Or she has bipolar disorder that has, as part of the diagnosis, a tendency toward racing, ruminating, thinking . . . . This kind of thought pattern IS one of the criteria of the diagnosis. Even with medication, that tendency is going to be there for most of us. That's not an "allergy". That's bipolar. It is what it is. That is why therapy modalities that will work on dealing with that kind of racing, cyclical thinking that triggers and drives our moods, can be so very helpful with this diagnosis.

I don't think dark heart has a "negative view" about her thinking process. She just sounds like someone who clearly understands that it is often her disordered thinking that drives her emotional state. I happen to agree with that. Again, for the most part (and there are times that are exceptions for me), it is my thinking that triggers me and leads me heading down that path of depression, etc. It doesn't generally work the other way around. My emotions don't usually come out of nowhere. They are not driving my thinking. It is my thinking that sets off my emotions. That is what dark heart seems to believe also.

In a way, I don't think you are really disagreeing with that because you speak of the need to understand where those emotions come from, but your statement "The problem with this illness is that emotions get in the way of thinking" is what I take exception with (and I think that is dark hearts opinion also). We are saying it is our thinking process that very often sets off our emotions. Meds or diet or seeing an "allergist" are not really going to change our thinking patterns for the most part. That is something we have to work on ourselves, often with the help of the therapist who has a good understanding of how bipolarness affects a person's thinking.