The reason I say "I have bipolar" instead of "I am bipolar" is because I am not made of bipolar. I am a wife, a mother, a daughter, a writer, a singer, an artist, a woman, a joker. I just also happen to have an illness.

It is like if someone has cancer they say "I have cancer." They don't say "I'm cancerous." Another example is I work in a diabetes education center. We no longer use the term "Diabetic." Instead it is: "I have diabetes." The idea is that just because you have a chronic illness doesn't mean that the illness defines you."

Another way to look at it. If I'm having psychosis, I want to say "I'm having psychosis" and not "I'm psychotic," because societally saying "I'm psychotic" has come to mean "Violently crazy" as a slang term, even though that is not really what it means.

I don't get offended when someone says "I'm bipolar." Everyone can say what they want. But I personally say "I have bipolar." And that's why.