Bipolar Woman Gets 41 Years in Prison for Killing Mother-In-Law with Boiling Water, Free Weights. Bipolar Utah Woman Said She Was a ‘Baby Killer.’ Man with Bipolar Disorder Guilty in Deputy Assault.
These are real headlines.
If you were to monitor the news on bipolar, like I do, you would think that all bipolar people are crazy killers. Fact is there are millions of us who are perfectly law-abiding citizens. When we take our meds, we live normal, healthy lives.
Sure, when we are manic we can exhibit bizarre behaviors and act errattically, but for the overwhelming most part, we are peaceful.
Any minority group is subject to this kind of scrutiny. If a black man is charged with killing his girlfriend and it’s on the 9 o’ clock news, are we led to believe that all black men are girlfriend-killers? Think about it.
The news just doesn’t get us. There’s the old saying “If it bleeds, it leads.” And it’s true. Nevermind the bipolar teacher or lawyer or athlete who contributes to society splendidly.
Xenophobia must go. Headlines like these only perpetuate the horrible stigma that plagues us. And we can erase the bad image by coming out of the closet like gays and lesbians have done in the past few decades. If you are bipolar, would you consider coming out of the closet?
As a bi-polar alcoholic who has been sober for 30 years, I did not get diagnosed until I was 10 years sober. Sobriety was immeasurably better than being drunk all the time, but I did not experience the same kind of contentment,serenity and complete chage in my life that I heard fellow AA’s describe. When I began to take anti- depressants and a mood stabilizer, I was able to understand what they were talking about. Being diagnosed as bi polar was the key to a newer, better life. It took years however, to begin to tentively disclose what has seemed like a miracle!
I still go to AA, but realize that not everything applies to me: like ” you just need to change your attitude to be happy and grateful.” It was so affirming and gratifying that when I told this to my Bi-Polar group, they burst out laughing!