Blame
- Despite the fact that my mother was hospitalized for a very long time in the 1950's, and my maternal aunt was diagnosed with schizophrenia, my father and siblings showed no patience when I was hospitalized with bipolar. I remember calling my father from the psych unit, and him yelling at me. I can't remember exactly what he said, but I do remember saying "Shame on you" repeatedly, and then hanging up. I have one wonderful sister who has never made me feel like she saw me as the illness and not the person. With the rest of the family (even extended) I was called "melodramatic" as a girl, and avoided as an adult. I received no help for my children when I was debilitated. Instead, I was criticized and blamed. That's the only consistent thing I ever got from my family-BLAME. So, I moved away in 1981 and never looked back. I now live in the VT mountains with a loving husband who has stuck by me in the absolute worst of times. My father died last Aug and I'm glad.
- —Guest Anniem
Everyone is Against Me
- I have bipolar disorder and cannot work. I had my share of abusive language towards me. I've been told that I live in a fantasy world, I am a lazy bitch, I'm just using it to get what I want. That I cut myself for attention, when really it's to stop the internal pain of people harassing me. Some doctors are so mean that to protect my well-being I tend to cuss them out when they pull the slightest cocky attitude with me. I get treated differently in public in my town. Everyone likes to make fun of me for things that really don't matter. My dad sometimes plays in and makes fun of me; others test to see how far I would go before choking them or threatening to shoot them. I've never done these but have thrown punches and tried to kill myself.
- —Guest peoplearestupid
Comments from Lunatics
- The worst thing anyone said to me about being bipolar was that all I would be good at doing in my life was to be a hooker. This came from my EX-best friend's boyfriend. He drinks like a fish, takes pain pills like candy and has mooched off my so-called friend for the last six months. She was sitting right there and did not say a word. I kept pretty calm and told him to take a good look at his own f***ed up life, not to be concerned with mine. What is so ironic is my friend is also bipolar but never said a word. The next day she called and apologized for him and said he was too wasted to remember it! Real winner there. We are stronger and more normal than most of the people around us, but I am the ignorant bipolar bitch? He must watch too much TV, since all he does is lie around and get hammered. That's normal, right. God Bless to everyone with this disease.
- —Guest sherylw
comment2 the worst
- I need to let this out. I just said earlier that the guy is a total idiot. My so-called best friend was sitting right there. He is her boyfriend and she never said a word. He said I am a stupid bipolar bitch that I should be a hooker because I can't do anything else with my life. I stayed pretty calm but this comment came from a pathological liar who mooches off my EX-friend and eats pain pills like candy while drinking whiskey excessively. Yet I'm the ignorant bipolar bitch. Just checking people out family, friends, some of them should be put away. We are normal compared to these psychos and lunatics. They watch too much TV. We are so much stronger and no one wants this disease. Hollywood portrays everyone bipolar as raving maniacs. Have you seen the celebrity bipolar list? Stay strong and God Bless.
- —Guest sheryl
Stop Owning It!
- A coworker/friend of mine made the brilliant conclusion that if I stopped saying I was bipolar, I wouldn't be. That I needed to stop owning it. Hooray for denial! Perhaps if an alcoholic stops owning their alcoholism they can go to the local bar and drink responsibly?
- —Guest Jared
You will be permanently incapacitated
- 6 years ago a Dr threatened me, when I decided to stop taking my medication. He said that in 6 months, the 'bipolar 2' would develop into bipolar 1 and that in 6 years it was highly likely that I would be permanently incapacitated. Well Dr Ignoramous, after seeing a neuroscientist, who has helped me resolve the issues surrounding this so-called 'bipolar', I am no longer experiencing mood swings or taking medication. Moreover, I am leading a very successful life!!!
- —Guest Free from bipolar
Way to go, psychiatrist
- The first time I had a major depressive episode, before I was diagnosed, I went into the restroom of my dorm and tried to take my life. The first doctor I talked to said that "Rubbing a dull knife against your wrists doesn't sound that serious to me". For a year I thought that it was just me being an angsty teenager, went through another depression, a frightening manic episode, and finally found a psychiatrist who diagnosed me--no thanks to that first one! Now I'm more choosy over who I tell. Even friends who care sometimes say the wrong thing. If I think I look really good one day, they immediately ask, "Are you manic?" Well, gee, thanks... But I've learned there's a difference between people who are ignorant, but well-meaning, and those who are genuinely hurtful.
- —Guest KayJay
It's fashionable now...
