--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I won't say that writing tamed the Black…" description: "\"“I won't say that writing tamed the Black Beast. It soothed him, though, enough so he agreed simply to occupy a corner of my mind...Gradually, I redire..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9a3/terri-cheney-27205_bipolar_i-won-t-say-that-writing-tamed-the-black_3167266.jpg" --- # I won't say that writing tamed the Black Beast. It soothed… ![“I won't say that writing tamed the Black Beast. It soothed him, though, enough so he agreed simply to occupy a corner of my mind...Gradually, I redirected my focus and skills towards causes much closer to my own heart: writing and mental health advocacy. [...] I felt so good at times that I even…” quote by Terri Cheney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9a3/terri-cheney-27205_bipolar_i-won-t-say-that-writing-tamed-the-black_3167266.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9a3/terri-cheney-27205_bipolar_i-won-t-say-that-writing-tamed-the-black_3167266.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9a3/terri-cheney-27205_bipolar_i-won-t-say-that-writing-tamed-the-black_3167266.jpg) > ““I won't say that writing tamed the Black Beast. It soothed him, though, enough so he agreed simply to occupy a corner of my mind...Gradually, I redirected my focus and skills towards causes much closer to my own heart: writing and mental health advocacy. \[...\] I felt so good at times that I even wondered, was I still bipolar? In my community work, I saw so many people who were much worse off than I was - deep in their disease in a way I no longer seemed to be. I knew that this often happens to manic-depressives: the brain forgets the ravages of the illness they way a woman forgets the pains of childbirth. You have to, to survive. But it's always a dangerous place to be, because you inevitably start to question the need for medication, therapy, and all the other rigorous stopgaps of sanity so carefully put into place to prevent another episode.”” [Terri Cheney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terri-cheney/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Writing can soothe a troubled mind, but also raises doubts about treatment and stability. **In simple terms:** Writing helps, yet can cause questioning of care. Key Takeaway Balance creative work with professional help. Themes mental health creativity self‑care Mood introspective hopeful Type personal motivational When to use this quote - therapy sessions - writing practice - support groups - career decisions Key Concepts self‑reflection advocacy Questions to Reflect On - Do you rely on writing for stability? - How can advocacy support personal recovery? A Different Perspective Creative focus may distract from necessary treatment. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bipolar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bipolar/) [Bipolar Community](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bipolar-community-5749733/) [Health](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/health/) [Mental health](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mental-health/) [Wondered Bipolar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wondered-bipolar-5749732/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) [Writing Mental](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing-mental-5382605/) [Writing Tamed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing-tamed-5749734/) ## Related quotes > [I'm struggling at the end to get out of the valley of hectoring youth, journalistic middle age, imposture, moneymaking, public relations, bad writing, mental…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-spender/i-m-struggling-at-the-end-to-get-out-of-the-valley-of-hectoring-youth/) [Stephen Spender](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-spender/) > [“Writing is mental exercise and the preeminent method to train the mind to achieve a desirable state of mental quietude. Meditative writing, a single…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kilroy-j-oldster/writing-is-mental-exercise-and-the-preeminent-method-to-train-the/) [Kilroy J. Oldster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kilroy-j-oldster/) > [“The world is essentially bipolar: driven to extremes but defined by flux. Saints are always just a stumble away from sinners. Nothing is absolute,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terri-cheney/the-world-is-essentially-bipolar-driven-to-extremes-but-defined-by/) [Terri Cheney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terri-cheney/) > [“I actually stopped talking. I actually listened. So I knew that I wasn't all the way manic, because when you're all the way manic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terri-cheney/i-actually-stopped-talking-i-actually-listened-so-i-knew-that-i-wasn/) [Terri Cheney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terri-cheney/) > [“At least when I was an adult, I had a name for what was wrong with me: manic depression. 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The management can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-fry/living-with-bipolar-schizophrenia-or-any-other-mental-condition-takes/) [Stephen Fry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-fry/) > [Because of my bipolar disorder, I tend to these mixed states, which are depressed but loud and agitated. So I can be terribly irritable.