There are many myths about people with manic depression. Lots of times when we’re first diagnosed, or even down the road sometimes, we have these mythical ideas about what bipolar disorder is and can do. This top 10 list deals with myths about the disease that we often have that can make it much harder for us to cope with bipolar disorder. By accepting these myths, we buy into the stigma that often surrounds mental illness. By recognizing and challenging them, we can have better lives. Here are the first 5 myths about manic depression that we often plague ourselves with.
1. I have bipolar disorder, so I’m doomed to be crazy and always will be.
No. You not crazy; you have a mental illness. While the illness won’t go away, it can be managed so that you can have a good life. It makes no more sense to say you’re crazy for life because you have bipolar than for someone who’s diabetic to say their blood sugar will always be screwed up no matter what they do.
Definitely untrue. Manic episodes can often be very unhappy. Some manias have all the energy and possibly psychosis of mania, but instead of euphoria are extremely irritable and angry. Paranoid delusions caused by mania don’t feel very happy either.
Your doctor may or may not be “crazy”, but for some reason he or she believes you have this illness, and you can have it without ever being manic. Bipolar II is a form of bipolar disorder where florid mania doesn’t happen, but rather hypomania alternating with severe depression. Bipolar II may not as obviously bipolar to the onlooker, but it’s just as serious a disease and can be just as disrupting to your life.
Too bad it’s not that easy. Medications by themselves very seldom fix it all. Life management is usually needed to feel the best you possibly can when living with manic depression.
Um, no. I have never met a person who got high or drank more than very lightly whose medications did work well. The short answer to why is because both are affecting the brain.
~~President George W. Bush in an address
on the US commitment to mental health care at the University of New Mexico
Babbled by Immi.
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Thank you for this! It’s nice to read something with a sense of humor. I wish there had been blogs when I was growing up with a very unstable bipolar mother. It definitely would have made things easier.
Lynda
Lynda’s Great Adventure
Great Lynda, I’m so glad it helps!