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Bipolar Disorder (Manic Depression) Part II - Page 3

© John McManamy

Inevitably, a "bipolar" pill will find its way to the market, and there will be an eager queue of desperate people lining up to be treated. Make no mistake, there is nothing glamorous or romantic about an illness that destroys up to one in five of those who have it, and wreaks havoc on the survivors, not to mention their families. The streets and prisons are littered with wrecked lives. Vincent Van Gogh may have created great works of art, but his death in his brother's arms at age 37 was not a pretty picture.

The standard propaganda about bipolar is that it is the result of a chemical imbalance in the brain, a physical condition not unlike diabetes. For the purposes of gaining acceptance in society, most bipolars will go along with this blatant half-truth.

True, a chemical storm is raging in the brain, but the analogy to the one taking place in the diabetic's pancreas is totally misleading. Unlike diabetes and other physical diseases, bipolar defines who we are, from the way we perceive colors and listen to music to how we taste our food. We don't HAVE bipolar. We ARE bipolar, for both better and worse.

In one way, it's akin to being God's chosen people. As God's chosen - the (un)lucky one or two percent of the population - we are prime candidates for God's wrath, but even as God strikes the final blow - as the old Jewish saying goes - he provides the eventual healing. In a way that only God can understand, God has bestowed on us a great blessing. Living with this blessing is both a challenge and a terrible burden, but in the end we hope to emerge from this ordeal as better people, more compassionate toward our fellow beings and just a little bit closer to God.

For more useful information on bipolar, please check out Colleen Sullivan's Suite101.com topic and her Bipolar World, both highly recommended.

For an excellent bipolar article, click here.

For three free issues of my depression and bipolar newsletter, mailto:jmcmanamy@snet.net and put "Newsletter" in the subject line and your email in the body.

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