I understand this information can be new and scary. There are so many misconceptions about bipolar that being diagnosed that way can be really scary. If it would help, try asking your doctor at your next visit if she has diagnosed you as bipolar. Remember, though, that a diagnoses does not change anything more than you want it to change. You are still the same amazing sea baby that you were before, and you will continue to be. The medicine will hopefully help you manage your symptoms better but giving a name to what you are experience is simply an explanation.
Myth : Bipolar Disorder is the rapid, constant shift between all states of mood, and is just a way to refer to a person who is easily irritated or offended, or a moody person. Fact : Bipolar Disorder, a serious mental illness with no known cure, is the shift between depression, which can range from low level to major and can lead to suicide, and mania, a euphoric state in which the person feels very energetic and can even suffer from psychosis, or a loss of touch with reality. These shifts can be rapid, happening multiple times in a day, or slow, with full blown mania or depression lasting weeks or longer, and there can be periods of stable mood in between. There can also be mixed episodes in which a person is both depressed and manic. You mean… you just like… have a healthy mind!?! You just wake up and make seratonin?! You dont have to buy it!?
Be patient with me. I always calm down, it just might take an explosion and some tears to get there. I am admittedly not too well-informed on either condition, and was wondering if anyone could share any tips, suggestions, or need-to-knows about writing characters with them, or point to any resources for further research?
Me: 'Well I was professionally diagnosed based on years of symptoms, a strong family history of mental illness, a traumatic childhood that made a lot of symptoms worse and a continuing cycle of abuse that makes makes current symptoms worse and extremely obvious. They ask you how you feel and then get offended at your answer. Her description of mania is, to me, compelling, and frightening, and completely relatable I am BiPolar as well. Read more quotes from her on Goodreads.