The illness and how it is sometimes accepted

I was on one of the message boards that I frequently go to for Bi-Polar and I was in an interesting conversation with a guy and we were talking about how difficult it is for some people to accept that someone has Bi-Polar, as well as how difficult it is for some people with Bi-Polar to come to terms with the fact that they actually have Bi-Polar. (This is a really difficult issue for some people, it can take years for some people to “come to terms” with the fact that they have Bi-Polar”.)

Anyways this is some of my thoughts on the subject, both of how others see people with Bi-Polar, and how some of us see our self as people with this illness.

There is a bit of an agreement among some in the Bi-Polar community that some of us actually have an understanding that we have the disease, however it would be safe to say that it might be easier to explain to some people that there may be a higher level of credibility if we were in a wheelchair? I think there are many people who would be more able to accept that they have an illness if they were in a wheel chair. As well as other people looking at us and understanding that it is a disease if we were in a wheel chair too. But just because we are not in a wheel chair doesn’t take away from the idea that we actually have an illness that sometimes dictates our behavior.

I know for me as I said I have always pretty much known there was a problem, but it took me most of my life just to reach out, and after that about 2 years just to accept that I was Bi-Polar. I have met others who have been told most of their life that they had it, and they still refused to accept that they had it. When it comes to others who do not have the illness, it is just as difficult to convey to them that we really are ill. Even after we lose everything and hit rock bottom, some people still don’t understand and think it is a choice. My ex wife is an example of this, we were together for four years and then I was diagnosed and for the next year and a half after my diagnosis, she still refused to accept that most of my behaviors were the illness, not my choice.

Since my diagnosis I have seen many similarities in others that I have been lucky enough to chat with. And I think this kind of helps my premise for my reasoning on this subject?
I still believe that if we try to take control and do things that keep us healthy we have a much better chance of not being a 70-80 year old person and still going thru the same ups and downs that are part of this illness. Obviously keeping in mind the severity of one’s illness is a partial key to this sort of chance. But I think if we try to work on it, and accept that we have an illness, and maybe even learn to reach out, I honestly believe that this may help?

So maybe if we stop thinking of ourselves as a person with out hope, and maybe if we think of ourselves as people that have been given a chance to reach out beyond our normal realm of thinking, there is the possibility that we can reach new areas in our cognitive abilities? We define strength within ourselves under a terminology that we choose, and I believe if we choose to think this way, maybe we can redefine strength to our selves? And accordingly make our life as a Bi-Polar a little bit better!