Friday, July 27, 2018

When Bipolar Disorder Becomes Your Best Friend

We have very few chances to make long-lasting friendships in our lives. Life always seems to get in the way. Work, kids, money; it all prevents us from quality time with friends or family. In my case, I’ve been burned a few times, and bipolar disorder also prevents me from making strong connections.

Bipolar is a very lonely and isolating disease. Even if you’re lucky enough to have a positive support system, you still feel alone and afraid. At my lowest points, I don’t even reach out to friends or family. Historically that has not gone well for me. Most people just choose avoidance or the good old “What does she have to be depressed about?”.

I’m incredibly grateful for the mental health community on Twitter. They’ve shown me some other ways to cope with what I’m feeling, and someone is always there to listen. The downside is, they are only online; they don’t live next door, so I can expect to see anyone pop up on my front porch to kick my butt into gear. I have made some good friends.

The one constant thing in my life and something I can always count on is bipolar disorder. Bipolar disorder is very misunderstood. People are afraid of what they don’t understand. After my suicide attempt in 2013, “friends” started dropping like flies. This disease isn’t contagious. They simply left because “only a coward attempts suicide.”

So, once you break everything down and you consider all of the variables, what do you have left? In my case, I have an amazing husband that I am grateful for every single day. He can’t be with my 24 hours a day to make sure I’m OK. It would be wonderful, but not very practical.

What I do have is a disease called Bipolar Disorder, and I can always rely on that.

Whenever I feel totally alone, I can find bipolar resting comfortably on my shoulder, reminding me that it’s always there.

The constant black shadow hanging over me drains all of my energy and leaves me feeling useless and lost. But, what is always, always here? Yep, you guessed it. I can always count on it. It’s ironic; the one constant in my life is the one thing I want to get away from so badly.


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