Writing to raise awareness

By Lauren O’Brien

Two Windsor women are using creative writing to overcome their personal struggles and raise awareness.

On Nov. 18, Alysza Ripley, 20, was diagnosed with Psychogenic Non-epileptic Seizures (PNES) which Ripley and her doctor call spells. PNES resembles epileptic seizures but is entirely psychological. She had remained undiagnosed for four years, going through episodes where she forgets everything including her own identity. She hopes her current novel, Part of Life, will help raise awareness of the disorder.

The first time Ripley went through a spell she said it left her terrified. It made her wonder if she was losing her mind.

“I was with my family, we were having an argument.” Ripley said, “The next thing I know I’m outside with no shoes on and I am down the block and I’m running,” Ripley said.

Sarah Pickard, 20, is a creative writing student at the University of Windsor. She focuses on the LGBTQ genre, writing unique fictions for the community. To her, writing speaks stronger to individuals than other forms of media.

Both Pickard and Ripley were participants of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), a non-profit organization that runs annual writing challenges. The challenge encourages writers around the world to write 50,000 words during the month of November.

It is estimated that PNES is diagnosed in one in every 33,000 people. Despite how prevalent it is, the disorder is rather difficult to diagnose because the symptoms vary for individuals.

Since Ripley’s first spell, they have become irregular. Once, she had a spell every day for two weeks straight. Another time she went 11 and a half months without a single one.

She said they have hindered her everyday life and her biggest struggle is being alone. Ripley cannot leave the house without being on the phone with someone. During the month of November, she attended two write-ins NaNoWriMo hosted. These events are put together to help encourage writers to reach out to the community and write together. It was the first time in months that Ripley felt independent while in public.

“When I got there and I hung up the phone, essentially I was alone. No one else knew my problems. That was a huge thing for me because I was able to just be a normal person for two and a half hours,” she said.

Right now, Ripley is on the path of overcoming her disorder. She said it’s important for her to stop isolating herself, exercise and only take medication for pre-existing problems.

Self discovery is an important aspect of Sarah Pickard’s writing. She said she hopes her writing has a part in normalizing sexuality. She also tries to face issues like sexism and racism.

“So much of LGBTQ literature is coming out stories and that’s great, but sometimes you just want to see a lesbian punch a dragon,” Pickard said.

She said her writing influenced her brother to figure out he was bisexual. Four years ago, she based a character off of him. As the character evolved she started to include homosexual characteristics. About a year ago, he came out as bisexual and she’s proud that he discovered himself.

This experience with her brother’s story only strengthened her opinion that writing and reading can be both personal and healing. Pickard said it is as if you are living in someone else’s life for a while.