The title says it all. When were afflicted, no one else really cares! Why? Ignorance? Self absorption? Doubt? Yeah right. They just don't/won't get it no matter how much you flap your lips about it which only ends making us look pathetic.

Nobody gets it! Pure ignorance. As much as you want to talk your butt off, nobody will get it! People say: "I get depressed, but look at me, I don't let it bother me!"..."there's no reason to be depressed!" "It's all in your imaginations"...

Because I'm bipolar, I get so self absorbed in my mental state. "I'm bipolar! Ohh nooooo...." Lol

Me me me me.

It's so easy to get sucked into the thinking that I'm bipolar! At first, yeah I get it. After that, get past it because it's nothing but a thing, it's own thing. To get lost in the self pity of "I'm bipolar", you will not grow beyond that.

If you let it be your anchor, forever there you will be. If you treat it like a "wart" and keep going....you'll go far. Ask all the famous folks, because they didn't let bipolar shape their future. They won through it.

[Gray Rider]

I agree with this, except its kinda hard not to let it shape the future when it wrecks major opportunities time and time again.

All im saying is it can be an obsession is if it's all you think about. Guilty!

[Pikku Myy]

I totally agree... it hurts everyone around you.

[LDB1]

It has become the ruling fact of my life since I was diagnosed last year. I would like to get to the point where it doesn't demand so much of my attention but I'm still trying to learn to live with it and, hopefully, have some measure of control over it.

You are correct though, trying to explain it to someone who doesn't have it is like trying to explain a tree to a fish.

[violet66]

I'm a single mom of two teen girls and when I try to explain my strange behavior they accuse me of having a pity party for myself. "Wah, wah, wah" they say to me.

I agree with grey rider.

It is a huge part of me.

[LDB1]

Originally Posted by violet66

I'm a single mom of two teen girls and when I try to explain my strange behavior they accuse me of having a pity party for myself. "Wah, wah, wah" they say to me.

Age will soften their attitudes. The daughter that pretty much hated me as she was growing up is now my biggest advocate.

[~Christina]

One thing to keep in Mind is the majority of people had Bipolar long before they were actually diagnosed and somehow managed to muddle through life at times. I know I did , I got married had a kid , got divorced , re married , often spent too much money, had times that I wanted to just stay in bed and never get up, but I had no choice I had a daughter to raise , had a constant racing mind, I thought everyone felt like that. I just kept going about life. Sure diagnosed at 43 explained alot of things I have done in the past.

Yes Bipolar can reach up and slap the hell out of you , but Bipolar doesn't have to be a a death sentence and ruin your life, there are medications and coping skills and just being plain stubborn and reach for happiness in life.

Not its not easy, but nothing is easy in life. I refuse to let Bipolar rob me of any and all happiness I am able to find in life.

I think that it becomes less of a life focus when you feel you are stable. But Like Christina said, a lot of us did not get a diagnosis early on. So,we may have spent a lot of time focusing on the idea of "what is wrong with me?"

For me, it is a huge thing. I can't imagine a time when it won't be.

But, yes, we must trudge on.

[unlived]

I don't think it's any more "selfish" than a broken leg or the flu. When you're sick with anything it can consume you and some people with bipolar get sick a lot but some hardly ever

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[lacerta]

I'm finding it really hard to hide the bipolar diagnosis almost from everyone as I've cought myself thinking that I could make excuse of doing this and not doing that because of being bipolar. I try to stick to my coping skills instead and to live through this. I leave the excuse for the last resort. Let's see how it goes.

Originally Posted by unlived

I don't think it's any more "selfish" than a broken leg or the flu. When you're sick with anything it can consume you and some people with bipolar get sick a lot but some hardly ever

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Maybe so, but a broken leg heals. Bipolar doesn't. It's too easy to get self absorbed over this illness, to compulsively obsess on it which in its self not healthy.

[jacky8807]

Its true its not healthy to obsess over it which of course can be hard because many of us with bipolar have issues with obsessive thinking guilty!
As far as other ppl getting it well...thats a nice dream but ...lol

[Brophy]

I'm not sure that obsessing over Bipolar disorder compulsively is not healthy. I think that line of thought of is a knee jerk reaction to unfortunate circumstances. Self doubt and guilt are a part of the disorder and they're something I deal with every single day.

Being obsessive over Bipolar can be constructive. So much goes into living a healthy life style when you've got Bipolar: nutrition, supplements (vitamins), healthy lifestyle choices, fitness, proper medication/therapy, healthy sleep hygiene, healthy personal hygiene, just to name a few.

Often times it feels impossible to work on all of those at one time but it doesn't change the fact that we have too.

I'm sorry that any of us feel like we're being selfish when the origin of our disorder is entirely out of our hands. I hope that you can find strength either in loved ones or elsewhere including in yourself.

Originally Posted by jacky8807

Its true its not healthy to obsess over it which of course can be hard because many of us with bipolar have issues with obsessive thinking guilty!
As far as other ppl getting it well...thats a nice dream but ...lol

Yes, there are healthy obsessions and unhealthy obsession. For the first year or so after I was awarded the Bp letters, a healthy obsession of researching and learning turned into an unhealthy one when I started analyzing everything I did, say, thought... I was so self absorbed that all I talked about and thought about was bipolar and me.

See! I know what I'm talking about!

Sometimes these forums feed into the negative side of it! Lol

[jacky8807]

Its completely different to focus on living healthy and managing the disease (in other words focusing on the solution) then to obsess over every mood pathologize every emotion
Blame everything on bipolar and only (focus on the problem)

I only mention this to the freshly diagnosed because it's an easy thing to go down that slippery slope and get lost down there, if there are any peeps like me!