Poetic Mania: Author Publishes Short Collection of Poetry Produced During a Bipolar Mania

Carbondale, IL, February 27, 2009 --(PR.com)-- SIU philosophy graduate student and Highland Illinois native Aaron Rogier has published a collection of poetry titled The Red Book produced during a recent bout of bipolar mania.

When asked why he published a book of such a sensitive and personal nature, Aaron responded “There tends to be a stigma surrounding mental illness, and I don’t think that’s right. It keeps people from seeking treatment. It also keeps people suffering alone in silence. I published this book in defiance of the stigma.”

Aaron published his book online at Lulu.com under his own imprint Aleph-Sub-Aleph. “I wanted to keep control of my content so I did the print on demand thing. Also during a mania there’s a tendency to want things to happen now and there wasn’t a faster way to get this out there and published.”

The story doesn’t end with the poetry in the book. Mr. Rogier still has to cope with his condition, but feels that publishing this work helped a great deal to this end. “I tended to humanize the drugs working against the mania in the poems. One character I would have added later is lithium. So far lithium has been a kind friend in a rough time.”

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