CHAPTER INDEX
How to explain what it is like to be bipolar
So, you have friends, you have family, and none of them really know what bipolar disorder is. That’s okay. When you explain it to them, keep it simple. Tell them that it means your emotions are intensified and that your highs are higher than most people’s but your lows are also much lower than most people’s. There’s nothing wrong with telling them that you’re on medication. Heck, all of us have to take medication at some point in our lives. And feel free to explain to them that you have gone to some therapy. In this new century, therapy is now a typical thing. Lots of people do it. Nobody is really going to judge you for it.
Make sure to keep things in a positive light. Don’t go into the really horrible side of this illness unless you truly feel like enlightening someone. Most people don’t need to know that suicidal thoughts are typical and that if things get too stressful you could pop. Just give them the basic facts and if they really want to research more you can send them to the informational webpage of your choice. Or, I guess you could give them this booklet.
Make sure to keep things in a positive light. Don’t go into the really horrible side of this illness unless you truly feel like enlightening someone. Most people don’t need to know that suicidal thoughts are typical and that if things get too stressful you could pop. Just give them the basic facts and if they really want to research more you can send them to the informational webpage of your choice. Or, I guess you could give them this booklet.
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4 comments:
Shay, Thank you for this post. Very helpful, now I know how to approach my family members who don't understand.
Sarah
telling "them," "it means your emotions are intensified and that your highs are higher than most people’s but your lows are also much lower than most people’s," is hardly insightful enough alone to help other's cope w/ the loss that is, you, or how they may help you to help yourself w/ this "condition" as there is nothing "simple" a/b mania, hyp0mania, depression, anxiety, kleptomania, suicide, or the like conditions that aren't even covered by most's medical health insurance due in full to the ambiguity that circumvexes diagnosis, treatment, or coping strategies. please define/clarify/advise further. -kaj.
ps: it is my intention to explain, in a universal language, "what it is like to be bipolar." once i come dwn from my present hyp0manic state, that is.
no one will listen to me
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