Love, Musicals, and Living Your Best Life With Bipolar Disorder

Love is essential for good mental health.

Hi there!

I love some musicals.

I say “some” because there are some great ones and others that are truly terrible. Sometimes there are great scripts, but with horrible productions.

For example, the stage version of Les Misérables is amazing. The movie adaptation starring Hugh Jackman, while having great cinematography, destroyed the best thing about the musical: the music.

I have never been more disappointed in a movie, well, except for maybe Battlefield Earth, but that’s a story for another post.

One of my favorite musicals is Moulin Rouge, and it’s because of its core message, “The greatest thing you’ll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return.”

Love can be challenging when fighting the bipolar monster. Your mind can trick you into feeling false emotions or make you feel none at all. It’s tough, but love is vital for good mental health. 

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“There is only one happiness in this life, to love and be loved.”

- George Sand

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Scott Ninneman publishes two newsletters each week. The Sunday All Things Bipolar Newsletter features the newest content about bipolar life. The Speaking Bipolar Positivity Club Newsletter shares inspirational stories three times a week to help you maintain a positive mindset.

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There are two main types of love you need to survive: love for others and love for yourself.

You must love others. This means family, friends, your partner, children, and strangers. Anyone and everyone. Why? Because we, as humans, are social creatures.

We need to feel connections to survive and thrive. When you love others, they love you back and that creates a support network that is essential for mental health.

You must also love yourself. This is something that I struggled with for a long time. I didn’t feel like I deserved to be loved because of the mistakes I made and the things I did during my bipolar episodes. But here’s the thing, we all make mistakes. We are all human. And we all deserve to be loved - by others and by ourselves.

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So, how do you love yourself when you’re bipolar? It’s tough, but not impossible.

Here are a few things that have helped me:

• Find one thing that you like about yourself each day and focus on it

• Create a list of things that make you happy and refer to it often

• Talk to yourself like you would talk to a friend

Loving yourself is hard, but it’s so worth it. Because when you love yourself, you’re able to see your own worth and feel confident in who you are—bipolar disorder and all. And that confidence helps you manage your bipolar disorder in a more positive way.

So, the next time you’re feeling down about yourself, remember George Sand’s words: “There is only one happiness in this life, to love and be loved in return.” And go out and love yourself—and others—as best you can. Because that’s how you live your best life with bipolar disorder.

And if you need a pick-me-up, try a musical. It’s hard to be numb when music moves your soul. Here are three of my favorites:

• Moulin Rouge

• The Phantom of the Opera

• The Greatest Showman

Do you have a favorite musical? Please share it in the comments and tell us why you love it.

Journal Prompt: Think of one thing you like about yourself. Why do you like it? How does it prove you’re worth receiving love from yourself and others?

Creative Writing Prompt: Your character wakes up, and the world is a different place. People can only communicate by singing songs. Write the story of their day using only popular song lyrics for the dialogue. If that sounds too complicated, write the lyrics to a song for a musical based on your life.

Until next time, keep fighting.

Scott Ninneman

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Additional Reading:

• Taylor Swift’s Anti-Hero and How It Connects to My Bipolar

• You Must Always Believe in Yourself and Keep Going

• How to Find Value in Life When Depression Makes You Want to Give Up

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