Archive for August, 2009
Bipolar is what I have, not who I am. That is a saying on a health newsletter that I periodically receive. It is put out by one of the drug companies that produces bipolar medication so it’s quite easy for them to say that. Anxiety and depression are viewed as temporary states by most people. Bipolar illness is not very well understood by the majority. It is a major mood disorder but it is also considered a mental illness. Mental illness, to most people, is unchartered territory. No one really wants to sit around and talk about it.
When you break an arm or a leg people can see your injury. When you have a disease, people can see your illness. When you are depressed or anxious or bipolar people can see your actions but find it difficult to understand them. We like to be able to see something before it makes sense. This is why so many people don’t get help for mental health issues. We haven’t come that far in removing the stigma of mental illness. Just as you can break bones, and disease can attack the body, mental illness attacks the chemicals of the brain. No one chooses that life. I know.