End the Shame & Start the Conversation

This is what 25% of 2017 looked like for me. The remaining 75% of pills has been ingested, thrown out already or is currently being ingested. This is what my ADHD and Bipolar II look like. Although, to be fair, the vast majority of the credit goes to Bipolar. Much like the disorder itself, finding the right combination of meds continues to be a painstakingly long crapshoot. Bipolar disorder completely alters my ability to control my moods, thoughts, and the way I see the world around me. One day I can wake up to find my whole life has been taken away. I am trapped in the clouded brain of depression where the pain of my mere existence is too much to bare. It can last a day, a week, a month, 3 months, you just never know. On the flip side, I can wake up with so many thoughts and ideas running through my head that I literally can’t sit down or waste time with sleeping for multiple days on end. When I really hit the jackpot I’ll have a mixed state which consists of the very worst of portions of each world. Throw some ADHD on top of either side and I get an extra curveball to exacerbate my mood cycles.

There is no “cure” for either disorder. For ADHD a majority of the relief comes from learning actual skills and coping mechanisms. The medications help temper some of the distractions. For bipolar, the goal is to shorten the length of the mood cycles (how long you are in a depressive state or hypomanic state) and to buy yourself as much time as possible between each cycle. As a bonus, a shitload of therapy each month coincides with the medications.

Silence is only adding to the shame and stigma surrounding mental health. The gross misconceptions and caustic judgement surrounding mental health needs to be eradicated. Mental health disorders in themselves drag you in and out of life. The time you can participate and enjoy life should not be tainted by shame and judgement. If we do not remove the stigma and expand the conversation on mental health we will continue to see headlines reading “Rise in Suicide and Addiction Rates.”

“Be kind for everyone is fighting a hard battle.”

#bipolar #adhd #medication #fightthestigma #depression #suicide #livingwithmentalillness