Two Trees Media — the Bipolar Experts

Madeleine Kelly has suffered with bipolar disorder since the age of 16. She was diagnosed ten years later.

In the interim she studied medicine at the University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia but illness forced her withdrawal after four and a half years' effort.

She has worked as a human resources manager, publicity officer, mental health advocate, educator and small business consultant. She has also worked as a consumer consultant for quality improvement in Victorian public mental health services. Madeleine has also worked as a cleaner, and, for one day, a bicycle courier.

Madeleine has served as secretary and president of the Victorian Mental Illness Awareness Council and is a member of the Australian Mental Health Consumers Network and the Mental Health Legal Centre of Victoria.

In 1992 Madeleine co-founded Mood Works, an education group run by, and for, people with bipolar disorder. A talk she gave at MoodWorks entitled 'Can you predict your mood swings?'  evolved into Madeleine's system of identifying personalized, idiosyncratic behaviours that are typically repeated in the lead-up to an episode.

The system is fully explained in Bipolar and the Art of Roller-coaster Riding and involves learning what signs to look for, and having pre-planned 'brakes' (to stop the episode developing) and 'safety nets' (to prevent a full-blown episode from causing excessive damage to the sufferer's life).

Madeleine lives with her family in Victoria, Australia, where she is pursuing a life in the mainstream, particularly in the arts. Look at her other creative work..

If you would like to contact Madeleine, please email her.

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