I'm one of those people bluebicycle refers to in her paragraph above. I do feel sick when I am very depressed. I think I am sick when manic or in a mixed state, or psychotic. It's not good, to me. In my view, it could be looked at as a figurative nausea. I'm not functioning properly and have reduced control during such episodes.

When I am stable (or mostly so), I don't consider myself sick or even ill. But yes, I still have a permanent health issue that must be looked after, permanently. There are many illnesses like that, many of which have remission. For example, epilepsy.

I agree that conditions like bipolar disorder should not define us, but denial of their existence can be dangerous. Just as I don't pretend that other challenges don't exist, I have to acknowledge my bipolar disorder.