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayelet-waldman/because-of-my-bipolar-disorder-i-tend-to-these-mixed-states-which-are/) [Ayelet Waldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayelet-waldman/) > [“Bipolar illness, manic depression, manic-depressive illness, manic-depressive psychosis. That’s a nice way of saying you will feel so high that no street drug can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christine-f-anderson/bipolar-illness-manic-depression-manic-depressive-illness-manic/) [Christine F. Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christine-f-anderson/) > [“It’s a little-known secret, and it should probably stay that way: attempting suicide usually jump-starts your brain chemistry. There must be something about taking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terri-cheney/it-s-a-little-known-secret-and-it-should-probably-stay-that-way/) [Terri Cheney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terri-cheney/) > [It's more common than not that bipolar illness will start in the teens. One of the reasons I spend a lot of time on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kay-redfield-jamison/it-s-more-common-than-not-that-bipolar-illness-will-start-in-the/) [Kay Redfield Jamison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kay-redfield-jamison/) > [Society takes what it wants. The artist himself does not count, because there is no actual existence for the work of art. The work…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-duchamp/society-takes-what-it-wants-the-artist-himself-does-not-count-because/) [Marcel Duchamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-duchamp/) > [Sometimes labeling is only useful, like with OCD. Once you're labeled you can be treated. On other occasions labeling leads to tyranny, like with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-ronson/sometimes-labeling-is-only-useful-like-with-ocd-once-you-re-labeled/) [Jon Ronson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-ronson/) ## More by Terri Cheney > [“It’s a little-known secret, and it should probably stay that way: attempting suicide usually jump-starts your brain chemistry. There must be something about taking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terri-cheney/it-s-a-little-known-secret-and-it-should-probably-stay-that-way/) [Terri Cheney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terri-cheney/) > [“...love is a chemical imbalance, too. That perilous highs and desperate lows and extravagant flurries of mood are not always symptoms of a broken…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terri-cheney/love-is-a-chemical-imbalance-too-that-perilous-highs-and-desperate/) [Terri Cheney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terri-cheney/) > [True beauty, I realized,is not the absence of ugliness, but the acceptance of it](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terri-cheney/true-beauty-i-realized-is-not-the-absence-of-ugliness-but-the/) [Terri Cheney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terri-cheney/) > [“The memory of sustenance is a terrible thing. Far worse, I think, than actual starving. Starving just kills you. Longing can gnaw away at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terri-cheney/the-memory-of-sustenance-is-a-terrible-thing-far-worse-i-think-than/) [Terri Cheney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terri-cheney/) > [“These flies were half the size of my fist. 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So I knew that I wasn't all the way manic, because when you're all the way manic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terri-cheney/i-actually-stopped-talking-i-actually-listened-so-i-knew-that-i-wasn/) [Terri Cheney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terri-cheney/) > [“True beauty is not the absence of ugliness, but the acceptance of it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terri-cheney/true-beauty-is-not-the-absence-of-ugliness-but-the-acceptance-of-it/) [Terri Cheney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terri-cheney/) > [ “\[ \] manic sex isn't really intercourse. It's dicourse, just another way to ease the insatiable need for contact and communication. In place of… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terri-cheney/manic-sex-isn-t-really-intercourse-it-s-dicourse-just-another-way-to/) [Terri Cheney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terri-cheney/) > [“The world is essentially bipolar: driven to extremes but defined by flux. Saints are always just a stumble away from sinners. Nothing is absolute,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terri-cheney/the-world-is-essentially-bipolar-driven-to-extremes-but-defined-by/) [Terri Cheney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terri-cheney/) > [“Without the darkness, how can we ever hope to understand the light?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terri-cheney/without-the-darkness-how-can-we-ever-hope-to-understand-the-light/) [Terri Cheney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terri-cheney/) > [“Happiness is fine, in its season, but happiness out of season is a sure harbinger of doom.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terri-cheney/happiness-is-fine-in-its-season-but-happiness-out-of-season-is-a-sure/) [Terri Cheney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terri-cheney/) > [“Stories don't always have to end happily.. Sometimes it's just enough that they end.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terri-cheney/stories-don-t-always-have-to-end-happily-sometimes-it-s-just-enough/) [Terri Cheney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terri-cheney/) > [“If you nurture it long enough, a lie can become a life.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terri-cheney/if-you-nurture-it-long-enough-a-lie-can-become-a-life/) [Terri Cheney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terri-cheney/) > [“The cruelest curse of the disease is also its most sacred promise: You will not feel this way forever.