I sort of "let the cat out the bag" in my last Hub when I mentioned that I was Bipolar. Not that it is a big deal or anything, but now that I have put it out there, (and since it is the subject of the next book I am presently toiling over.) and I have seen so many requests for answers about the subject, I need to try my hand at helping to address them.

First of all, I am not a doctor, a therapist, a psychologist, an expert, a guru, or in any position of holding a degree or title of any great importance. Worse. I am a writer with a thirst to write, with opinions that make little difference to anyone but myself, or those who may choose to listen.

However I do have one advantage on this particular subject. I have first hand knowledge. What I put down here comes from personal experience, personal understanding, (there is that word again), and personal revelations. But I am Bipolar, so they probably will make absolutely no sense to you at all. Or, maybe they will. You be the judge.

How many times have you told someone a problem you are facing, or relayed a very deep and personal feeling you are experienceing, to a friend or family member and received a warm, but hardly helpful, "I understand." reply? Not really what you needed to hear. What you really needed to hear were answers to the dilema.

If you are Bipolar, or are dealing with a Bipolar, the key is understanding, not "being" understanding. "Being" understanding more accurately means, being patient. (Also important.) First, understand what Bipolar is.

For me, understanding that Bipolar is a syndrome more than 10 million individuals on this planet suffer with, everyday, (Probably more, they just don't know it, and neither do the folks that make up the statistics.) was my starting point. That means, there are alot of people out there dealing with a syndrome that, equates to something as simple as a chemical imbalance. Seems pretty simple. Figure out what chemical they are short on and squirt it right into them. That should fix the problem. WELL THEN! WE HAVE A MEDICAL MIRACLE HERE! We have just cured Bipolar Syndrome! (Not even close)

Sure, that would work, if I were, say, a 57' Chevy. Give me a lube job, flush out the old oil an pour in some new, change some filters and a few hits of WD40, and I'd be good as new. But I am human, and unfortunately, everything my body does, feels, tastes, and experiences relies on one key group of things which makes every other person on this planet function. Chemicals. Chemicals in our bodies are key in thought, muscle movement and developement, even the peformance of non-voluntary functions like breathing and the constant lub-dub in the center of your chest.

Chemicals are vital for brain function, for coming up with questions, like; Why don't penguins stick to the ground when they pee? (It's my article and I will come up with the hypothetical questions wether they make sense or not. Remember, I am Bipolar.)

Oh I know that thought, as well as movement actually rely on electrical impulses created within our own bodies, but it is combinations of chemicals within us that create those electrical impulses. Without the chemicals within you, you would be, very dead. That would suck.

I tell you all that just to emphasize the importance of the natural chemicals that have come together to create you. As I stated, Bipolar Syndrome is a chemical imbalance, and a bit more. You see, all these chemicals don't go running around you willy nilly, mixing together when ever they may feel like it. That would be absolute chaos. You would be walking along all quiet and peaceful like, then all of a sudden you would have all these chemicals running around making you cry and laugh and sneeze and wave and fall asleep and spasm all the while smelling your grandmothers favorite bread recipe baking for absolutely no reason whatsoever. Good grief, you would look like you had something terribly wrong with you, wouldn't you?

Well, as luck would have it, there is a little tiny spot, dedicated to the regulation of those vital chemicals within us. They control all sorts of stuff. Now there are some chemicals that help us do certain things, and others that help us experience other things. Emotions are controled by the release of certain hormones, or chemicals, into our systems to allow us to feel emotions, to help us sleep, to help us feel pleasure or pain, or sorrow or depression or joy. Well, you get the idea. Everyone has that little control valve, the only problem, a Bipolar individual's little control center fell on the floor and got stepped on before it was installed. They don't work right.

Now this is a very, simple, sub-layman way of looking at Bipolar Syndrome because there is so very much more to understand, but this is a very key step into understanding either yourself or another who you know. I despise the term "Mentally ill". There is such a stigma attached to it, when the fact is it simply refers to conditions which cause an individual to be different from the considered norm. As far as I am concerned, I am as normal as the next guy, but because I have a chemical imbalance, I am susceptible to periods of manic behavior interupted by periods of unexplainable depression, seasoned with a bunch of other labels, (conveniently attached to my diagnosis by a collection of therapists while I wasn't looking).

The problem for me is sometimes walking through life as a Bipolar is alot like walking through an emotional mine field. You never know what emotion will explode when a situation pops up. You could see something as simple as a squirrel road pizza on the way to work some morning, and never expect it to put you in a dark room with the blankets pulled up under your chin, questioning your own immortality. Knowing it could, and why, is more what you need to really know. Realizing you are headed in a direction you don't want to go, and figuring out how to counter it is the best you will ever do, because friends, as terrible as it is to say, there is, to date, no cure for Bipolar Syndrome. Those who have it must learn to manage it, and those who are close to them, only in understanding how it effects an individual can you begin to help in the managing process. We can talk about how the the chemicals effect bipolars next time.

I think, for a start, this will do. There is alot of information out there on Bipolar, and depending on how studious you care to be, you can become involved in research 24 hours a day for the next few weeks, and only scrape the surface. Most likely you will run into alot of physco mumbo-jumbo. Some of the stuff you may or may not understand, and alot of it is even over the heads of the individuals who wrote it. I understand it in my own simple way, which I began to explain in the above paragraphs. I have much more to say on the matter, but my fingers are tired at the moment, and there is this really good movie coming on.

Oh, and answer to the question I posed at the beginning of this Hub;

So, what's wrong with being Bipolar?

Absolutely nothing. I just wanted to get your attention. Now that I do, perhaps there are a few things you may want to share. After all, learning about Bipolar and living with it is eased by sharing ways to deal with the thing that ails you. I hope for comments, for as I stated, I am absolutely no expert in the matter, and can only share what I know from what I have experienced and have observed. What you know is important, and what you share even more so. We will talk more in my next Hub.