Would Anyone Want Your Mental Illness?
I may be going out on a limb with this post, but…it wouldn’t be unfamiliar territory.
A few weeks ago, I stumbled upon Brain Diseases I Would Like to Have. (I have no idea who wrote this “article,” or what it has to do with its parent site which seems to deal with automobiles, but I wanted to nod to it just the same.)
While it was interesting to read about these mental health conditions (though, I googled most of them to find more scholarly information), it was even more interesting to look for the symptoms the writer wanted. I can rattle off a list of people who - I’ve heard - don’t want to take medication because they don’t want to lose certain symptoms of their mental illnesses. However, I don’t think I can name one person I’ve ever heard say, “I wish I had that mental illness.”
One thing led to another, and I started thinking, I wonder if anyone would wish to have bipolar disorder?
As someone with bipolar disorder, I’m very familiar with the misery of some symptoms, and the seductiveness of other symptoms. I don’t know why anyone would want the miserable symptoms; however, other symptoms are, like I said, quite seductive. The euphoria, endless energy, creativity, inflated self-esteem - I can completely understand why someone would want them.
Think of your own mental health condition, if you have one. What, if any, are the “positives”? What symptoms do you experience that may make someone want your mental illness? Or, at least, those symptoms!
POSTED IN: Bipolar Disorder, Mood Disorders, Rants & Raves, Sites of Interest
2 opinions for Would Anyone Want Your Mental Illness?
Wolverine
Feb 7, 2008 at 12:03 pm
The topic of this insert”Would Anyone Want Your Mental Ilness.” It struck me funnie as a chance to let out a little pent up mental illness that have put away in a dark corner of my brain and throwen a sheet over. I only peek at it every so often as i chant while having a manic attack hopping it may magicaly vanish “alaha cazam!” I have come to grips with my hypomania as it has been going on for so long that it has come to be the normal.
Alicia Sparks, NAMI Affiliation Leader
Feb 7, 2008 at 1:27 pm
Sometimes we need a bit of humor, don’t we? ;) I’ve learned that embracing the positives of a particular mental illness (and yes, there are positives - we just have to look for them and make them work for us), it’s easier to deal with and manage the negatives.
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