Have you ever noticed that some people just move faster? They seem more focused at times … and they show more exuberance for just about everything. The highs they experience may seem perfectly normal to them … and others may even sense they are merely in a good mood …. 
These people are often praised most by managers … because they are capable of more energy and can complete three times the normal tasks other workers take on. People at work can hardly keep up … and often these folks can find themselves climbing the corporate ladder faster than their co-workers. On occasion … though … this same behavior is symptomatic of a serious mental disorder … called hypomania.
Folk singer and guitarist Chris Louviere, uses his music to share his own personal struggles with the bipolar disorder… hypomania. Like Chris… many who face a family history of bipolar disorders such as hypomania … struggle alone for years before finding help. Check out the musical expression of those struggles and solutions in his latest album titled HYPOMANIA and listen to opening lyrics from Chris sing “Benzo Train.”
Through music … Louviere tells of his mother who suffered from misdiagnosed bipolar disorder. He explains how fear of mental problems kept him away from treatment for years. While he inherited his mother’s illness … Chris began to find answers that helped, and music was central to his journey to wellness as well as to his .
In “Benzo Train,” he sings about his attempts to slow down his racing thoughts, and of problems he faced because of using the wrong drugs. Have you seen music’s ability to help people to achieve more calm and with it … a better sense of satisfaction?
Hello Dr. Weber:
This is Christopher Louviere, the person whom you cited in your article. The problem with Bipolar II is that when the person is manic, he/she can take on twenty different projects with relative ease. Then, the depression hits--all of those projects gets put on the back burner and are never finished.
I did find a way to utilize my mania by working endless hours in the recording studio. It was not unusual to pull a twenty hour session, take a thirty minute break, and go again for another twenty hours. In fact the song "Benzo Train" was recorded that way. Most of the songs from HYPOMANIA were recorded between midnight and 7 AM. I used the daytime for rehearsal and the night time for actually recording. Music recorded at night creates a certain ambiance in the room in which one is recording.
It made a very fine CD. And you are right in that I used my music to express things about my mother's and my illness. Nobody knows more about mental disorders than those who actually have them, once they've reached the point where they desire answers and take a proactive role in their own wellness.
I know my illness well. I know what triggers manic or depressive episodes. I am on the right medications now. I'm no longer riding the "Benzo Train," but it turned out to be a damn good song.
I appreciate your mentioning me in your article. I'm glad you got it right. I've been misquoted and misunderstood. How fortunate for me that you dug a little deeper when writing your article.
If you ever want to contact me, my e-mail address is attached to this communication. Or you may call me at 337.313.4861. I would appreciate hearing from you.
Thanking you in advance for your time and consideration in this matter, I am
Sincerely yours,
Christopher Louviere
Posted by: Christopher Louviere | February 8, 2009 7:40 PM | Permalink to Comment