Having any sort of illness or disability tends to carry with it a certain stigma and the same holds true when it comes to mental illnesses. Bipolar syndrome is one of those disorders that carry with it a certain stigma. As a group many that suffer from bipolar syndrome are afraid to seek help, afraid to admit they have it, or afraid to let the world know.
As is rather obvious, I could care less about the stigma. It is a part of what makes me me, and for that I am thankful. That's right. I'm thankful for bipolar syndrome because without it I simply would not be myself. That's not to say that I don't understand those who are fearful of coming out or coming to terms with it. I do. Simply because for the longest time in my life I had a hard time even admitting it to myself.
Where do these fears come from? In what origin are they found?
One is in the fear of being labeled crazy. Society holds this horrible belief that if you are suffering from a mental illness, then you must be crazy. The way I choose to look at is, what is crazy, what is normal. Neither truly holds a definition of someones character or can be defined by a certain set of defining characteristics so who cares if I'm normal or crazy, I'm simply me.
Another is because of the way our society works. If you do something others view as dumb, you're a retard. If you are overly emotional you're bipolar, if you're not the same cut of mould as everyone else you're crazy. With so many derogatory terms thrown around on a regular basis why in the world would anyone want to associate themselves with bipolar syndrome. They simply won't. And as a result their health, and very lives become at risk. (Something to think about before using any sort of slur again!)
It took me realizing that none of them or their opinions mattered. As Marilyn Munroe once said "If you cannot handle me at my worst, you don't deserve me at my best." If they choose to define me because of what I have or a labelled that's been applied to me, they don't deserve to be a part of my life. People can be callous, and they can be cold, but a wonderful world opened up to me when I opened my bipolar world. Sure I get the hate mail, I get the you're crazy mail, but I also get plenty of mail and comments that make me realize by being strong and showing that being bipolar ain't all that bad, more and more people will seek the treatment they need and perhaps one day society will stop it's judgemental ways.
As is rather obvious, I could care less about the stigma. It is a part of what makes me me, and for that I am thankful. That's right. I'm thankful for bipolar syndrome because without it I simply would not be myself. That's not to say that I don't understand those who are fearful of coming out or coming to terms with it. I do. Simply because for the longest time in my life I had a hard time even admitting it to myself.
Where do these fears come from? In what origin are they found?
One is in the fear of being labeled crazy. Society holds this horrible belief that if you are suffering from a mental illness, then you must be crazy. The way I choose to look at is, what is crazy, what is normal. Neither truly holds a definition of someones character or can be defined by a certain set of defining characteristics so who cares if I'm normal or crazy, I'm simply me.
Another is because of the way our society works. If you do something others view as dumb, you're a retard. If you are overly emotional you're bipolar, if you're not the same cut of mould as everyone else you're crazy. With so many derogatory terms thrown around on a regular basis why in the world would anyone want to associate themselves with bipolar syndrome. They simply won't. And as a result their health, and very lives become at risk. (Something to think about before using any sort of slur again!)
It took me realizing that none of them or their opinions mattered. As Marilyn Munroe once said "If you cannot handle me at my worst, you don't deserve me at my best." If they choose to define me because of what I have or a labelled that's been applied to me, they don't deserve to be a part of my life. People can be callous, and they can be cold, but a wonderful world opened up to me when I opened my bipolar world. Sure I get the hate mail, I get the you're crazy mail, but I also get plenty of mail and comments that make me realize by being strong and showing that being bipolar ain't all that bad, more and more people will seek the treatment they need and perhaps one day society will stop it's judgemental ways.
Bipolar syndrome doesn't have to hold a stigma if you don't allow it to. To discover more about bipolar syndrome check out http://www.MyBipolarWorld.com
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