Do you see bipolar as part of your personality or a disorder

Well people have to admit when they cant cope by themselves, when things are too much to handle, when they are overwhelmed and unable to envisage positive future, when they are plagued by constant distressing difficult thoughts feelings and images. Its not right if people arent treated well by professionals and denied help they need. We all need help and support from others at times. Its not weak to seek help. Stuff ive tried to do for self hasnt worked because of my severe illness that has greatly affected my life and is challenging for me to live with daily. I wish my life was free of it cos it isnt enjoyable, pleasant or safe having it. I could end my life because i am not managng things well with it which requires professional input. Im not able to ignore or pretend it isnt serious illness because its obvious to me. If i were able to just help self alone to deal with it easily that would be great but people are different and have different perspectives and experiences with it and for me i see it just like a severe debilitating life threatening illness that has worsened over time. We should all be able to access/receive good quality help and support from professionals when and if we need to. It isnt right if people who suffer from severe health condition are denied help or mistreated by staff, experience bullying neglectful approaches making them feel more distressed. If we recognise we need help, that we cant just deal with issues alone, thats important and should be able to get it. Helping self involves taking responsibility in recognising understanding and trying to address issues we have,which professional help may be vital. In my case i have managed to keep going in spite of the difficulties ive had with it and not having professional help but i havent found it at all easy to live with this illness and i do fear i could end up taking my own life .

In my country they can a health professional can call the police take me to a hospital and they have 3 days to get a psychiatrist to assess me and then get a court order which wouldn't be hard as I am known at my local hospital.

I have been trying to help myself to undrstand and deal with/overcome issues and want to make changes but have struggled. I have been battling with illness trying different things to help me personally, and to resist suicidal thoughts and feelings i have had. I have made a lot of efforts. Theres only so much one can deal with by themselves sometimes. And for how long can one keep battling with illness?

Sorry Creative1der I'm not trying to be funny but would you happen to live in australia as this sounds the typical treatment I have had in the past. Sorry you are in the UK which our system is based on anyway.

Did you say you were unmedicated? It has only been through medication that I have had the insight into the beginnings of episodes. I would have no control and would possibly be in gaol by now iff not medicated.

Creative1der Have you contacted MIND UK ? or I think you also have SANE over there as well they might have advocates who will work with you to get the help you need. Good luck.

here s link that may help it about how MIND can advocate for you.
http://www.mind.org.uk/information-s...9#.VG_TS8m8OSo

were you responding to me? I said I am my bipolar (as a condition, not an illness) and I am more than it. Much of my adult life, my choices, my behavior, my personality traits, would be inscrutable without it.
You asked if "people are themselves when thehy are in severe depression or severe mania" and I would say absolutely. Those reveal aspects of themselves, just as any state we are in exposes a facet of the soul.
You asked if battling cancer is linked to their personality? Certainly a personality must respond to a life-threatening situation, and will be changed after the fight is through.
You seem concerned to differentiate bipolar from personality. That is more difficult to do than with cancer, however, since it is a condition of the brain. Of the people I know who have bipolar, there are some personality resemblences among them.
Personally, I don't view bipolar as an illness though if untreated it can become an illness. When it is maintained it is just a mental condition. I don't consider myself mentally ill.

I found this vid with Stephen Fry he starts talking about Bipolar at 4.48 but what I found really interesting started at 6.23.

Based on my understandings and experiences with Bipolar, i know that i am not the illness, it is not me, my fault or choice to suffer with it, it is a real illness, and challenging just like a serious physical illness. Its both mental and physical and so is depression an illness but not everyone believes depression is an illness. People have different perspectives, beliefs, experiences and ways of dealing with issues. I for sure am not gonna let my illness, an external label, cover up who i am completely, consume me totally.Its important to seperate self from it. I became aware of it 8 years ago and things have become more difficult for me. Im basing my awareness of it on the symptoms, duration and extent it has affected me in my life and on the fact that many people with it need professional help if severe not solely medication in managing life with it. I know im not myself when severely depressive and agitated and when have dark intense thoughts and feelings and suicidal. When i have had strong suicidal thoughts i have felt close to acting on them but something in me has been able to resist that and try to reach out for help each time.

A theory I find interesting
-from wikipedia-

Evolutionary

Because bipolar disorder affects an individual’s ability to function in society and has a high morbidity rate, evolutionary theory would suggest that the genes responsible would have been naturally selected against, effectively culling the disorder. Yet there continue to be high rates of bipolar disorder in many populations, suggesting the genes responsible may have an evolutionary benefit.

Proponents of evolutionary medicine hypothesize that the genes that cause severe bipolar disorder when inherited in large doses may increase fitness when inherited in small doses.[56] High rates of bipolar disorder throughout history suggest that the ability to switch between depressive and manic moods conveyed some evolutionary advantage on ancestral humans. Theories put forward to explain the evolutionary advantages of major depressive disorder may also explain the adaptiveness of the depressive episodes of bipolar disorder. For example, in individuals under increased stress, depressive mood may serve as a defensive strategy that causes the individual to retreat from the external stressor, increase sleep, and preserve resources and energy for better times.[57] Additionally, manic moods may convey advantage in some situations. Creativity, confidence, and high energy have all been linked to mania and hypomania.[58][59] The ability to utilize mild manic symptoms to be more productive and think more creatively during stress-free times may have increased the fitness of ancestral humans. Being able to employ both hypomania and mild depression convey advantages that benefit individuals in a variable environment. However, if the genes enabling the manipulation of both of these moods are over activated, the manic and/or severe depressive moods of full bipolar disorder may be triggered instead.

