[DS Black]

It’s been suggested to me I’m perpetuating a stereotype by embracing my diagnosis as bipolar.

My response:
I don't categorize bipolar as a stereotype. It’s a medical condition. Over diagnosed? Probably, I don't know.

Certainly not in my case.

My emotions act chaotically in a drunken dance of rage, love, hatred, fear, and anxiety that often leads to confusion and delusion. Can we say I, Bipolar?

The acceptance of my disease has enlightened me, allowing me to understand myself in ways I couldn't clinging to denial.

Has the psychiatrist community always gotten it right? Not even close. I’ve survived to tell the tale of their Ginny pig blundering. But, just because there are clear problems, both historically and currently, does not discredit the clear cut research put into the numerous mental disorders. Nor should we stereotype every councilor and psychiatrist as modern day versions of Nurse Mildred Ratched.

Informing me my bipolar disorder isn't real, is the same as telling an epileptic his epilepsy is a mere imagination. Bipolar isn't a term arbitrarily spun in the marketing offices of Big Pharma, it’s an observable phenomenon.

Long live science and humanity.

[Axiom]

I really, really doubt one can just imagine being bipolar and thus become like one who actually has it.

[Lobster Hands]

Originally Posted by Axiom

I really, really doubt one can just imagine being bipolar and thus become like one who actually has it.

I concur.

[spydermonkey]

as someone who fought the diagnosis for years because I didnt want to be bipolar, accepting and embracing the diagnosis was a big step toward healing, not giving myself an "identity" or perpetuating stereotypes. i think youre right ds black, that accepting the diagnosis can be a way to further our understanding of ourselves and somewhere to begin growth from!

[Hbomb0903]

I can so relate to feeling like I'm just a mediocre person and the bipolar diagnosis just mirrors that?? That's the impression that I get from people I've tried to educate and enlighten about my behaviors. It's nearly impossible for someone to understand that hasn't studied it and/or lived with it personally.

Acceptance and compliance with doing things to keep you sane is the only option. I just find it hard to maintain anything long-term. Seems like a terribly, twisted catch-22!

[SillyKitty]

Being open about it has really helped me. My boss knows and we joke about it a little, but he's also aware that I may have to have time off every now and then. It's liberating. I don't have to try and pretend. It was esp hard to cover things up when I came back from an 8 week stint in a partial hospitalization program.

[GenCat]

I still refuse to agree with what the pdocs in the hospital labeled me as, bipolar. They couldn't make up their mind if it was depression with manic episodes or bipolar. I don't believe the illness defines a person, but it is a characteristic of the person.

[PrairieCat]

I agree that a label should not define a person!

Thanks for the first name of Nurse Ratched....Mildred. Who knew? I didn't.