Bi-Polar disorder is probably one of the most serious of mental illnesses because it is very deceptive. One day the person can seem perfectly fine, the next they are angry, abusive and just plain hard to contend with.
Paranoia is another one of the little things that go with this illness. Ever had anyone watch television and think the news reporter or the minister or whatever is talking to them or about them, and they talk back to them? Or even worse, your phone, your house, your car is bugged and you have to be very, very careful what you say!
Everything is a conspiracy!
With the proper medication and diet and routine of normal duties and exercise and social life, the people who suffer with this can function normally, that is if they 'stay' on their meds, which is something they are famous for not doing. They also stop seeing their therepist and stop being social alltogether for fear of anyone realizing they are slipping. I imagine it is a very scary place to be and I have much sympathy for those who suffer with this.
On the flip side, they can be quite the survivor in life and manage to get through worse things than most of us can imagine. Doing the normal stuff we take for granted sometimes......like owning your own home or having your own apartment and holding down a job and being able to cope day to day is a huge sense of empowerment and independence to those who have bi-polar disorder. They need to feel self sufficient, while still having a close and supportive network of freinds and family and people who they feel they have something in common with (like group therepy members, or others who have the same diagnosis).
In this day and time, we all suffer a bit from stress, for dozens of reasons, some we aren't even aware of. As a matter of fact, there are more and more people going to therepy just to deal with everyday living in this new millenium. Depression is on the upswing in this country and sometimes we all have more than we can handle. There is a need for a bit more relaxation and learning to let the little crap go and not worry as much as we do. Life today is far more complicated than it was for our parents and theirs. Still, we can learn to do things that help with all the stress, it just takes learning some new things, meditation, relaxation, anger management, etc, are just a few.
Last but not least, take a moment to count yourself lucky if you don't suffer from any serious mental illness and if you do happen to be one of the people who do, I applaud you for your courage and your survival with such a hard disease. Life is hard enough as it is, but you manage to keep going with a extra brick in the load. Take heart and know that you are not alone and that this doesn't make you a freak or wierd, its just a problem that can be managed with a little hard work. But then again, isn't that the key to managing anything........hard work?
Inspiration
