I Am Bipolar


I asked for a guest post about bipolar and I was blown away by this one. It really gives us a window into what it’s like to live with this disorder. Bipolar makes people feel crazy, that they are not in control of their own thoughts and feelings. Up to half of people with bipolar disorder attempt suicide, which indicates how difficult it can be to have this disorder. If you read this and think you may have bipolar disorder too, look at the symptoms here and talk to your healthcare provider if the symptom list or this post resonate with your own experience (and also read about Bipolar II here). But really, anyone can empathize with this poster, in some way. None of us feel fully in control of ourselves all of the time. Take it away, guest poster!I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder almost 11 years ago after joining the Air Force. I was 21 and had been at my first (and only) duty station for less than 6 months. I personally believe that my first manic episode occurred after being somewhat “groomed” by my supervisor.We started off friends and his contact with me grew more and more inappropriate by the day, when eventually he did end up touching me. Another female was on to him though and confronted me and told me that I had to tell or she would. I’m glad she made me do it, because I don’t even want to think about what else he could have taken from me had she not. I did tell, but during all this and after, I started changing, getting migraines and doing things way out of the ordinary for me. Spending exorbitant amounts of money (getting into debt), and having numerous sexual partners. I also like to write, but during this time, I was churning out stories and poetry.