By Jaime Ortega Carrascal |
Bogotá (EFE).- Colombia is a bipolar society in which people find an insult easier than a demonstration of empathy or kindness, says writer and journalist Maribel Abello Banfi, co-author of ‘The Beauty of Madness’. , a book about bipolar disorder written in collaboration with journalist Catalina Gallo.
Abello and Gallo, who have just presented their book at the Bogotá International Book Fair (FILBo), say in an interview with EFE that in today’s society the anxieties and needs of others are easily forgotten and people begin to “insult immediately.” to the other, to point it out, to treat it badly, and that is part of the collective problem.”
Mental health in Colombia
“I think we are a bipolar society and we should look at that because we constantly talk about violence and talk about peace, we talk about the communities that have suffered violence but we are not aware that this is a constant in this country; It is not taken seriously that a society collectively can have bipolar disorder, I think Colombia suffers from that,” says Abello.
These types of situations, they believe, occur with anyone, and much more so with those who suffer from a mental disorder, as is the case of the authors, who suffer from bipolarity.
“You have to treat people with more respect, an insult comes very easily, on the other hand, empathy does not come so easily,” says Abello, also known in Colombia as a television actress and theater director.
Gallo agrees with her, who defends that bipolar disorder “is an illness and must be treated as such.”
“My message is that we mentally ill people should not be afraid, that we are people like anyone else and that what we have is like having a hypertension problem, a diabetes problem or any other chronic disease,” he says.
Letters about the disorder
The idea of writing ‘The beauty of madness’ (Aguilar) arose after Gallo published a book in 2016 titled ‘My bipolarity and its tidal waves’, which caught Abello’s attention and proposed an exchange of letters to discuss the topic. .
“I read the book and I was very excited to know that we shared it, me in secret, and she who was bringing it to light (the disorder). I called her (…) and told her: ‘why don’t we write this book, with letters,’” says Abello.
Thus was born the book in which in 34 letters that were exchanged between March 6 and November 1, 2023, they lift the veil to talk and discuss bipolar disorder, how they have managed it, the hospitalizations, the approach with astrology and angelology on the one hand and science-based treatments on the other.
“We both deeply respect the view of life that is behind the letters (…) that was very stimulating to continue writing,” says Gallo, who points out that with the book they do not intend to “solve anyone’s problem” but rather “make it a company for other people who suffer the same thing, who suffer from the disease.”
Leave the stigma
Abello, for his part, says that it is about “giving hope to change the view (of bipolarity) and so that people understand that this is part of your life.”
In this regard, Gallo draws attention to the fact that there is “a very large social stigma towards the mentally ill”, although as a result of the pandemic, “which brought the issue of mental illnesses to the fore in a very noticeable way.” , more is said about these topics.
“But it is necessary to talk more because the trial is there, the rejection is there, the accusation is there,” he says.
Abello recognizes that, in her case, having spent 30 years dedicated to acting took her “to other realities” and that helped her “maintain a normal life,” but when she stopped doing it she began “to feel the disorder as such.” suffer it because it was no longer in that unreality of the creation of art but in daily living.”
“It’s not easy, the difficult thing is not only to accept it but also for the family to help you, for the family to understand it,” he says.
