Hello, my Chime! Welcome back to another installment of Diary of a Bipolar Pixie, where you get to read a psycho girl rant about a variety of topics and you hope that they either make sense to you or they resonate with you. If they don’t do either for you, may it at least somewhat entertain you.
Today, I have decided to start the first series of my blog. You probably saw the title so let me explain it. There’s a lot of stigma typically surrounding mental health in general, and a lot of preconceived notions that aren’t necessarily true. I want to start this series to separate what is true about mental health conditions from what the public thinks is true.
We’ll be starting with… Bipolar Disorder! You probably guessed that though, didn’t you? Well, naturally I would start with the one that pertains to me the most.
The first misconception, or myth if you’re into that kind of thing *wink,* is that bipolar disorder is rare. In reality, America alone has about five and a half million adults diagnosed with one of the forms of bipolar disorder a year. That’s two and a half percent of the population. That’s more people than the city of Los Angeles. And that’s only America, and only the people who get diagnosed, so who really know the real number out there of people who think they’re suffering from weird depression, or anxiety and their meds just aren’t doing enough.
The second myth, cause I’m into that kind of thing *wink,* is that there’s only one form of bipolar disorder. Some sites say there’s four, I’ve also found an article listing five, but I’m going to quote from National Institute of Mental Health, which says that there are three forms. There’s bipolar II disorder, bipolar I disorder, and cyclothymia.
Myth #3 is that bipolar disorder is just extreme mood swings, and that’s not true either. While “mood swings” are symptoms, they’re not typical mood swings. By that, I mean they are not the variety of mood swings that a neurotypical person might more commonly experience. In someone with bipolar disorder, one episode of a “mood swing” can span several months rather than a few hours. From my personal experience, my depressive episodes can last anywhere from two weeks to four months, and their broken up by hypomanic episodes that last a few days. Some research says these episodes can even last a few weeks, but most people don’t feel the need to get help. We tend to feel over energized, need less sleep, and even have increased self-confidence, but that’s just a part of it. I also get more agitated than normal, or stretch myself too thin between projects, and I make terrible decisions. I’m talking spending $300+ on shit I will never use, stop going to work because I’d rather go hiking and planning out hookups with guys I met on tinder. Fact, I’ve only followed through with one of those. Mania is hypomania times ten with some psychosis requiring hospitalization. Our depressive episodes are very similar, if not the same, as depression symptoms, which are severe enough to make it difficult to complete everyday activities.
The fourth myth that some people believe is that mania is good, it makes us productive, and as I’ve discussed already, that’s not true either. After a depressive episode, mania and hypomania can feel good. We go from doing nothing to doing everything. My house is never cleaner than when I’m hypomanic, but it’s not enough. Sure, I’ve cleaned the whole house, done all the laundry, but I could do more. So much energy, so many thoughts, let’s clean out my closet, throw out clothes I don’t like, even the shirt I wore last week that I thought was super cute but now reminds me of a blue whale, plus I accidentally bought $200 worth of clothes and need space for them, but in the middle of cleaning, I start getting anxious because the room I just spent all morning cleaning is now a disaster again and I need to clean it before I go to bed or I’ll stay up all night stressing and cleaning and, and, and…
It’s not fun. From an outside perspective it may seem good because we’re a lot more social, but, at least from my perspective, it’s anxiety-inducing madness that drops me into really low depressive episodes where I cry at my bank account and wonder what the fuck is wrong with me. It sucks!
Another myth is that bipolar disorder only affects adults, but in reality, it can and does affect children. My mom said she always thought I was bipolar, especially after the second divorce. The problem is diagnosing children with anything can be so difficult because a) their brains aren’t developed enough to definitively say they’ll suffer from a mental illness or disorder their whole lives when they could change in a year, and b) they’re moody, crazy little goblins! In all my many years of babysitting I’ve learned that the hard way, and I can’t imagine being the parent of a crotch goblin who changes moods six times in thirty seconds, bounces off the walls, has and obsessive need to flip a light switch twenty times, and play dress up believing they are the four different characters they they dress up as. That doesn’t mean the child has bipolar disorder, dissociative identity disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, and attention deficit hyperactive disorder. It means they’re a kid!
the next myth is that people with bipolar disorder can’t hold steady jobs. this one is obviously false, but it holds a little bit of truth. It’s incredibly hard for many with the disorder to keep a steady job. From my experience, I get bored or too depressed to go to work, or too overwhelmed and anxious when I am at work. With hard work and dedication, though, many can and do hold down steady jobs.
