We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Michael Schiumo a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Michael, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

The most-meaningful project I have yet to work on is the publication of my memoir, (In)Sane, the story of my journey with Bipolar Disorder.

(In)Sane is an expedition through the depths of a mind lost in mania. After years of suffering through undiagnosed Bipolar, I found myself at the precipice of disaster – jobless, broke, and alone in a psych ward. This harrowing account of my sojourn through the mental-healthcare system touches on the moments of desperation and triumph alike, with a twist – I begin the retelling of my story between hospitalizations, while still embroiled in severe mania.

Several years later, driven by the need to make sense of the madness, I returned to (In)Sane to lend perspective to what was happening in the reality brewing outside of the concrete walls of the psych ward. Told in two parts that strive to capture the full spectrum of moods that comprise Bipolar, (In)Sane aims to bring understanding through brutally honest and transparent accounts of what it is truly like to grapple with the cataclysmic consequences of uncontrolled mental illness, and what it means to find hope and purpose on the other side.

Following the publication of (In)Sane, I have had the privilege to speak for organizations like National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), Mental Health Alliance (MHA), Columbia University, Fairleigh Dickinson University, and more. It is through sharing my story that I have been able to help others struggling with mental illness, as well as those who have a loved one going through hardship related to their mental illness, to overcome these obstacles, and find understanding.

Ultimately, (In)Sane was but the first step of what I hope will become a defining constant in my life – spreading awareness about the Mental Health Crisis, and the severity of its consequences within our society.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

My name is Michael Jan Schiuma, and I am an Author, Poet, and Mental Health Advocate from New Jersey. Although I have long been a writer, my first published work is my memoir, (In)Sane, which was released in September of 2023. Since then, I have also published three works of poetry – from new york with love, words to love by, and to be loved by a poet, the last of which was released in October of 2024. In addition to these books, I also curate custom poetry for followers and patrons, allowing them to commemorate and share their love with people in their lives in a unique and heartfelt medium.

In 2018, I went through a severe episode of psychosis onset by mania due to undiagnosed Bipolar Disorder. As a result, I spent months in various psychiatric hospitals, followed by years in recovery programs. This dangerous progression of my mental illness resulted in the total collapse of my life, during which I lost everything – my job, my money, my friends, my family. It was in the middle of this chaotic saga of my life that I began to put down the first draft of what would eventually become my memoir, (In)Sane. For this reason, I believe that (In)Sane is a unique offering, as it captures the mindset, thought patterns, paranoia, decision-making, and altered reality of someone experiencing severe mania, which is difficult to find elsewhere.

After several years, I returned to what I had written in 2018, and found that there was something useful there – it was a way of communicating and welcoming others into the oft-misunderstood world of someone experiencing crisis due to mental illness. As a result, I spent the next 5 years writing the second half of (In)Sane, which is essentially a series of reflections that lend context to the original text. In 2023, I took the leap, and published my memoir to the world, accepting the idea that I would forever be labeled as ‘mentally ill’ by society due to my choice to label myself as such.

In many ways, my poetry was a source of solace for me, a means through which I could contain my thoughts and grapple with ruminations. Ultimately, I was encouraged to share my poetry with the world, and published my first poetry book, from new york with love, as an ode to romance for my girlfriend, essentially a love story told through poems.

Words have always been important to me, and, thus, it is truly heartwarming and rewarding to know that they are important to so many others. With 15,000 followers on TikTok, Instagram, and elsewhere, I am just starting my journey to becoming the writer and mental-health advocate that I have always wanted to be.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

As I mentioned earlier, my life went into free-fall in 2018 when I was diagnosed as Bipolar. I truly lost everything, including any discernible path to my future. It was in the midst of my recovery that I decided to pursue further education in a field with which I had no previous experience – Computer Science. I completed a one-year program in Software Engineering, and successfully made the transition to working as a full-time Engineer in the Tech Industry, a space totally unrelated to my previous occupations in Finance, Diplomacy, and Renewable Energy.

Many people might think that, after leaving the psychiatric hospital, life returned to normal for me; this couldn’t be further from the truth. Pursuing a career as a Software Engineer was but one aspect of the overhaul of my life, which included navigating the pitfalls of my mental illness. Although I doubted myself nearly every step of the way, I was able to overcome this episode of my life, and resilience was at the heart of my triumph.

Sometimes, just making it to tomorrow is the most-important step in success, and this is a lesson that I have learned countless times through this journey.

How did you build your audience on social media?

My success on social media was incidental by most accounts. After publishing my first poetry book, from new york with love, I was encouraged to begin posting my poems online. At first, I received very little engagement, but I continued to post. Along the way, I learned some important lessons that have allowed me to amass 15K+ followers across platforms.

Firstly, consistency is key. If you want to obtain any kind of following, you must be posting every day, multiple times per day, and on as many platforms as possible.

In terms of finding your niche, don’t be afraid to find inspiration in others in your space. It took me quite a while to find the right way to present my content, but once I had, I saw my following grow precipitously.

Finally, you have to have a passion for what you are doing, and be willing to share about yourself in a public setting. Chances are that someone else is already making content that you want to make, but YOU are the only one who can make content inspired by your story.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.mjswrites.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/poetrybymjs/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61567616997820
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-john-schiumo-7860b668/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/man1cmillennial
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@MJSWrites
• Other: LinkTree – https://linktr.ee/mschiumo

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