Please Don't

Taken from a forum I read.

"Bipolar, in all its spectrum, is a nightmare condition that affects the sufferer in the most cruel and all-consuming way. Its not particularly normal to experience the extreme opposites of the disorder i.e. on top of the world one minute and then feeling like the world is literally on top of you the next-crushing you down. For this reason alone, Bipolars are not normal people. But Bipolars are, in the majority, remarkable people with remarkable creative/leadership skills.In fact, on an evolutionary/Darwinian level, society needs its Bipolars, with their manic creativity and frequently exceptional drive, to ensure its ongoing survival. So no one should say hurtful things to people with this condition. In my case, some people have said bad things about my disorder. But they say this, not because they're nasty but out of total ignorance of Bipolar. "

Now what I have to say:

I haven't been affected as much as some people with the condition. Many  more have had hurtful things said to them - more than I. But they hurt none the less. So I ask you all... Do not tell me that you know someone who has survived bipolar due to religion or some other "great effort" to overcome the condition. Do not tell me that I'm just being manic or in a cycle when I'm just truly angry at you or feeling good about something. Do not tell me that you understand because one time you were depressed (like when your grandma died). Do not tell me that things will get better and that I can "do it".  Don't limit my ability to do things in the future, just because I've struggled in the past. Don't tell me you have manic tendencies but are not diagnosed inferring that my diagnosis is not real.  Don't tell me that medication will only hurt me, confuse me, or that it is not needed if I just go to therapy. And do not see me as only a victim of my mental illness.

Because it hurts. And because I already have had to struggle with not telling myself these very same things. Because it takes forever to undo the self talk and self hatred that comes with living with the reality that I am Bipolar.  I'm so much more than what I was born to overcome.  I have insight to the human condition that few are meant to have. I am going to give to this world more than you know.