[lbrown1]

IS IT OFFENDING TO SAY "I AM BIPOLAR"? DOES IT REALLY MATTER TO ANYONE ELSE? Who says I HAVE vs I AM????
When I say it Its.. "I AM" but a chick in my psychology class today thinks saying I am .. Is offending?? I like I AM better than I have personally.. I cant control it so it has me i dont have it.. I am it until I get control of it...

[BlackPup]

I've used both, at the moment I use I have but in the past I have used I am. I guess it just depends on where you are at with things. When things are totally overwhelming I am seems more accurate but it's probably more healthy to think of it as something that you have.

[Trippin2.0]

I prefer I am. I don't view it as having something, I don't remember catching it, I've always been like 'this' and even if I don't like it at times, I wouldn't be me without it.
Some people think that saying I am is self-defeating, I say to each it's own.

[~Christina]

For me its an " I am Bipolar"

[BuggsBunny]

I know that to some people it is not politically correct to say you are a disease. Instead, they prefer you say you are a person with a disease. As far as that goes, I still say I AM Bipolar.

I'm not really a disease, but I am also NOT politically correct, as I was raised in the era before political correctness came into being. And with a schizophrenic older sister to boot. So I've grown up using terms like nuthouse, looney bin, crazy, and many more terms other mentally ill people might find offensive. I'm ill, and I'm not offended...But I do try to reign it in and be more pc, as I used to get hell from the psych staff for referring to myself as "the bipolar in (room) 304". Also, we have many newly diagnosed people here, and they deserve a little more delicacy than I usually show.

So I guess it all boils down to this. Do you really care if you are politically correct? If you do, then you have Bipolar. If you don't, then just be yourself, don't worry about what others think, and be bipolar.

[forever]

I prefer saying, I have bipolar disorder vs. I am bipolar but after reading Black Pups comment, I agree there was a time when I thought of myself as being bipolar. Personally, I think manic depression describes this disorder better than bipolar disorder.

[lbrown1]

thanks, b/c i told her 'I AM' was pretty common but It really didnt matter.. but she turned it into a big deal. I had never thought of it before today..

[Confusedinomicon]

I think "I am bipolar" tends to be used more because you're generally referring to the moods that exist within the spectrum then actually thinking of it as a disease. Just like saying "I am depressed" over "I have depression"

I think the aim of saying "I have bipolar" is to pull it away from you internally so you don't think of yourself as the disease.

Buggs post was awesome, too. It made me laugh.

I like I have better than I am . My analogy is this....If I walk up to someone i say I am Karren, that is my name, not bipolar! It's like an introduction to something. I would much prefer to say I have bipolar because it takes away that burden of me placing a name upon myself. There is so much stigma around mental illnesses anyway, I see no need in placing one upon myself.

I say "I have", and it isn't about political correctness. It is NOT who I am. It is an illness I take care of and deal with. It is just one aspect of my being. If I had another disease, I wouldn't say "I am cancer" or "I am diabetes". Why is it that a mental illness has to be who I AM?

[sunshineanxious]

lbrown1:

I say "I am" too. It's part of me, and for the last 2 years it's been most of what I've been. I'm also sure, that it has changed me in numerous ways.
I study psychology too - I bet that girl doesn't have or is bipolar herself? Well, she shouldn't tell you what to call yourself.

I think, like someone else wrote, that the political correctness has gone too far - why was she correcting you., I mean, that's your choice. A girl in my class once told me that I shouldn't call people that see psychiatrists "patients", that "clients" is better.

"Clients!" That sounds like you're sewing somebody. I AM a patient, so that's what I call it and I will continue to do so. In fact, she herself had lots of stupid ideas about the mentally ill, she was quite intolerant herself. Sometimes I think the people that are so concerned with correctness are often not ill themselves. I think sometimes the ones that are bipolar themselves - they are more humourous about their illness and don't take things so seriously

[sunshineanxious]

But I can see things from farmer girl's perspective as well. But you have the right to define yourself in YOUR way.

I personally think cancer IS different, it does not attack the personality the same way as bipolar does, so I still say I am. Which means that I can control somethings, but not all things. I still think of myself as a person with feelings and thoughts seperated from bipolar at the same time, though.

[venusss]

Originally Posted by Confusedinomicon

I think "I am bipolar" tends to be used more because you're generally referring to the moods that exist within the spectrum then actually thinking of it as a disease. Just like saying "I am depressed" over "I have depression"

I think the aim of saying "I have bipolar" is to pull it away from you internally so you don't think of yourself as the disease.

(...)

Yeah, for me it's part of me. Not because I am identifying myself with my illness (I am not even sure if I want to see this as an illness). But with mood disorders... it's just amplification of a normal mood specter (with some added ****...). It's hard to distinquish the line between normal and not normal.

I have been this way long time, I am not sure what is me and what is my mood disorder. Does it even matter? It's how I deal with it, that matters to me. Point is... I cannot separate this from myself. This is me and this is what I gotta live with.

Originally Posted by bipolarbear21

But I can see things from farmer girl's perspective as well. But you have the right to define yourself in YOUR way.

I personally think cancer IS different, it does not attack the personality the same way as bipolar does, so I still say I am. Which means that I can control somethings, but not all things. I still think of myself as a person with feelings and thoughts seperated from bipolar at the same time, though.

FYI: Having watched my sister go through years of cancer treatment and eventually die, I can attest to the fact that it absolutely can attack the personality in ways much more devastating than bipolar actually. My husband also has bipolar disorder, but he also has diabetes, severe high blood pressure, and reflex sympathetic dystrophy. His doctors have found that much of his anxiety comes from the diabetes and blood pressure if they aren't managed, and much of his depression comes from the pain of the RSD. Physical illnesses can and do attack personality in very profound ways.

