My bipolar symptoms are the part of me that only crop up during various swings in the mood.

At the same time, my symptoms are also a part of me because it's what my brain wired me to do.

I don't view it as black and white really. It's all a big old mix of grey. I opt to go "I don't like that behaviour that shows up when I'm depressed, so THAT is the bipolar and not me" because it makes me feel better

I work to change and manage the things that I don't like, regardless of whether they're from the bipolar or just me. I can't always change it the way I'd like to, but I try.

It's just me. I have bipolar, I am bipolar, it doesn't really matter to me. I tend to say "I have bipolar" when speaking to others because I think it's easier to dispell stigma that way and there are a lot of really dense people out there. But to myself, it's just there.