Ayelet Waldman Quotes

I want to show people my successful side, but I want to show you my bipolar side, too.

'An Unquiet Mind' wasn't hard to write in terms of the actual writing of it.

I tend to write about my anxieties - it's what I'm afraid will happen. And I write a story working it out.

I start with something that makes me angry or confused, and then I write about it. It's a form of self-help.

One of the things that has always motivated me to write is the desire to get it out and look at it in an objective way, so that it doesn't cause me any serious pain by staying inside.

I have moments of darkness, of anger, and moments of rage. They do creep up at the most inopportune times. Not to recognize that in my music would give people a sense of sainthood that I don't necessarily have or even want to have.

I just feel very lucky to be able to write fiction because I think, otherwise, I would have had to spend a fortune on a psychiatrist - and I still wouldn't get 1/100th of what I get writing fiction.

Sylvia Plath wasn't scared of exploring the darker side of her psyche.

I wrote a show - just as a joke, actually - and called it 'Bipolar, Bath, & Beyond,' just to bring some humor to it. I wasn't saying to myself that I'll 'come out' with it - I didn't think there was anything to 'come out' with - I was just writing another one-woman show about my life.

I'm open about having bipolar disorder. I'm open about being of mixed race. I'm open about being bisexual, and I have this wantingness to talk about it, and for me, it's about more than being a role model for any specific community.

I've been writing books because it's been my way of dealing with the demons. The act of sitting down and writing the books down has started healing process that's been long overdue.

Writing is a type of therapy for me. I'm always trying to break down what happened, and why I felt a certain way.

It's interesting when you write something for somebody else, and then you're like, 'Oh man, I just laid my whole trip on them, and they don't even know!'

I write in a diary every night to collect my thoughts. It's very therapeutic to songwrite, because it's the same thing.

I think and write whenever I want an outlet.

Writing is very cathartic for me.

I had so many people in my family with dementia that it felt like it belonged to me in a way. I feel like the same with teenage depression because I went through it. I feel like I'm allowed to write about it; it's mine.

With each book, I've found myself more and more able to draw off the personal and still be as vulnerable as I need to be as a writer.

I love bipolar people.

I was diagnosed with bipolar affective disorder at 19, which I thought would derail my career. Thankfully, I was able to get help and continue the path, and I think, for me, the buzzword is perseverance.

I am bipolar, and I am proud. And that is why I wanted to write a book. To shine a light on mental illness, to be vulnerable about the days I let it take control and paid dearly for it, and to tell anyone fighting a similar battle: You are not alone. You are not broken.

Some people don't like showing any deviation from normality, but I like talking about things like that, so talking about my mental health wasn't a big deal.

I just always wanted to study human behavior because every psychologist that I would talk to would tell me I was bipolar, and I know I'm not bipolar, so I had to perform a psychoanalysis on myself to find out that I have unresolved grief.

A novel, especially a first novel, is... really an emotional autobiography. All these emotions I'm embarrassed at having had, I've written about.

When somebody openly talks about having depression, it's a very brave thing to do.