When I was diagnosed as mentally ill, I read on the Internet and felt from Dr's that spiritualism is an illusion as well as a lot of other feelings I had been having was only a symptom of my illness. At the time I had no one to tell me any thing different, I questioned my faith and every thing I have believed as truth my whole life.
I started to question myself. Since I was 'mentally ill' I must be the one who's crazy and maybee some of the things around me aren't real. Once I questioned one thing, that lead to another thing and another. That in itself was making me crazy! I doubted my perseption of the whole world. I focused on this and let other people take advantage of my fear and vonerable state.
People with bipolar disorder are unique people and don't fit into the regular mold, similar to someone in school with ADD who learns differently than others. Today's society caiter's to the majority excluding others that can't conform. This society is not set up so that we can live naturally, for ex: our sleeping patterns are different from what comes natural to us, the way we were designed. I could go on.
We who have bipolar disorder are gifted! I'm going to list some of the gifts I have so you can look for them in yourself. I see things in a unique perspective than other people which helps me solve problems and am able to help others to see things in a different way. This can even be an asset in a job. Being artistic comes naturally to me. For me it's painting. Most people would have to do more schooling for things that come naturally to me. I feel I have the gift of feeling and hearing God and the spiritual realm around me. You may relate to some of these examples of my gifts and have some more benefits you can think of and share. I used to read website after site and it brought me down.
Finally I realised, partly with the help of The Icarus Project's site, the link is on my home page, when I stopped struggling within this society to be like every one else and learnt how to exercise my gifts, it often gives me the upper hand, a unique edge.
I will briefly go into something I've learned about people's fear of seeking professional help. This is something I will further go into another time. The majority of fears are that Doctors will give medication that will interfere with a spiritual connection, artistic talent, one's personality and the medication will mess up you brain even more. This doesn't have to be the case. There are so many advances and if you get a referral from your Pd Dr to a good Phyc Dr that you feel comfortable with and voice your concerns and be in charge of the medications you take.
I would also like to mention that not every one with bipolar disorder has to take prescription drugs. There is cognitive therapy and natural ways like vitamins which can help depending on the degree of your illness. I still would suggest seeing your Dr. in any case and go on prescription medication if you are self medicating yourself through street drugs, alcohol, sex etc.
In Canada most one on one and group counseling is covered by the government if your Dr refers you. If you don't have insurance and can't afford any prescription drugs that are for your mental health, your Dr should have a form you can fill out and the government will pay for it. If you have any problems or need help with information on how to get quality free care ask me.
