scrimp by as a free-lancer, then returned to the US, where major depression resulted in several lost years.
When I was finally diagnosed in 1999, suddenly my whole life made sense. Suddenly I had a mission. Researching and writing about my illness is a full-time undertaking. I started out working for nothing, and eventually people started paying me. In 2004, I received a public service award from NAMI-CT, the CT Psychiatric Society, and the CT Dept of Mental Health for my Website and Newsletter.
I currently reside outside San Diego.
