Article in the 'HumeLeader'

Hume Moreland Leader
Edition 1 - HOVWED 02 JAN 2008, Page 003
Shock and healing
By Laura Banks banksl@leadernewspapers.com.au

IN 2001, Diahann Lombardozzi faced the biggest obstacle of her life. This year she has turned her being diagnosed with bipolar disorder into a documentary, winning an international award in the process.
"I thought I had a story to tell and I wanted it to be a positive story so people can hear the lighter side of the illness"
Mrs Lombardozzi said.
"I entered into the American-based Facing Up contest to get my story out there and enable people to draw hope"
Mrs Lombardozzi's winning entry, Hypothesis, follows her journey into the depths of bipolar in 2001 and the process of recovery. It was filmed by her cousin Jean-Luc Syndikas.
"Bipolar has been a wake-up call for me'', the architect and mother-of-two said. "It has taught me that I had to do something about the way I was living. Before I was living a very stressful and chaotic life I've slowed down now and I have learnt to manage my stress. In 2001 I was very unwell, I suffered quite severely with bipolar. I ended up in the Broadmeadows Hospital for five weeks it took heavy medication to get me back on track''.
Mrs Lombardozzi said she returned to hospital three times in the first three years but was now managing her condition and had not returned since. "The footage in the documentary is very raw,'' she said. "It was captured when I was in the depths of bipolar and that's what makes it so important.''
The Coburg resident said a lot of people chose not to disclose their disorder but that she believed this only stigmatised the illness.
"By disclosing the disorder people can understand you'' she said. "They have a sort of empathy for you and with this, the stigma will eventually dissolve.''
The 38-year-old, who spent the first 12 years of her life growing up in Glenroy, is heavily involved as a consumer adviser with North Western Mental Health Services and works closely with Multicultural Mental Health Australia. Mrs Lombardozzi said she planned to enter the documentary in the Australian HOPE awards, spreading her message to an even larger audience.

Her documentary can be viewed at www.facingus.org/media/30/video
For more information on mental illness, visit www.mmha.org.au