Dealing with bipolar disorder is a constant battle
PUBLISHED: March 20, 2008
Dealing with any type of mental illness isn't easy but I want to make it public that I have been dealing with one since I was 16 years old. I have manic-depression, which is a type of bipolar disorder.
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What does this mean: it means that without being on medication and taking care of myself the way I do my personality can go from very highs to very lows. The reason I bring this to everyone's attention is not that I feel my personal life or business is everyone's affair but rather to shed some light on the disease.
You see when I was very young I would go through these mood swings and it was almost like I was taking drugs. My parents thought for sure I was on something because of the way I acted. They tried to blame such games as Dungeons and Dragons or the friends I hung out with.
The truth was that it was really a chemical imbalance in my brain that I had no control over. It was an element that my body was lacking. To be exact it was a little pill called lithium that my body didn't have enough of. Easy enough. Take a pill and things would be better.
It sure beat either acting like I had super powers or sitting alone in my room crying for no specific reason.
I do not go around advertising that I have this disease nor, up until now, have too many people in my life known this. I suppose the reason I am talking about it now is because there have been so many people in recent years that have done crazy things when off their medication.
One thing in recent years that really upset me was when the owner of Heritage Newspapers, Heinz Prechter, committed suicide. The reason this upset me so much is because he had manic depression and it was too much for him to deal with so he killed himself.
It really hit me hard. Here it was that this very intelligent person with all the financial resources in the world and the best medical help and the disease was too much for him.
Needless to say it made me look at what I have and be thankful to the support system I have in place. I am not saying that this is something that has to drag people down but I am saying that is something that needs to be controlled and monitored by a doctor.
Over recent years more on this disease has come out but almost always it is in a negative fashion. Chances are everyone either knows someone with this disease or thinks that maybe certain people have it.
Not everyone with this problem is violent to either themselves or to others. There are a lot of people in the world who can lead perfectly good lives, take their medication, monitor their blood and never show any signs of this at all.
I think that I really should never have been ashamed of this. It is something I was born with and something I had no control over getting. Doctors believe that genetics have an important role in determining if someone will develop this disease.
I have to admit, it can be scary at times and I don't know if it makes a person more creative or not but I do believe it can affect a person's everyday life. I don't want anyone to pity me or to feel sorry for me, I just want people to understand that there are people out there whom you may or may not know that have this disease.
So please think about it before the next time you make a comment about someone being bipolar or manic think about what you are saying before you speak it aloud. Or if go around saying someone may need lithium to calm them down ask yourself if you would say a similar thing to a diabetic who needs insulin.
To learn more about this disease go to www.prechterfund.org or call 1-734-998-6143.
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