All a Bit Mental?

Apparently today, Monday 30 March, is World Bipolar Day.  I’m not someone who usually bothers with the plethora of ‘Days’ that there are for this or that, but as I’m an archer and someone diagnosed as bipolar, I thought I should write something about how I think being the former has helped manage the latter condition.

You might know me – Henri. The Londoner with the eccentric hat/s? Dressed mostly in black, often with some obscure band’s t-shirt? However, you may not have been aware that I ‘m bipolar – type II to be exact. I was diagnosed about 20 years ago, but my symptoms and episodes go back around a further 20 years. It’s not a secret or anything I hide, but just like anyone else with a chronic condition it’s not how I introduce myself nor does it define me. If you have diabetes or celiac’s diseases, it’s not something you tell people until it comes up in conversation for some reason or it’s otherwise relevant. And despite how mental illness is sometimes portrayed, bipolar is for the most part boring and tedious as well as distressing. Hence, I don’t go around introducing myself by saying ’Hi, I’m Henri. I’m bipolar.’

Bipolar put simply means you can get both depressive and manic episodes, and with my type that can sometimes be in quick succession. These episodes are more acute than the everyday ups and downs of life, and can be completely debilitating and/or unmanageable, with negative consequences for both sufferer and those close to them. At its worse it’s terminal.  I’m lucky enough to be able to manage my condition without medication or any formal therapy at present. I’ve done that for quite a while now by, amongst other things, managing how I live with my condition such that I maintain a certain level of equilibrium. Archery now contributes to that. I wish I’d found it, or rather returned to it, sooner.

As a teenager, I’d taken up archery, but as often happens with teenagers I then got distracted by other things and so stopped practicing. It was my partner who said she’d like to give archery a go a couple years ago, and the rest is history … I did some research into my old club , the Black Lion Archery Club. Medway, Kent. Looks like it no longer exists but stumbled upon Medway Archers whose origins in 1964 was as a therapeutic group set up by psychotherapists in a ‘dungeon’ under the Medway Hospital. As such, and previously unbeknown to me, my introduction to archery in Medway always had therapeutic associations.

I’ve heard it said that archery is to a significant extent a psychological sport. In fact, a number of articles have been published on this website exploring the mental aspects of archery and how sometimes archers may struggle with them. But does archery also have mental health benefits?

Flying a tent is also good for stress

One of my triggers, as is common to many with bipolar, is stress. My work, while I love it, can be at times stressful, as can life generally. Anything that can distract from or relieve a build-up of stress therefore helps. The focus and repetition required for archery works particularly well in providing such a distraction. Shooting well, requires a calmness almost like a meditative state. It’s not uncommon that I turn up to a Wednesday evening session feeling a bit discombobulated after work and leave a lot calmer and no longer focused on whatever at work had been stressing me.

One side of bipolar associated with more manic episodes is having rather grandiose ideas about yourself. That is something I’ve definitely experienced to the point of extreme delusion. Again, I think archery helps with that, providing a grounding in reality when you shoot some rather mediocre end, helping to bring me down from any such delusions. Thankfully, I’m not that good, otherwise it might have the opposite effect and cause even more grandiose delusions, although one bad end should quickly disabuse me of those.

Then there is just the general calmness of shooting. Target archery is normally an orderly and surprisingly sedate affair. Life is often anything but, and in the mind of someone with bipolar that can be particularly problematic. So archery in general can provide a safe space when things are feeling out-of-control or falling apart, allowing a chance to regain some equilibrium.

Henri in his natural habitat

I am also a member of a field archery club which offers other benefits. Sometimes bipolar can make you feel very unsociable, and while you can be as sociable or not as you want at GA,  field archery offers a different environment where you are not necessarily shooting with others. The woodlands where I regularly shoot provide a natural setting which itself is therapeutic – I often shoot down a lane of trees with birds singing and flitting across it, and deer occasionally taking a slightly anxious look at what I’m up to (I’m a vegan! They’ve nothing to fear).

That archery may be good for mental health generally, and not just bipolar, is not revolutionary thinking or revelatory of course. I’m not an expert on the clinical research to support that, but regular physical activity is often cited as therapeutic for those struggling with their mental health. I hear that in France archery can even be prescribed.

So long may I keep benefiting from my own self-prescription. It’s not a cure-all but I think it definitely helps. It is also unlikely that I am the only one in the club who experiences those benefits. While the world is slowly getting better at talking about mental health, there is still a lot of stigma and prejudice which might make people fearful of doing so. I hope that by writing about my own experiences I might in some small way mitigate that, and if you want to talk to someone about your own mental health or supporting someone with poor mental health, I’d be happy to listen. You might be better talking to my partner though about supporting someone with a mental health issue. There is also a lot of help out there, some of which is available via the links below.

*          *          *

Bipolar Scotland: https://bipolarscotland.org.uk/
See Me: https://www.seemescotland.org/
SAMH: https://www.samh.org.uk/
MIND: https://www.mind.org.uk/

Finally, one of our club members is carrying out research on the mental health benefits of archery for a course. You can complete the online survey here: https://eu.surveymars.com/q/dcgk5Yj60