15 Minutes at a Time

In my mind lie a box and a silent world that I try desperately to escape from every moment of every day.</br><B>Matthew Mark Nichols</B>-May 1988</P><P><I>Fifteen minutes at a time</I>. That is the world of Matt Nichols a thirty-seven-year-old writer elementary teacher filmmaker and parent. He is a small percentage point of a growing population living with the form of mental illness known as bipolar disorder formerly known as manic-depression. He has also been diagnosed with ADD (attention deficit disorder) OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder) SAD (social anxiety disorder) SMD (seasonal mood disorder) and if you throw in a few more letters he'd be 3-D (three-dimensional).</P><P>There are many wonderful self-help and success story autobiographies that have been written to illustrate a life with bipolar disorder. Yet none like this. Nichols uses a unique blend of I am poetry sketches anecdotes and life experiences to show a world which is thought from inside the box. His observations are remarkably accurate thought provoking and beautifully written.</P><P>Topics range from the darkest issues of suicide anger humiliation and failure to the inspirations of parenting family nature hope and love. There is something for everyone. Nichols' writing engages readers to share empathy reflection and common experiences that weave their way throughout each of their own lives as it relates to nineteen years of his own experiences.</P>