Hi and Thank You for Visiting
Crazy Crissy's Bipolar T-Shirts Web Site
If you want to get right to the store, click the store link on the left. Yes, I really design shirts for people with Bipolar Disorder. Each one has a unique saying on it and some have graphics. Some amusing, some serious and some irreverant. Why? Because they're educational to those who don't know what BP is, because they're fun, because some poke fun back at those who make fun of us, because they make a point and because I can.
You will find great t-shirts, long and short sleeve, sweatshirts, tanks, v-necks, plus sizes and now maternity shirts. I also have coffee cups, journals and mousepads, coaster tiles, bumperstickers, buttons, magnets and lots of other things.
If you have time, there's a couple of things I want to tell you.
Everything in the store is covered by a 30 day, 100% money back guarantee. So if you get your products and you have a problem with them in any way, just follow the instructions and return them. No problem, we want you to be happy.
Also check for sales coupons. I usually have at least a coupon for $5 off 20, sometimes more.
They don't call me Crazy Crissy because I have Bipolar Disorder. It's more because of my outlook on life and I'm not afraid to try new things. And I like excitement and getting an adrenaline rush every now and then. Before my time is up on this earth, I plan on parachuting, owning my own bike and seeing the country on it, even if I have to do it alone, and going out on that glass platform that hang over the Grand Canyon just to name a few. I'm usually the only one in a group who will try the weird food on the menu, like a raw clam with a raw quail egg on a half shell in some kind of sauce... it was pretty good. I like to challenge my fears, Some of the personal ones, like my fear of relationships are harder but I'm working on them. It's a real rush to stand on a cliff with that fear looming and the challenge of doing it helps me get over my fears. Although I can't seem to shake the fear of heights no matter how many times I challenge it. So people have told me I'm crazy a lot, in an affectionate way. So please don't take offense, it has nothing to do with being a person with Bipolar Disorder, it's just about being who I am as a person. I don't define who I am by the illness, it's an illness not me.
I was diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder in 2000. I knew there was something wrong long before that and can now see that as early as my teen years Bipolar Disorder was a a factor in my life. I'm currently 55 years old and like many, was forced to retire and go on SSI as a result of the illness. I spent most of my life as a stay at home mom and later, when my kids grew up and I got tired of the ex's other women and abuse I divorced him and put myself through college and earned a B. A. I worked for a little over 6 years and had two breakdowns and it was decided that working was too much. It was during that time I was diagnosed. My mother has Bipolar Disorder as did my brother until it took his life last year. So I didn't work long enough to qualify for SSDI and the long term disability at work didn't cover "mental illnesses". Even though Bipolar Disorder is a biological illness caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain, as long as it's classified as a mental illness people are going to face that discrimination.
After a few years of trying to find the right medication cocktail that would give me some stability, my psychiatrist finally came upon the right med's and I started feeling better and more stable. In August of 2005 I opened my first Cafe Press store, Crazy Crissy's Biker T-Shirts & Shyt. It started doing pretty good and about a month later I opened Crazy Crissy's Bipolar T-Shirts. I can't work in a workplace setting but I seem to be able to work from home at my own pace and I take the time off when I need to. My dream is to become self sufficient again. I'm working hard to get there and if that's your dream you can do it too. I've added Avon to my businesses so now I'm an Avon independent sales representative. It's great because I can be an erep and sell online.
I don't like to complain about having Bipolar Disorder and what it's like. I'd rather take the good days and make the best and most of them I can. Everyone with the disorder knows about the hell, the confusion, the mental anguish and pain of it. We live with the stigma, the ignorance, the misconceptions. With families who don't understand, who can't understand or even who don't want to understand. Because the illness has different levels we even get it from other Bipolar's who don't understand. Some of us like me walk this path alone, no support in the real world, no one to hold you when you need to be held or no one to comfort you when you need it. No one to look at face to face and talk to when you need to talk. No one to hold your hand. That's the ugly side and not all of us have just the that side. I've been helped a great deal by med's. There are a lot of you who have great families and friends and support systems. Where ever you're at in this journey, we are all in it together.
Whether you're open about the illness or not is up to you personally. I choose to be open and tell people what it is. I'm not embarrassed or ashamed I have Bipolar Disorder. I didn't cause it or bring it upon myself. It's an illness and I have it. It's a brain disorder, a chemical imbalance. It's a biological problem in the brain that effects the mind. I'm not mentally disturbed, my brain is biologically affected by imbalanced brain chemicals. That causes problems sometimes with my mind. The problem is that people think that Bipolar Disorder means mentally disturbed. Well, it doesn't. Get the brain chemicals right and things clear up pretty good for some, but we still have our times when even meds don't help. Ask any psychiatrist whose worth a damn and they'll tell you the same thing.
