Let`s talk about Bipolar

[Doog]

Thanks for your post @Acanthiza 

I get what you mean.

It is hard having something invisible like this, I think a lot of people don't know exactly how nasty extreme emotion can be, sometimes for absolutely no reason.

I am trying to find the upsides of BP2

• Insight into MH in society
• Acanthiza you talk about subjective reality, could you pleased explain what this means to you

Can anyone help me expand this list?

@Shaz51 @Dimity @Captain24  @MermaidHair.

[Acanthiza]

Hey @Doog I had a bit of a rough day but I will try and make sense. To me I can look back and see how differently I have experienced what is real. In bitter depression it seemed like everyone hated me, all the opportunities of life were shut off and everything was taken to the negative extreme. The way I would interpret things was absolutely wild. During the serious hypomanic periods I thought I was a genious, I had one last year where I was looking at all the things around my room and they were like in sharp focus, I thought I could see the connections between everything and understood all people and social interactions in full. When it was really bad back in the day I thought I had magic powers, so yeah it seems reality is pretty heavily tied into how you are feeling. This is without even going into what other people have felt with serious psychotic stuff.

So what does all that mean? It means I have gotten a lot better at seeing other peoples point of view. And it means that I have slowly accepted that I am not always right and my view on things can be pretty skewed. I think these are valuable things to learn. It is a pretty big red flag to me if anyone is completely certain about everything in life. There are some things I am very confident about but even then I still test what I know against new input, and try not to just reject it outright.

As for more general upsides of having a mental illness? As you said better insight into it and other peoples experiences. And I would say most likely more compassion in general but I could be wrong about that. Having bipolar to me has meant being much more in tune with my emotional state and thought processes, which is really a strength. I think quite a few people go through life without much thought or reflection and it turns out they are missing a lot, there is good along with the bad.

Oh yeah for me an interest in nature and art since it is such a big part of managing things. I'm sure other people have an interest like that which takes on special meaning when it is tied into helping your psyche so severely.

Alright enough is enough, I'd love to hear what you think Doog, and what other people think are upsides.

[Doog]

Thanks @Acanthiza. I liked your explanation of subjective reality, and how BP helped you get how we all see the world differently.  And @MermaidHair I liked your contribution to my question before I even asked it!bipolar lens...getting to see and experience the world from very complicated and multifaced angles, from the highest highs to the lowest lows, the views are ever changing.

I am learning so much from my "bipolar buddies". Thank you. Live well and prosper.

@Captain24 @Shaz51 @Dimity @Shaz51

[Shaz51]

Morning my wonderful friends @Doog , @Acanthiza , @Dimity , @Captain24 , @MermaidHair 😊👋

[Acanthiza]

good morning @Shaz51! How are things going?

[Captain24]

Hi @Shaz51 

[Shaz51]

hello @Captain24 , @Acanthiza , @Dimity 

how are you going today 

busy here 

[Dimity]

Hot here @Shaz51 . But I need to walk to the supermarket . I can put off getting some things, but not catlitter!

[Shaz51]

Hello @Dimity , no unless you have some sand around for the cat xx

How are you today 

[Dimity]

@Shaz51 I got the heart investigations out of the way earlier this week and I'm not too bad thanks.  Will need to do more work on diet and exercise. 

Hope Mr shaz is comfortable with his upcoming surgery and you're going OK?