Kristin Hersh Reveals Acupuncture Helped Her Overcome Bipolar Disorder

Posted on Jul 26th 2010 4:44AM by Chris Cope
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It may not be for some, but Kristin Hersh has revealed that acupuncture enabled her to overcome her longstanding bipolar disorder.

The Throwing Muses frontwoman had suffered from the disorder since the age of 14, admitting that her songs have been directly affected as a result.

And the singer-guitarist, who has enjoyed a profitable solo career alongside her work in Throwing Muses, has also spoken of her relief of now being "essentially cured."

Talking to the Guardian about receiving acupuncture, she said, "When I shut my eyes I knew that my body was in a different position to me, over here [points to her right]. And when I opened them I could see the meat bag that I was used to being over here [points left]. I had a woman treat me on tour for months, and eventually that body [points right] moved into this one [points left] and I no longer had any bipolar symptoms. That's all I know, except that the energy – there's no other word for it – feels like race cars driving around your outline."

She added, "I feel like music is real and bipolar disorder is not any longer. I hated the connection between mental illness and art. I couldn't stand that you had to be sick in order to create beauty, or confused to create truth. It made no sense. It was a huge relief to be essentially cured."

Throwing Muses are currently back in the studio recording their first album since their (second) self-titled album, which was released in 2003.