I know many of you are scratching your heads and wondering if someone sane could actually make such a statement. But in my eyes, bipolar has been a blessing in many ways. I have learned a lot about myself and how to manage this illness well enough to be an author, a mentor, a mother, a wife, a daughter, a niece, and so much more. I can run two blogs, a website and three Facebook pages.
But most of all bipolar has given me the opportunity to reach out to others who are struggling and let them know they are not alone. By using my life as an example, both good times and bad, I let others know there is hope and there is always a light at the end of that dark hole we find ourselves in from time to time. I’m able to let others know it’s okay to ask for help and its okay if you have to go inpatient sometimes in order to get yourself back on track. I am helping people and that’s something I would not have been able to do had I not been diagnosed and understood the illness myself.
Not only do I help people with bipolar, but I am helping others understand the illness. I’m helping them to know that we are not monsters to be feared, but humans to be loved. That all we want is understanding and acceptance and a little help from time to time. By each person I educate about how bipolar disorder really works, I am letting others know that there is no reason for the stigma that lays behind it. The media has betrayed us as monsters and society has allowed us to slip through the cracks and I am here to try and put a stop to it all. I can’t do it alone and I’m thankful there are others out there like me willing to take a stand and have their voices heard.
If only it was mandated that those being incarcerated could have a psych evaluation and they could get the help they needed rather than be sitting in a jail cell where they may not have been had they known they had such an issue. And for pregnant mothers who are struggling with depression, wouldn’t it be a wonderful thing if they too were required to go through a psych screening so they could be treated and possibly ward off postpartum depression/psychosis? I’m not asking for people’s rights to be taken away, I’m asking for a simple health screening that would allow people to get the help they need. It’s too easy to miss the symptoms of bipolar if you do not know what to look for and due to stigma it’s too easy for people to refuse treatment. Leaving thousands untreated, un-diagnosed and suffering. So many more lives could be saved if we had simple measures in place to help those that are silently struggling.
Until Next Time……
Becca
