Myself personally.. I don't get the stigma. Maybe it's because, being an artist, I've romanticized the immortal, bipolar artists. My wife is changing on this.. but she was of the camp that thinks you should just tough it out and use strength of will. I think a lot of people have this attitude right? But my wife is in the medical field (physical therapist) and it hit her hard when she saw the biochemical connection.. as well as the genetic/hereditary aspect. She has seen my dad's bipolar traits first hand. Anyway... I've isolated my life within an artist/craftsman culture.. so now that my wife is onboard... I'm not all that affected by the stigma.

However.... there does need to be more education out there on the underlying cause of the behavior of people like us. That is one reason I always think of 'coming out' more often. My work speaks for itself... (unfortunately so does the business aspect ) so I don't mind so much that my 'disorder' is revealed. Having said THAT.. I do worry that potential customers would be turned off due to potential inconsistency. Sometimes I'm too risky and things fail utterly... or when I'm depressed I don't care and just drop out. Anyway.. carry on.