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terri-cheney/the-cruelest-curse-of-the-disease-is-also-its-most-sacred-promise-you/) [Terri Cheney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terri-cheney/) [Explore all 19 Terri Cheney quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terri-cheney/) ## More Bipolar quotes > [Sometimes labeling is only useful, like with OCD. Once you're labeled you can be treated. On other occasions labeling leads to tyranny, like with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-ronson/sometimes-labeling-is-only-useful-like-with-ocd-once-you-re-labeled/) [Jon Ronson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-ronson/) > [Society takes what it wants. The artist himself does not count, because there is no actual existence for the work of art. The work…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-duchamp/society-takes-what-it-wants-the-artist-himself-does-not-count-because/) [Marcel Duchamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-duchamp/) > [It's more common than not that bipolar illness will start in the teens. One of the reasons I spend a lot of time on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kay-redfield-jamison/it-s-more-common-than-not-that-bipolar-illness-will-start-in-the/) [Kay Redfield Jamison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kay-redfield-jamison/) > [Every seventeen minutes in America, someone commits suicide. Mostly, I have been impressed by how little value our society puts on saving the lives…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kay-redfield-jamison/every-seventeen-minutes-in-america-someone-commits-suicide-mostly-i/) [Kay Redfield Jamison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kay-redfield-jamison/) > [Madness is to think of too many things in succession too fast, or of one thing too exclusively.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/madness-is-to-think-of-too-many-things-in-succession-too-fast-or-of/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [Flippin up my phone, touch screen motorola. They figured I was bipolar the way I sipped that syrup and soda.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/riff-raff/flippin-up-my-phone-touch-screen-motorola-they-figured-i-was-bipolar/) [Riff Raff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/riff-raff/) > [“Creativity is closely associated with bipolar disorder. This condition is unique . Many famous historical figures and artists have had this. Yet they have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/preeti-shenoy/creativity-is-closely-associated-with-bipolar-disorder-this-condition/) [Preeti Shenoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/preeti-shenoy/) > [Ordinarily he was insane, but he had lucid moments when he was merely stupid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heinrich-heine/ordinarily-he-was-insane-but-he-had-lucid-moments-when-he-was-merely/) [Heinrich Heine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heinrich-heine/) > [I was hoping that I could say stuff about mental illness that maybe people didn't know. You know, speak up for bipolar disorder and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-millegan/i-was-hoping-that-i-could-say-stuff-about-mental-illness-that-maybe/) [Eric Millegan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-millegan/) > [I have never gone for a diagnosis and I don't consider myself to be bipolar, but I have extreme moods. I get heightened. 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On the floats we would get the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-fisher/i-thought-i-would-inaugurate-a-bipolar-pride-day-you-know-with-floats/) [Carrie Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-fisher/) > [I just always wanted to study human behavior because every psychologist that I would talk to would tell me I was bipolar, and I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-gates/i-just-always-wanted-to-study-human-behavior-because-every/) [Kevin Gates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-gates/) > [“Insomuch as the structure of this book parallels that of my own mind, it boasts about as much order and linearity as a hallucination.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melody-moezzi/insomuch-as-the-structure-of-this-book-parallels-that-of-my-own-mind/) [Melody Moezzi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melody-moezzi/) > [“In our family "whim-wham" is code, a defanged reference to any number of moods and psychological disorders, be they depressive, manic, or schizoaffective. Back…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-lovelace/in-our-family-whim-wham-is-code-a-defanged-reference-to-any-number-of/) [David Lovelace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-lovelace/) [Browse all 373 Bipolar quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bipolar/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“I won't say that writing tamed the Black Beast. It soothed him, though, enough so he agreed simply to occupy a corner of my mind...Gradually, I redirected my focus and skills towards causes much closer to my own heart: writing and mental health advocacy. [...] I felt so good at times that I even wondered, was I still bipolar? In my community work, I saw so many people who were much worse off than I was - deep in their disease in a way I no longer seemed to be. I knew that this often happens to manic-depressives: the brain forgets the ravages of the illness they way a woman forgets the pains of childbirth. You have to, to survive. 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