- I've heard them all I think! From 'Oh, you're just moody, it happens to everyone' to 'You can be really annoying' (this from a supposedly close friend)... 'It doesn't really exist', 'It's just an excuse to avoid dealing with life'. I find it difficult to believe that supposedly rational, sentient beings can come out with such ridiculous statements. But rest assured, they only say it to make things fit with what's comfortable in their silly, safe, oh-so-perfect (Oh yeah, sure) lives. But the prize for the best one is awarded to........: 'You've only said you have bipolar 'disease' (my parentheses) because it's fashionable'. I mean, WTF? The fact that I've been diagnosed 15 years, and have never been a fashion follower, clothes, hair, whatever; The fact that I trusted this person with the information to have a reaction like that. I have to say, I just laughed in her face. But comments like that cut us to the quick. Remember, normals: Engage brain before putting mouth in gear.
- —Oscarlegolas
Just Pray More
- The worst thing ever said to me was when I had been hospitalized for a severe depressive episode. My "Pastor" came to visit and told me to "Pull myself up by my bootstraps and pray more and I wouldn't be in this situation." That hurt me a great deal because after saying this he just got up and stalked out of the room and didn't come back to see me again! After that he would ask me how I was doing and if I said not so good he would just respond with "Well just pray about it!" At the time I thought that God was really punishing me and prayed until I was crazy! Only after I went to the educational classes at NAMI with my husband and children did I understand the true effects of Bipolar I Disorder. Not that I wasn't praying enough or was being punished by God!
- —sandphd
you're annoying and strange
- A close friend said that i'm annoying and strange, and that I basically just need to sort myself out. If it was that easy I would have 'sorted myself out' years ago. I have no control over this, and I don't want to be like this. I don't enjoy it and all I want is to be normal and for people to stop referring to me as strange, weird, or different. I'd also love to be accepted just for who I am instead of feeling like I need to change, because I can't change the bpd (borderline personality disorder, i'm not bipolar) and it makes me feel i'm not worth knowing or caring about.
- —Guest
You're not really bipolar
- The most hurtful thing I've ever been told is that I'm not really bipolar. My sister said this after I'd been hospitalized three times. She's also asked me why I need to take all these meds. I've been called crazy and psycho by neighbors. Another hurtful thing is when employers, potential employers, and acquaintances drop me after finding out that I'm bipolar. Usually they don't talk to me about the condition; they just stop calling, change their email, and drop off the face of the planet.
- —Guest Heather
mentally unhealthy.....
- I'm in a play right now, and the boy who plays my younger brother needs some looking after. I am moving in with his family to help keep him company while his mother works. I exercise, stay off of gluten (helps my swings) take my meds, my vitamins, try to eat healthy every day, and am pathetically aware of my mood swings. My director decided to pull him aside and let him know that a 'mentally unhealthy' person should not be allowed alone with him, because They can't take care of him. Now the entire cast despises her, and thinks SHE'S the retard. So who's mentally unhealthy? The pathological liar/paranoid or the bipolar who takes her meds and has found a treatment plan that works? Which is more responsible? :-) I love stupid people. They're fun to laugh at quietly while they make a fool of themselves.
- —Guest Megan
No choice
- Noone chooses who are they are. My dad is a psychopath and my mother is bi-polar. So guess what happened to me? I am a bi-polar psychopath . Throughout the entirety of my life i have been beaten abused and raped both physically mentally and emotionally. People made me who i am and people made them who they are. Don't be ashamed of who you are. I have been and it hurts. But i understand everything and know very little. i know why u are treating me this way its because we dont choose who we become its circumstance. action and reaction. So dont be ashamed dont hide away. Be yourself and React Its all we can do till the reaction is complete.
- —Guest Dean
Demon possessed!
- My oldest daughter recently told me that I had a demon. My grown children don't let me babysit my grandchildren anymore. I grew up with an unmedicated Paranoid-Schizophrenic mother and suffer from PTSD as well as bi-polar... I have always loved my children as well as my grandchildren and would never harm any of them and feel very hurt by the things they say to me and feel about me. My youngest child suffers from mental illness as well and I try to support her as best as I can. She tries to support and love me as well. Thank God, we can understand each other. And, neither one of us calls the other, "demon possessed."
- —ptsdbp600
It doesn't even exist
- My dad's response when I phoned him the day I was diagnosed was the worst; "Bipolar doesn't exist, it's just a fabrication of the pharmaceutical companies and psychiatrists to make money by classifying normal ups and downs as an 'illness'." I was close to my dad until that point...but he now hasn't spoken to me since, and while he was saying that he was running searches on google for articles about how dangerous my medication was, and sending me them.
- —Guest loonz
