I think that's all any of us can do, Anika. I know I'm a lot more sensitive to language now than before I was diagnosed---I hate it when people say things like "I'm gonna go bipolar on that biatch!" or "What is the matter with you, you're all, like, bipolar or something". It's only ignorance, but such people have NO idea what this illness is really like and they shouldn't make light of it.

As for me, I use the terms "I have bipolar" and "I am bipolar" interchangeably, but not "I'm a bipolar". The latter just seems to objectify the person with BP, and Lord knows we get enough of that from the rest of the world as it is.