Happy World Bipolar Day!
Celebrating a day just for us.
Hi there!
Welcome to a special edition of the Speaking Bipolar Positivity Club. Today, March 30, is World Bipolar Day. Use it to celebrate all that is you.
World Bipolar Day was created to promote understanding and reduce stigma. As more people speak out and share their stories, the truth about our mental illness shines through.
We may feel broken at times, but we’re amazing people, fighting for our place in this world. We keep going even though we’ve been dealt a challenging hand.
You may not always feel like a hero or a warrior, but you are both. Every day you choose to keep fighting, you’re setting an important example for others to follow.
You are a winner, so celebrate yourself as you think about this day.
“At times, being bipolar can be an all-consuming challenge, requiring a lot of stamina and even more courage, so if you’re living with this illness and functioning at all, it’s something to be proud of, not ashamed of. They should issue medals along with the steady stream of medication.”
- Carrie Fisher
Support and Information
To help you understand bipolar and share our truth, I’m including links to the 10 most popular posts from the Speaking Bipolar Blog. You, my dear readers, keep these posts at the top of the charts every month, and thanks to you, new readers find our club all the time.
Visit the stories below to get some validation. If you feel comfortable, share links to the posts on social media with the hashtag #worldbipolarday.
Today is about spreading bipolar truth. Share what you’re ready to share and congratulate yourself for making it this far.
The Top 10 Speaking Bipolar Posts
1. Speaking Bipolar – A Mental Illness Translator
Bipolar is a cruel illness for many reasons. Perhaps one of the worst is the fact you often can’t trust the way you perceive the world around you. Hence the need for a mental illness translator.
For years, I joked about writing a book with this title, “Speaking Bipolar – A Mental Illness Translator.” Instead, I opted to create this blog to share my musings with the world. The book may still come, but it’s not ready yet.
Those of us with bipolar know that we have our own special language. We also know that the words you say are often not the words we hear.
What follows is a collection of statements I’ve seen a lot in my mental illness journey.
2. 12 Signals That Point to Bipolar Disorder (With Patient Notes)
Have you noticed unusual behavior recently? Has there been rapid speech, irritability, or unpredictable behavior? It could be signs of Bipolar Disorder.
Frequently hard to diagnose, bipolar disorder tends to be a moving target. While a physician only gets a brief look into the life of the patient, it is often up to family and friends to provide the necessary context that can help lead to a proper diagnosis.
What signs should you be looking for?
Throughout this article, I will be sharing my personal experience to increase mental health awareness and show how the symptoms manifested in my life.
3. What Is Bipolar Anger? An Insider’s Perspective on Rage
Right now I could break something. Whether it be the pen in my hand or the mirror across the room, something needs to be destroyed. Bipolar anger says it must be done.
Does that sound familiar to you? Maybe you didn’t have the immediate desire to break something, but have you ever had a time when you were suddenly and inexplicably angry? Might it even have been described as rage?
This post will look at what Bipolar anger and rage are really like. First, though, let’s talk about the emotion of anger and where it comes from.
4. The Worst Part of Having Bipolar Disorder
“I’ve been avoiding you for the last few months,” she said after a long pause. She then continued, but my bipolar brain stopped listening. She had reaffirmed every bad thought in my head, and I knew our friendship was over.
For months, I’ve known something was wrong. I tried to deceive myself into believing it was just my bipolar brain, but in my heart, I knew it wasn’t. Our friendship meant much more to me than it ever did to her. That’s a sad reality I now have to live with.
In some ways, it’s a good thing. Now I know the truth and can live my life accordingly.
Or do I? Can I really trust that the conversation went down the way I remember it? Did you really say those words, or did my bipolar brain translate them into something much worse?
It’s the uncertainty and doubt caused by living with bipolar that’s the worst part of having bipolar disorder. Here are some examples.
5. 11 Things: The Truth About Surviving Bipolar Disorder
Let’s get real for a moment. Living with bipolar disorder sucks. There’s no way to sugarcoat that fact. Occasionally there are positive aspects, like the manic days when you’re able to spring clean your whole house, but for the most part, every single day with the disease sucks. Surviving bipolar is a constant struggle.