Evolutionary biologists have hypothesized that bipolar disorder could have come from an adaptation to extreme climactic conditions in the northern temperate zone during the Pleistocene. The Evolutionary Origin of Bipolar Disorder (EOBD) hypothesis states that during the short summers of extreme climactic zones, hypomania would be adaptive, allowing the completion of many tasks necessary for survival within a short period of time. During long winters the lethargy, hypersomnia, lack of interest in social activities, and overeating of depression would be adaptive to group cohesion and survival.[60] Evidence for the EOBD hypothesis include an association between bipolar disorder and a cold-adapted build, correlation between seasonality and mood changes in those with bipolar disorder, and low rates of bipolar disorder in African Americans.[61] The EOBD hypothesis suggests that in the absence of the extreme climactic conditions that fostered the success of bipolar disorder genes, many bipolar disorder behaviors are maladaptive and can often severely impair normal functioning.

Stressful and traumatic experiences can lead to the onset of depression in different people regardless of personality type, biology, genes. Some people who've never understood or had depression in teens or early adulthood can get it later in life suddenly following stressful traumatic circumstances. I know in my case its past stressful traumatic life experiences, bullying, abuse, that led to the beginnings and development of my illness.

So for me its not medication that will help me personally to address issues and make changes i want in my life. I understand factors/triggers that lead me to fall into severe depressions. So by being aware of them i can try to address them thats where therapy can be good but ive not found good therapist for me. Depression is for me result of suppressed bottled up emotions from past stressful traumatic experiences and unhelpful self limiting beliefs, and self sacrificing destructive habits i learned, adopted. Depression has underlying messages for me to free self and transform my life but trouble is when im in severe depression i feel physically ill and unable to do a lot of things and get such intense distressing dark thoughts and feelings, am vulnerable to suicide. When in mania, i enjoy having more energy, feel great, but i can be quite irritable agitated too, more active and engage more with others, and i am more creative, with ideas, and set goals for self etc. But i can end up doing too much or being overambitious and if i encounter significant stresses, disappointments, i easily fall back into depression and when im in severe depression accompanied with severe anxiety i feel tense overwhelmed exhausted lifeless and its hard getting back up again. I am more often in depression and anxiety than mania. I get mixed episodes a lot.

It is me I have finally accepted the fact.

I think Bipolar can show up in some respect as part of ones personality. But it is not a personality disorder. It is an affective disorder.

It is not me. I accepted that i have illness and that i need help with it.

for me.... it is who i am. always been like that. some people think my wide mood specter is charming... feeling a lot and odd perspectives helped me to get where i am now... evn if it cost lot of tears... i am human, not ill. troubled not ill. old soul, not ill.... and yes, i do have faults.............................

I'm sure we have all gotten your message loud and clear from the numerous times you have posted it on this thread...

I don't mean to be nasty, but a little self-awareness never hurt anyone.

Im expressing my views, sharing my own understanding and experience of Bipolar. Whethr you like, agree or not with what i say doesnt concern me. I dont need to lie to myself, or follow blindly others beliefs and approaches if they arent right or helpful to me personally.

Did you even bother to read what I tried so hard to type out with diplomacy?


It's not about your beliefs or anyone wanting you to change them....


I just asked you to please stop repeating your beliefs because you're making an otherwise interesting thread go around in pointless circles. And I won't dare speak for anyone else, but for myself, this now makes the thread a chore to keep up with.


Do you realize you've replied 15 times, and save for the first 2 posts, the rest are nearly identical?


That's what I was talking about... You don't have to try convincing us, we heard you.


And the 15 replies is what I was referring to by you needing a little bit of self -awareness...

Yes this ^ Very well said !

For me, BP 2 and ADHD are disorders that effect my personality. Being diagnosed as an adult ( late 30's ) was somewhat of a relief. Reflection on my past, the symptoms and how I reacted to situations, now made sense to me.

No im not really in a good place at the moment so wasnt really paying attention to the number or similiarity of my posts. I just wanted to express my views, feelings and own experiences with it. I didnt think i should be limited to send just one or two posts in a thread.Is there a limit to how many times someone can post in thread? I suppose its cos i feel strongly about how things are for me with it, and its difficult containing that inside my head.

Id appreciate if you didnt add more stress on me as ive got enough issues already concerning me and my life.

My argument against it being purely illness is....

if it's illness, then why it's not the same for everybody? I mean look at two illness the illness model advocates love to use: diabetes and cancer.... these have very similar symptom with everybody. And easily measurable. It had same symptoms throughout the ages too.

With bipolar... it's too different for everybody. And how it is experienced changes with time too. Sure personalities come play a role here. We don't act the same when manic or depressed....those states only enhance and play with our existing personalities.

Also... just because on is not the person they want to be doesn't prove it's "illness".

This is something I have been thinking on lately. If you look at the range of meds used to treat Bipolar it is a lot longer than say that of Schizophrenia and some BP don't respond well to any combination of these meds which makes me wonder if maybe a lot of people are being misdiagnosed as BP when its something else. Or maybe another unrecognised illness that mimics BP, schizoaffective etc to a certain degree.