What It's Really Like Living With Bipolar Disorder
What is Bipolar Disorder?
Bipolar Disorder is a very difficult illness to live with and perhaps just as difficult to treat properly, with all the ups and downs of your moods it is basically like treating two illnesses that come and go as they please, I could copy and paste the usual symptoms and explanations of what Bipolar is but you can find that info anywhere online, what I want to do here is let you into the mind of someone with Bipolar, I have Bipolar II Disorder, which is the worst of the four kinds of Bipolar, to simplify it it's basically extreme emotional highs and lows but there is way more to it than that and here's my story in hopes of helping people understand it better.
Like I said above the basics are emotional highs and lows, The lows being like depression but on a whole new level and the highs (Mania) are almost like being high on some kind of drug and although the Manic side for me is better than the depressed side I still have the Mania cause major problems in my life, besides the energy and racing thoughts I get I also have really bad spending habits with money when I'm Manic and often speak my mind without thinking of the outcome of doing so...I've lost friends,girlfriends and even the mother of my child and any chance at being a full time dad because of this illness because even though I can't help being how I am sometimes it can be hard to deal with and people often take it personally regardless.
How do you treat Bipolar Disorder?
Bipolar Disorder is a very tricky illness to have because the symptoms vary so much, even from person to person and it's almost like treating two illnesses that are constantly battling each other , whether you want meds or not, with Bipolar you need them and that's the first step to treating it is to accept that and get going on medicating it which can be a very long road in trying to find the right mix of medications to treat both ends of the illness, often times treating the depressive side can push you into mania and vice versa .
Therapy can also be very helpful, although my belief is that it depends on the person, for some therapy just feels like a waste of time and for some it really is but it's certainly something that is worth trying but what has helped me more than Therapy is having a good support system in friends and family.
Do You Know Someone With Bipolar Disorder?
I'm hoping this helps some people understand a bit better, I typically write an outline and plan my writing ahead of time but for this one I just came on ,started writing and let it flow from me. If you know someone suffering from this illness just be there for them because that means more than you will ever realize, the most hurtful parts of my illness have been when people I cared about just let me go because it was too hard to deal with sometimes, yes medications and therapy help but the best thing for people with Bipolar is understanding,sympathy and compassion.
