benefits?

Tags

bipolar disorder, blog for mental health 2015, depression, life, limits, meds, mental health, mental illness, moods, stress

I read this article the other day about “The Benefits of Bipolar Disorder” by Gabe Howard. It really made me think. So let’s discuss…

Gabe’s position is that there really aren’t any benefits of having bipolar. Bipolar sucks, and it can suck the life right out of you. It’s a rotten ass disease to live with and many of us don’t make it that long.

Totally agreeing with him. Sounds like one hell of a downer article, doesn’t it? But it’s really not.

He goes on to say that the so called benefits are in spite of all our suffering, not because of it. “The silver lining is spun entirely from the amazing people living with the disease.”

Think about that for just a minute…

Our silver linings happen because WE make them. All of the terrible shit we go through, the side effects of medications, the hospitalizations, the lost friends and lovers, the scars we accumulate; all of those things combine with our strength of spirit to make the most beautiful silver linings imaginable.

Bipolar is a shitty disease, but by being strong and doing what we know we need to, we can turn that shit into compost and grow beautiful things.

But please, don’t give bipolar the credit for how beautiful your garden is. You did that, and you earned it.