[moonbeam2]

i wake up today & i put the tv on & judge mathes is on & not even five min into the court hearing he says to the defendent this guy sounds like he is bipolar why would you do buisness with someone that has a mental illness in the beginning of his show he says he gives everybody a chance im haveing a hard time right now with my bp im actually shaking right now just hearing that its not fair i get so tired of hearing jokes about this illness its a hard life & i find no right to make that kind of joke all the guy did was change his mind & it really makes me feel like a big looser if there r people in the room with me ! let me know what you think!

[gma45]

Originally Posted by moonbeam2

i wake up today & i put the tv on & judge mathes is on & not even five min into the court hearing he says to the defendent this guy sounds like he is bipolar why would you do buisness with someone that has a mental illness in the beginning of his show he says he gives everybody a chance im haveing a hard time right now with my bp im actually shaking right now just hearing that its not fair i get so tired of hearing jokes about this illness its a hard life & i find no right to make that kind of joke all the guy did was change his mind & it really makes me feel like a big looser if there r people in the room with me ! let me know what you think!

I agree Moonbean2, that was rude and very insensitive of Judge Mathes. What a jerk! I am sorry you are not having a good day. Please don't let it get you upset. He was just WRONG! I am sure you are not a big loser, Sending you a big hug!(((((moonbeam2)))))

[HairlessPolecat]

Moonbeam,
Yes living with BP is not easy. Judge Mathis is on TV to do what? Make lots of money, that's all he cares around. Not only that the guy is probably not educated about mental health issues to begin with. Yes. he was wrong! Don't let something or someone on TV make you feel like you are a loser just because you have BP. People are going to be people and they are going to say ignorant things. People are going to say what they want to and believe what they want no matter how much education is avaliable to them. Don't let someone particualarly on TV make you feel so bad. Shake him off. Find something else to when things on TV start bugging you. One of the things I have learned in the last five years is that I do not have to subject myself to the ignorance of others. I can turn and walk away. The TV, well I can change the station or turn it off and go read a book. NObody has the ability to make ME feel anyway...if someone does or says something to me I can choose what I do with that. I don't have to accept the negatives. I can hold my head up and politely ignore all the negative crap and go on about my business with my head up so I don't live in the mirky muck of depression and anxiety...I am preaching to myself at this point since I just had my second anxiety attack in two days! Hang there and don't let someone you cause you to feel negative things like that.
HairlessPoleCat AKA Teresa

[mgran]

I don't know who this judge is, but I reckon you guys in the US should write to him and complain. That's outrageous! Bipolar is sometimes used as a term of abuse over here, as well as the older "manic depressive." So are "schizo" and "schizophrenic." My son has asperger's syndrome, and takes things very literally, so when kids at school say, "are you manic depressive or what?" he thinks that he might have the condition. (He doesn't.) I had to explain to him that people use these as terms of abuse, and he was shocked silly. He simply couldn't understand why anyone would use a medical term as an insult.

Sometimes I think that people imagine there's a level of choice in being mentally ill. My Dad says things like "there's a certain self indulgence in sucumbing to melencholy." (I'm not melencholy, I'm suffering from schizoaffective disorder!) And I'm aware that some people think Borderline Personality Disorder is just teenagers being "goth". I do get the "pull yourself together" attitude from my Dad, who in many ways is wonderful. He simply can't understand how his little princess (he was a very devoted Dad when I was a child) could possibly have turned out this way. He says things like, "it would be much easier if you could drive", or "you need to have ambitions, think of your career." (I struggle to do seven hours of voluntary work a week.) I wish he understood that I'm not lazy, or self indulgent, I'm sick. At least my brother understands, and so does my stepmum. It helps that some of my family at least are coming to terms with my differences.

[Open Eyes]

mgrn, have you ever asked your therapist if he could meet with your dad? I can really relate to your struggle as it is so hard to explain how different disorders effect us and that we cannot just decide to snap out of it.

I am sorry that you have to deal with that and you too Moonbeam2. It is no different than making fun of someone in a wheel chair and telling them they should just get over it and walk. And I agree that you should write a complaint to the network that aired that because it is a form of discrimation.

And I can totally relate to the frustration as I really suffer with PTSD and have had to distance from friends who actually yell at me to snap out of it. I wish it was that easy don't you? Often people say we are winers that never want to get better, that is the farthest from the truth and it really hurts.

Sorry you have both been hurt, I know how it feels.

Open Eyes

[madisgram]

moonbeam there are huge numbers of ppl that have no understanding of mental illness. there are in that bunch many who make off color remarks about us. consider the source...ignorance. i am guarded about talking about my bp with even some friends. afraid they'll think i'm gonna go to a shootout at mcdonalds.
as for you feeling like a loser, you're definitely not a loser in my book. MI is like any other physical/mental disease. we didn't ask for it and we're doing what we can to live as everyone else does. some ppl have a crippling condition, cancer, etc and then there are those of us with mental health challenges. everyone has something in their life. so don't feel odd man out or a freak cause u're not.

[Secretum]

Moonbeam, there is nothing wrong with being bipolar. Google "famous people with bipolar".

Van Gogh. Edgar Allan Poe. Even Florence Nightingale. The truth is that genius often marries madness. Sadly, people will always be prejudiced against those of us who are different. But there is nothing wrong with having bipolar, or any other MI.

Sometimes I feel like my bipolar is actually a superpower, but I'm usually hypomanic then.

[Sunna]

Originally Posted by Secretum

Moonbeam, there is nothing wrong with being bipolar. Google "famous people with bipolar".

Van Gogh. Edgar Allan Poe. Even Florence Nightingale.

Scary to think how many geniuses are being presently drugged back into mediocrity.