The Peddler and the Artist

James Carpenter was born in Culpeper, VA. While continuing his education abroad, he was first diagnosed as having Bipolar Disorder or “Manic Depression”. After years of dealing with numerous Doctors, prescriptions, hospital stays and therapists, he was finally diagnosed as being Schizoaffective. NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) defines the disorder as follows:

“Schizoaffective disorder is a chronic mental health condition characterized primarily by symptoms of schizophrenia, such as hallucinations or delusions, and symptoms of a mood disorder, such as mania and depression.”

James wrote over 1,100 poems in the course of a few months with this diagnosis. These writings begin in this collection before you. The writings are at various stages of his illness, while battling side effects of medication or while he was having a full on episode of the disorder. 

James is a first time Author as of this collection.