I know stigma against mental illness is quite common. Heck, it's clearly been expressed by the President of the United States and his media outlets.

My family has quite a history of mental illness. I can firmly state that six people in my family have had significant mental illness issues, actually more than that have had issues mentioned in the family. And yet, even within my family, denial, embarrassment, distrust, misunderstanding, and criticism have been expressed about those of us who struggle. Many in my family consider themselves conservatives. I do not believe any are far right conservatives, but some do make statements that are disconcerting to me. I've had to defriend two of my aunts on Facebook because of that. I've had to listen to my own brother and father talk about how people are "leeches on society", and yet not directly be referring to me as one. They are liberal in other ways, though. [I'm not saying all conservatives believe the "leeches on society" view.]

I was in a diner one day a few years ago. Just passing by me, he expressed racist views and stigma against mental illness in two sentences, referring to another customer in the diner. He was not showing racism towards me, nor was he implying I had a mental illness. He didn't know I had a mental illness, nor did he know I was appalled at his racist statement against that other customer. He stated that "I worked in X psychiatric hospital and know what those crazies are all about!" Well, I had been in that psychiatric hospital, as well as another many times. I'll confess I said absolutely nothing to him. I believe that was my best choice of action.

Regarding violence in bipolar disorder, I definitely agree that violence is not a common symptom. However, violence during bipolar irritable states does not mean a person definitely has BPD. Firstly, a person can be prone to violence even without a personality disorder. Secondly, irritable states of hypomania/mania, and perhaps some types of depression, especially mixed, can lead to violent displays in people who otherwise wouldn't show them. Irritability sounds like a mild kind of word, but in bipolar states it does sometime go way beyond grumpy and snappy. Manic people can be triggered to throw things and hit things (maybe even people, in some cases). They can even be triggered to cause harm towards themselves. BUT, that person may not have been triggered by anything relating to relationships or emotional triggers. They may not have any other BPD symptom that is pretty much required for that diagnosis. They may not ever be violent outside of the irritable manic/hypomanic states that would have clear beginnings and endings within several day/week/month long periods. Ultra ultra rapid cycling is possible, but rare.

I've shown violent displays during mania, particular mixed mania, but I definitely do not qualify for a BPD diagnosis. I'll admit that my violent displays almost exclusively involved hitting or throwing things (not people), or myself. There was one time I threw a wallet at my husband and sort of fought against him when he was trying to restrain me from running outside at night in the winter, barely clothed and barefooted, during a manic episode. There were a couple other times I gave the psych hospital security staff a bit of a difficulty when they were dragging me into the isolation room for an emergency injection. This is not at all totally rare in psychotically or even just severely manic people, and does not mean "He/she is Borderline". But yes, I agree such violence is not the norm. I only saw it happen to one other person during my 10 psych hospitalizations. And I am not a violent person by nature. Full blown mania and psychosis do indeed get ugly sometimes. It's not only always just about buying 100 snake kits, talking like a motor mouth, and thinking you're Jesus for all people with bipolar disorder. Even not all people with bipolar type 1 experience mania and psychosis the same. It is a shame that the smaller percentage of people that do show violence feed stigma. And yet, please don't stigmatize the ones who've shown violence, if you never have.

Back in 2014, I attended a class at my local adult school. During that class, I was shocked to hear clear stigma against the mentally ill. At the time, I hadn't been doing well at all, so it was very painful. What made it worse was that the instructor was a psychologist. She made several statements that were shocking to everyone in the class. I just outlined the following in a letter I sent to the adult school administration:
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Greetings!

I do not know where to send this e-mail, so I’m wondering if you can redirect it appropriately.

I attended both of the classes for the Declutter Your Life and Reduce Stress course. The content in the first class was quite useful and motivated me to start a cleanup project. I will admit that the instructor was a notably extreme motormouth, but I managed to absorb most all of what she said, despite. Unfortunately, though, I did catch one thing she said that I found quite offensive. She made a negative comment about people with bipolar disorder. I found that strange coming from the mouth of a psychologist, and very out of place and inappropriate in a classroom setting.

The second class was definitely not as helpful. She raced through the content at lightening speed. I was unable to process what she was saying. She talked about personal things including not loving her mother, but that I can look past with just a bit of shock. But while describing her mother she described being beaten by her, and then casually stated something like “Well, she is bipolar.” A second stigmatic statement about bipolar disorder. I was infuriated and spoke up in a nervous shaky voice stating that “Having bipolar disorder and hitting are not necessarily related.” And why on earth was she even talking about such things?

I have bipolar disorder, my sister does, my nephew does and my paternal grandmother did. We suffered a lot. I know that stigma is still alive throughout the country in regards to mental illness, but shame on her as a psychologist attempting to pass it on.

At the end of the class, the instructor announced she was passing out instructor evaluations. I decided to stand up and leave. Writing a frank evaluation that she would see and possibly discard felt very uncomfortable for me. I was highly upset and shaking at the time, anyway. That is why I’m writing to you.

Thank you for your help in directing this e-mail to the appropriate person. My primary complaints are outlined above, but if someone would like to contact me they may do so at this e-mail address.

My name

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I have no idea what caused the instructor's parent to be violent, but I definitely did not like that she, a psychologist, was indeed equating bipolar disorder with violence in front of a classroom of students. Frankly, I believe the instructor was unwell at the time. What her exact issue was, I can only speculate about. I did hear back from the adult school, and the instructor was let go. Does that possibly sound like a sad result to you? It does to me, but it was for the best.