Does your mental illness diagnosis mean you are sick?

I don't really consider myself "sick" when I'm functional and (relatively) stable. If someone has hypertension and is on medication for it, and you ask if they have high blood pressure, they will usually say no, because it's normal since they are medicated. That's kind of how I feel. As I type this, I'm realizing that analogy does NOT work for diabetes. Interesting.

Difficult but interesting question I agree that the label “sick” tends to evoke pity which I don’t want.. Sorry for “useless” post, I don’t really have an answer

Tough question. My take is that Bipolar Disorder is a chronic condition and as such doesn't get cured.

There are periods of remission, and periods of less serious symptoms, but the illness never goes away. So I would say sick.

Who has to know you have the label? I carry the label but it doesn’t matter. I know I can exhibit certain symptoms and I also know they are in remission.

True. I need my labels but very few know I have them.

I don't think of myself as "sick," although I guess officially I am considered to have a chronic illness. When having an episode, as others have said, I'd consider myself sick, I suppose.

This. Just like most people who’ve been sick since infancy I’m known as a fighter. No pity has ever come my way.

I don’t need mine at least not according to me. I did argue with my p doc as to why he dx me and then he told me I could go to another p doc and not got dx. He said psychiatry is not an exact science and both he and my t wanted to know why I cared so much about labels.
I’m on half the dose of med I was taking for over a decade and I’m going to have it lowered again until I’m completely off it.

I need mine purely because they keep me compliant with all the various treatment plans I’m on

Are you seeing a therapist?

^^^ Yep.

just like diabetes or any life long illness that must be managed .... I am sick ... do I feel sick most the time ... no ... but in my heart I know I am sick ... and I am ok with that ...

Yeah that’s ironic. Neither my p doc nor my t particularly care about labels. At this point in my life it’s what I think I need as far as they are concerned.