Share Your Site or Blog
If you have a site or blog that you want to share with others with Bipolar Disorder, please send me an email and I'll reveiw your site and if it's a site that will help others with the illness I'll add a link or banner, if you have one, to this site. I'm trying to make this site a community where we can share and link together. Send me your site and a short description to crazycrissy@crazycrissysbipolartshirts.com
This is a great site, full of information and love. There is a really good book available that I recommend to everyone whose family doens't understand what it's like to have Bipolar Disorder.
If you have any sayings that you would like to see on a t-shirt, please let me know. I make custom t-shirts but if you send me a saying and I use it in the store, I'll give you $5 off a t-shirt with that saying on it. If you just want to donate sayings, then I'll take those too! If you donate a lot of sayings, I suggest that you open your own store and make some money yourself! So if you have a head full of sayings about anything, see the Open your Own Store page!
This is a form of therapy for me. I create art on my computer. Some I draw and then manipulate, some I start with colors or patterns and then manipulate. I usually work for hours on one piece getting the colors and shapes just right.
Self Portraits
Is the System Working Against You?
I'm hearing from a lot of my friends with Bipolar Disorder how they are haivng trouble getting the meds prescribed by thier health care professional because they are not covered by Medicaid, or what ever their state's equivilant is. I'm also hearing how they can not survive on thier SSI with the cost of living skyrocketing. I too am facing the same problems with being able to get the meds that my psychiatrist prescribes for me. Others on SSDI cannot afford the meds because of MediCare changes and some plans don't cover the meds thier psychiatrists or doctors prescribe.
There are many other things we face when we become disabled due to Bipolar Disorder. Most employer long term disablity will only cover you for two years if your disablity falls under the mental illness category. If it doesn't, it will cover you until age of retirement or longer. I find this to be extremely discriminatory. Another thing I find to be discriminatory is that if you collect SSDI you are allowed to earn a little over $600 a month before they start deducting it from your check. If you are on SSI, that amount is I believe $68 a month. We typically make less on SSI and if we can do something to supplement our incomes why are we not allowed to earn as much as those on SSDI? Yes, I know that they have worked longer and had enough credits to get SSDI but some of us were not able to work long enough to get those credits becuase of our illnesses.
In these times of increasing costs of living, we need help. Most of us have talents that we could use to bring in an extra income. Those with bipolar disorder are usually very creative people. Some do crafts, some work with wood, some are artists, musicians, glass workers, jewelry makers, and so on. Some could tutor or be consultants. There are so many ways for us to make money. But we are dinged if we earn over $68 and only get to keep half of what we earn. For most of us, what we do is not steady and we cannot count on earning enough the next month to cover what will be taken out from the previous month's income and if we don't, we're screwed. We need reform.
We also need the medication our doctors and psychiatrists prscribe for us. They know us, see us, talk to us and know what we need. How can a government isurance agency know our specific probelms and needs? What gives them the right to deny us the medication our physicains prescribe for us? They have never called me and asked me how I was feeling or about my symptoms, how can they make decisions about my health? In some cases, like mine and my brothers, denying us the meds that our psychiatrists prescribe leave us three options. To continue with the symptoms, go off our meds or to take illegal street drugs. This sounds drastic but it is a fact.
The meds have slowed me down so much that I have no energy or motivation. The same thing happened to my brother and he had a high energy job and couldn't keep up. As was explained to me by a therapist. When a person spends most of thier life in a manic/hypomanic state they get psychologically atticted to it. The term for this is syntonic. In addition, because Medi-Cal won't approve Xanax, which I took for a few years before going on SSI and felt great on, I'm now taking klonopin in a higher dose and it makes me tired all the time. The higher dose because that's what it takes to work. My psychiatrist presctibed Strattera to give me the energy and motivation back and Medi-Cal won't cover it for Bipolar Disorder. I've tried just about every over the counter energy product on the market and have tried just about every one at the health food store as well. What do I do? My psychiatrist says I need a stimulant. He says it's not uncommon. My brother chose speed, had a manic episode and was shot by the police.
I tell you all of this because it's time that changes be made in the system so that we, who live with Bipolar Disorder, get what we need. If you're not getting what you need, are having problems with Social Security or any other agency, having problems at work or anyplace because you have Bipolar Disorder please let me know. One voice will not be heard but the voice of many will. Remember the Gay Movement? They banded together in unity and were heard. If I hear from enough of you I will form a Bipolar Rights Movement and with your help we will work to effect changes for all who are under the classification of mentally ill. Tell me what changes you see that need to be made. Let's put our minds together and not just complain but come up with solutions. Share your story? I will dedicate part of this site to Bipolar Activism and Effecting Change so that we are heard, seen and understood.