[Mikita6630]

depends on my mood and the person that I am talking to.

[venusss]

Originally Posted by farmergirl

FYI: Having watched my sister go through years of cancer treatment and eventually die, I can attest to the fact that it absolutely can attack the personality in ways much more devastating than bipolar actually. My husband also has bipolar disorder, but he also has diabetes, severe high blood pressure, and reflex sympathetic dystrophy. His doctors have found that much of his anxiety comes from the diabetes and blood pressure if they aren't managed, and much of his depression comes from the pain of the RSD. Physical illnesses can and do attack personality in very profound ways.

well, that is definitelly true. But I think the devastating effect on personality from physical illness comes from feeling bad or knowing your life is at risk/severly affected... hence not out of "nowhere" as with regular depression (on the other hand, I believe it's extremelly rare to be depressed without any root cause).

[blossom12]

I believe each person gets to decide how they say it for themselves. If other people are uncomfortable with how I choose to say it, oh well.

I say, "I am bipolar". One lady in my group says "I am living with bipolar".

[Tsunamisurfer]

I don't get too hung up on the I am / I have issue. It is difficult enough coming to terms with the concept that it is an actual disease (and I'm not totally sold on that either).
If I am having trouble with hearing voices that really get to me, I don't have a problem describing my state by acknowledging that I am psychotic at the time. I don't do a fancy tap dance and say I have psychosis.

But I guess that is a bit different to dealing with a life long identity with an illness.

[Moose72]

I say both but mostly am. I am my brain and my brain is bipolar. Simple.

[Anneinside]

Originally Posted by lbrown1

IS IT OFFENDING TO SAY "I AM BIPOLAR"? DOES IT REALLY MATTER TO ANYONE ELSE? Who says I HAVE vs I AM????
When I say it Its.. "I AM" but a chick in my psychology class today thinks saying I am .. Is offending?? I like I AM better than I have personally.. I cant control it so it has me i dont have it.. I am it until I get control of it...

I think it's personal preference but I also think we are more likely to use I am when it is a chronic disorder. I am diabetic, I am a recovering addict, I am paralyzed. We don't say I am pancreatitis. We say I have pancreatitis, I have gallstones, I have a cold, I have a broken leg... all acute disorders.

I am also says this is my state of being while I have does not denote a state of being. I really don't want to be identified (state of being) as bipolar of I am. I prefer I have as it shows I have a condition, I am not the condition.

[tcmoon52]

I know the latest Psyco-babble is that we are not our illness, so we have Biolar is very important to them. Well I am sorry to inform them that it is their issue and none of their business if I say I am Bipolar, which I do. Only I know what I mean by that. Actually they are the ones that are arrogant thinking they have figured out something I haven't. If anyone should be offended it is me, that someone else has the arrogance to tell me how I should phrase my illness. Comparing Bipolar to the spectrum of other illnesses, Bipolar has affected every area of my life, friendships, relationships, sex drive,""either hyper when unmedicated or non-exsistant when medicated"", Parenting was one of my biggest struggles, Had a great bussiness and had a episode stayed up for 6 weeks and spent 180 thousand dollars on charge cards, ended up DX'D and medicated, and in Bankruptcy court. I am now on SSDI, and the business is gone after 21 years of hard work. Today I realize it was my Hypo-Mania that allowed me to build and work the business. I know of no other illness, that can affect every area of your life, as Bipolar does mine. There are the side effects of meds, the stuggle to find the right combination, and then the cycling which requires medication adjustments 4 to 6 times a year. And then the episodes that just pop up for some of us. Oh and let me not forget, when out of the blue a medication just quits working, which is not recognized by my "treatment team" until I am well into a episode. How many people need a treatment team, for the REST OF OUR LIFE. I am sure I have missed more than half of what we have to deal with on a daily basis. We have earned the right to refer to ourselves any way we choose. Print this off and give it to that person in your group or read it outloud. I have been DX"D and medicated for over 17 years. My best friend was DX'd at 16, and is now 63, almost 50 years and has dealt with everything here, still has unstable times and has been on Kidney dialysis for 7 years because of one of his meds. Myself I went un-DX'D for 25 years, and could not figure out what was wrong with me. Just 2 cases. Good Luck in your group, I am sure there will be many good things you will be able to learn there.

[AniManiac]

A topic of continuing interest in mental health communities! I go both ways, but I blogged about this a little while back: http://disorderlychickadee.wordpress...olar-disorder/

It's also the topic of the month for open discussion at A Canvas of the Minds: http://acanvasoftheminds.wordpress.c...or-jelly-jars/

[Perna]

I am a brown-haired, 10-toed, asthmatic, hypothyroidic, anxious, insomniac! I think it is whatever you are comfortable with and how you wish to use it since it is about you, either way. You're da boss!

[grendell]

I think of it as having bipolar but I am not offended either way. When it has gotten the better of me (like i can stop this?) I suppose it helps me and others to understand by using am? I don't know.

It might sound odd but the way in which I have come to terms with it is to not be all that interested in bipolar I am however interested in the possibility of treatment and the hope of some kind of future?

Ani's blog post defines my position exactly. 100% (See link above.)
Because it states and explains the reasoning of the numerous points so very well, I'm hard-pressed to think of any other facet. But I had to try to come up with one , so here it is.

Though I use both (though far more often "am"), I do try to note those who use "have" and defer to their preference as a courtesy when talking with them. A secondary reason is that I've observed that those who consistently use "have" tend to feel way more strongly about it. And I'd rather not risk being taken to task over it. Because the only thing I feel strongly about is that people should be free to choose for themselves. So it's not as if I'm going to be able to be "convinced" that only one term is acceptable.