The Facts About Bipolar Disorder

I am sick to death of people telling me they have been told they have Bipolar Disorder. I know at least three people who claim to have it besides me. You have to understand that I don’t know many people who would tell me something so personal. Three is a huge number. Just this morning at bowling one of the mom’s I’ve known for years through baseball/softball told me she has Bipolar II. Ok, I’m all for treating this disorder. I’m Type I and am treated myself.

I think, some people are emotionally retarded or lack discipline or are immature or something. Doctors tell them they have Bipolar and prescribe pills. “Oh, when I’m stable they’ll wean me off them.” Doctors need to take the hard way and tell people to grow up. Three in five people don’t have Bipolar Disorder. It’s just plain old poppycock.

I take five pills a day to control my Bipolar Disorder. Five… and I feel better emotionally and physically than I have in years. I’m what’s called a rapid cycler. I can modulate the whole range of Bipolar emotions in a single day. Most rapid cyclers take longer than that to cycle. Me, I’m full on all the time.

I am surviving this killing disorder sometimes by the end of my fingertips. I resent people telling me they have it and smiling like we’re now equals and it’s a badge to show off. It’s a very real sickness. It kills people. It ruins lives.   

Check out these facts:
NARSAD, the Mental Health Research Association state that: "More than 2 million American adults or 1 percent of the population age 18 or older in any given year have bipolar disorder."

According to the drug company AstraZeneca's bipolar statistics: "Between 3 and 4 % of the world’s adult population is affected by bipolar disorder. That is 222 million adults worldwide."

And according to the latest bipolar statistics quoted by the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance (DBSA) "Bipolar disorder affects approximately 5.7 million adult Americans, or about 2.6% of the U.S. population age 18 and older every year." (National Institute of Mental Health)

According to Dr Wes Burgess in his book, The Bipolar Handbook: Real-Life Questions with Up-to-Date Answers, Penguin 2006: "It is estimated that 2 to 7% of people in the United States suffer from bipolar disorder. Almost 10 million people will develop the illness sometimes during their lives. About half of these will never receive the correct diagnosis or treatment."

Okay, so people get Bipolar Disorder. That doesn’t excuse the “I have a cold” response these people who claim to have Bipolar Disorder. As a Type I suffer I can tell you it’s like entering hell with no protective clothing on. Even being on as many medications as I’m on I still have episodes. One of my least favorite is the clawing up my spine feeling. Another is my sudden and unexpected extreme anger outbursts. Depression becomes my shadow and I want to retreat to my room, only I have three kids and that isn’t always an option. I have to find other ways to cope. The first response is my little chill pill. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. Alone time sometimes helps. Sometimes nothing helps and I feel like I’m going out of my mind violently.

Bipolar-Lives.com has this to say about BP suffers and suicide:
Many studies indicate a 15% rate of suicide amongst individuals with bipolar disorder. This rate is about 30 times higher than that of the general population. The rate of suicides amongst bipolar people is even higher than that for schizophrenics.

Bipolar Disorder is an especially frightening and serious disease. Bipolar Type II is especially dangerous and painful disorder. No one should ever minimize the impact of BP on the life of the sufferer and those in their life. BP can easily kill one’s spirit, it may even take a life.