This is why I am a firm believer in saying "I have bipolar" and not that "I am bipolar." It's the same reason we don't use the term "diabetic" any more (I work in a diabetes education clinic.) People have diabetes, they are not diabetic. If anything is diabetic, it would be the broken down body functioning. (Like, my pancreas is diabetic, but I have diabetes.) I don't know, that makes more sense to me.

I know there are people who disagree with me on this one. But I have bipolar disorder, but my name is X and I'm a wife, a mom, a writer, a singer, an artist, a secretary, and I just happen to do all these things despite the fact that I have bipolar..... that doesn't mean it defines me as a person.

anyway,I know people disagree but that's what I think. I think we all are who we are despite this illness and even if it went away tomorrow we'd still be who we are. Sure it may shape some of our experiences, but how many people can say they aren't shaped by experiencing chemo or having to test their blood glucose 3+ times a day, it still doesn't make them the illness. It just colors their lives.