Interesting post,

I'm definitely not a professional in the mental health field...but I think I'd feel weird labelling my Bipolar Disorder and OCD as "unique ways of perceiving the world". That makes it sound like a positive thing. But the reality is, these are disorders because they are problematic and require treatment. Without therapy, medication, and even ECT, I believe I would be dead right now. I suppose they could be called unique in the sense that they are different than what society deems a "normal" brain and mind. But because Bipolar, OCD, depression, schizophrenia, etc have such negative effects on those suffering from it, I think it makes sense to label them as mental illnesses. Otherwise, people may not take these illnesses so seriously.