CPOY

CPOY 74 Interpretive Project Award of Excellence: Sam

“Every time I come back from a manic episode, it’s like I have to relearn and relive a lot of things and regain confidence. It’s so weird because when you’re going manic, you have all of that. I have that confidence, I have that assurance, I feel so alive and part of the world and connected. And then when I start going down, or at the end of my mania, it turns into something that’s a little bit more empty, and that’s where I really start fighting for those small wins, like to put a smile on someone’s face. For me, in order to regain my strength, I almost need other people to be happy around me. When you’re coming from a really bad depression, you’re coming from such a deep, dark place all of the sudden you kind of just feel this urge to want help people, because you know they go through the same things, maybe not in exactly the same way you do, but they do.” Sam Pfieffer lives with Type I Bipolar Disorder. After experiencing a manic episode last spring that caused him to lose his job and apartment, crash his car and strain important relationships, he has been spending time trying to rebuild his life. Since he started experiencing mental illness as a teenager, he has recorded and collected his thoughts and feelings into writing. I worked with Sam to examine themes and details in his writing that emphasize how he feels during mania, depression, and everything in between.

Caption
Slide 1 of 12
November 8, 2018
A portrait of Sam Pfieffer on what he called a "bad day."
Maddie Davis / University of Missouri
    370309e2-19ac-4264-82bd-3fda72cb0e29
    ecc5bfba-751d-4a8d-97e2-453573b4f870
    7a2bd203-1753-46ad-af6a-c17b6e853699
    22ebd62b-c2ca-4899-9672-6d64a50e6642
    9c75f184-4d23-407e-a58e-f27b2a2570ca
    cd6c04f7-4b87-4da0-ac5d-cecc3df30424
    e36201cd-7ccc-4d66-b73e-70560fdb0d35
    ef0c8de0-560e-4d8b-a306-7106b5e17717
    1cf1abbb-ec5e-42a0-b71c-8d9135563c3d
    fec7c862-db64-42fb-b0b5-d4b6b3553204
    See more at cpoy.org