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It's disheartening to see so much pessimism about bipolar disorder.
At the end of the day, there are tons and tons and tons of people out there with all kinds of issues (some diagnosed, some not, some diagnos-able, some not) who can and do wreak havoc on the lives of others (and themselves). People with bipolar disorder do *not* have a corner on the market of messing up relationships.
I am *not* 'bipolar' day in and day out, 100% of the time. And *I* am not bipolar. This is not my identity, it is a part of it, alongside a whole host of other things. And it does not determine how I relate to others all of the time, not even most of the time. Yes, any significant other would need to try to be empathetic and understanding when things go south, if it's going to work, but we are not helpless to this. At least not all of time. At least the rest of time, we can be responsible in our relationships, and are as capable of love, and being in intimate relationships, as anyone else.
We all have other 'issues.' These can be worked on. And who knows to what extent these other issues (our histories and all kinds of things) also influence how we relate to others and the quality of our lives. I don't believe anyone is 'just' (only) 'bipolar.' People are more complex than that. It's not just about some chemicals roiling around our brains. If it were only so simple.
It could be worse. There are a lot of psychiatric and physical illnesses that I *don't* have and am fortunate not to have. I don't think the research bares out that bipolar worsens with age. Un or under-treated, probably, but otherwise, I don't think so. With therapy, and getting a better handle on this and other things, I *hope* to be able to take less medication in the future.
I know it *feels* very bleak sometimes. And it can feel that it controls your life, determines so much. But when we're not in the throes of these kinds of feelings, we can at least try to hold onto the hope that there's a lot more to us, and to life, than the illness.
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