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Old Oct 25, 2019, 10:14 AM
Anonymous46341
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Great topic, beauflow! Thanks for bringing it up and sharing the articles. I particularly liked the third one down. It's a coincidence. I sort of addressed an aspect of this topic in a post in a totally unrelated thread in the treatments section, this morning.

I would not be considered stereotypically hiqhly functional right now. I've been on disability for years. I certainly couldn't handle many things others could. Sometimes I struggled to properly care for my pets and needed my husband's help. I can't imagine in a million years having kids. My behavior and moods are significant enough issues still. That doesn't mean I see myself as a no worth person or continue to grieve loss of functionality. Nor does it stop me from trying to make strides forward in various ways.

I used to be considered stereotypically high functioning, and certainly regarded myself as so. Sure, there were times when life was not hard at all, but there were times it was a real push. The push (sometimes realized as such, sometimes not) did eventually become too much for me. The "show" can be exhausting to psychologically damaging.

I could go on more about my experiences, but I'll stop here. I will add that my psychiatrist absolutely understands my situation. He may even understand more about my bipolar struggle than my husband, and my husband understands a lot. No one else does, though. Actually, even though all here understand bipolar disorder and its symptoms, we don't all understand each other's "flavor", and by "flavor" I mean much more than bipolar type. I think most would also agree that life experiences play into this, as well.

I think Natasha Tracy has written many great and helpful articles over the years, but I have stopped following her blog. I find her a bit too "half glass empty" for my taste. She may actually be more stereotypically functional than me, but I believe I might be more healthy, mentally, than her in other ways. Ways that I value more.
Hugs from:
beauflow, bizi, Fuzzybear
Thanks for this!
beauflow, BipolarWolf, bizi