Substance abuse can cause bipolar disorder… not! Substance abuse can make symptoms much worse, and if the individual was never previously diagnosed thanks to mild symptoms, it may appear as though the symptoms were caused by the substances.
“Bipolar people are either manic or depressed” is a false statement. There’s also mixed episodes which are periods where people can have symptoms of depression and mania at the same time. There’s also euthymic, which is a balanced mood, a neurotypical’s “normal” mood.
In case I haven’t said it before, I put some words and phrases in quotes because I don’t necessarily agree with the connotations of the words or phrases, but I can’t think of a better fitting phrase or word.
There’s also these beliefs that either a) diet and exercise can cure bipolar disorder, or b) medication is the only treatment for bipolar disorder. Both are false, or at least mostly false. There are some people out there who’s symptoms are mild enough that exercise, diet, and lifestyle can help manage the symptoms, but it’s not a cure. Bipolar is a lifelong disorder. Some people need medication because nothing else works. I just want to say that everybody’s struggles are valid, no matter the struggle. If you don’t need meds, if your lifestyle helps you manage your symptoms, then good job. I’m so proud of you for having the willpower and dedication to manage yourself with good food, good exercise, hopefully good sleep, and hopefully good support. Even if you don’t have some of those, I’m proud of you. For those that need meds, I’m proud of you too for asking for help. From personal experiences I know that can be very hard.
To everyone, everywhere, who suffer suffer from everything, it you’re reading this, I’m proud of you for still being here, for still breathing and trying everyday. It may come easy to you, it may be hard, it may even feel impossible, but you’re still here, and that’s incredible. So, so, so proud of you, chimers!
Onto my next myth before I start crying! Artists with bipolar disorder will lose their creativity if they get treatment. FALSE! Treatment is shown to help people think more clearly, which should help ideas flow more easily.
Another myth is that bipolar people jump from hot to cold in second daily, which, if you’ve been paying attention, I’ve already said isn’t really the case. Episodes last anywhere from a few days to a few months.
There’s also a myth that once you feel euthymic, or start to regularly have balanced moods, you can stop your treatments. This is a bad idea. Remember, there is now cure for bipolar disorder, there’s only managing symptoms, and if you stop treatment, you stop managing and you might end up back at square one of your treatment plan.
Apparently people with bipolar disorder are violent… violently awesome! But seriously, it’s believed that we’re naturally violent. We’re irritable and impulsive, but that doesn’t make us inherently violent, at least not anymore than anyone else.
Some people also think that there’s nothing you do if your loved one has bipolar disorder, which is absolutely not true. No matter what disorder your loved one is suffering from, you can always start by learning about the disorder. Then, you can help identify symptoms, identify what’s a trigger for them, what their response is, some coping mechanisms that you might remember and work through with them when they’re having a really bad moment. When I’m in the middle of an episode, depressive or hypomanic, I struggle with remembering my coping techniques that my therapist tries to drill in my head but I can’t always get there. Maybe you could be the reminder they need when they’re in that moment.
I can’t think of or find anymore myths online about bipolar disorder, so I think I’ll throw in some interesting facts I found in order to help lengthen this post just a little.
Symptoms of bipolar disorder can worsen in women if/when they are pregnant. Changes in hormones in a woman can have some pretty severe adverse affects. Post partum depression is caused in some parts by these hormone changes, so think about that kind of change in someone who already has unstable brain chemistry.
There’s no definitive cause of bipolar disorder, but it is linked to a hereditary trait in at least two thirds of individuals diagnosed. Like me, most people have a parent or grandparent or such that have the disorder.
It should also be known that some medications can be taken while pregnant and some cannot. If you are bipolar and plan on getting pregnant, talk to your doctor about some options you have. Even if you’re not taking meds, pregnancy might make things more difficult and you might just need a little extra support through it, and that’s okay.
That’s all I have for today! If you enjoyed this blog post, or at least found it educational, then please leave a like. Comment any questions or concerns you have, or if you have any more information you want to add, or even if you want to correct me on something I said. I’m not an expert, I’m just researching for these topics because their important to me and I want to clear some of the stigma, make it more acceptable to talk about these topics openly. So, please, correct me if I’m wrong, I’m open to learning more. Also, subscribe if you want to keep up to date on my rants, topics and adventures I go on.
Have a fantabulous day, and fly high Chimers!
“Always being busy is not the sign of a winner, it’s the sign of your life being out of balance.”
― Sam Owen, Anxiety Free: How to Trust Yourself and Feel Calm
Diary of a Bipolar Pixie 