I’m not looking for sympathy with this post. No, instead, I want you, dear reader, to understand some of the truths about living with the condition. Today, I’m going to share with you 11 things that are true for those of us that are surviving bipolar disorder.
I apologize in advance if this post sounds a little angry. I try to be a positive and optimistic person at all times. However, I do live every day with Bipolar I, so it’s only natural that it shows itself from time to time in my writing.
6. 5 Ways to Successfully Handle Bipolar Rage and Anger
You are in the midst of a Bipolar rage episode. There might have been an external trigger or your brain might have just flipped over to anger mode for no reason.
Once the anger has taken hold of you, is there anything you can do? Here are five steps you can take to help protect yourself and others during your angry episode.
7. How To Succeed and Get Back on Your Feet: 15 Inspirational Quotes
It is inevitable. You are going to fall down. We all do. It’s impossible to completely avoid. But you don’t have to stay down. You can get back on your feet.
While physical falls are problematic, most often the falls that are the hardest to get up from are mental or emotional. It may be a health setback that hits you hard. A new business venture or product idea may not pan out. The relationship you were in may have stopped moving forward.
Whatever the cause of the fall, the solution is the same – get back up.
When troubles hit, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed and like you can’t go on. Sometimes all you need is a little inspiration to get you back on your feet again. This post features 15 motivational quotes to help get you back up and running.
8. Riding in Chaos on the Bipolar Relationship Carousel
So, I’m bipolar. You probably suspected, based on the name of my blog. Being such often means living in a very different world than what most people see. This is especially true when you are in a bipolar relationship, but there is hope that you can be successful. This article lists seven things you can do to improve your odds.
What is a bipolar relationship? It’s not a clinical phrase by any means. Rather, for the purposes of this post, it refers to any relationship where at least one of the parties involved is bipolar.
9. Sharing My Story: When You Feel You Need to Run Away From It All
There are few outward signs of a manic episode. If you have Bipolar Disorder or know someone who does, you know that to be true.
Granted, there may be a lot of physical activity, and sometimes rage or violence, but in general, just to look at someone, you would have no idea if they were manic or not.
That is, except for their eyes. Our eyes are indeed the windows to our soul, and, if you watch, they will show you just how manic someone is.
This is one time my eyes told a story I didn’t yet understand.
10. To All Those Who Are Misinformed About Bipolar Disorder
Too often, it’s the worst of the worst who gain any media coverage when bipolar disorder is discussed.
We’ve all seen the stories of the unmedicated mother who killed her children or the celebrity who is talking out of his head at the most inconvenient times. You know what I’m talking about.
Yes, those are faces of bipolar disorder. It’s sad, awful, difficult to swallow, but true.
But, those terrible stories are the minority when it comes to those of us who are dealing with bipolar disorder on a daily basis.
Here are some more faces of bipolar.
Go out today and conquer!
Until next time, keep fighting.
Scott Ninneman
Support Speaking Bipolar
Every day, I am grateful for the chance to share my story of living with bipolar disorder hoping to help others. Writing has always been therapy for me, and I am passionate about making mental illness easier to understand.
However, running a website is not free, and I rely on ad revenue, product sales, and subscriptions to cover the costs of hosting, domain name registration, and email service.
If you enjoy reading my blog and find value in the content, please consider becoming a paid member of the Speaking Bipolar Positivity Club. Your support will help me continue writing and posting content that is uplifting and informative. Thank you!
Here are some ways, both free and paid, you can help support Speaking Bipolar and my content:
(Free) Forward my newsletter to a friend who might be interested
(Free) Share links to my posts on social media
(Free) Follow me on Social Media
($) Leave a Tip or make a purchase in our Etsy store
($) Join the Positivity Club as a paid member
(Free) Just keep reading this newsletter!
Suicide Prevention Resources
What Do You Want to See?
Are there other topics you would like to see me cover? Reply to this email or comment on any post.
Disclaimer:
This email may contain affiliate links. If you make a purchase through one of these links, I may receive a small commission at no additional cost to you.