But for now I will talk about stigma. How does the media portray people with bipolar disorder. Crazy? How does the media portray eating disorders? skeletons? How does the media portray sexual abuse? Damaged goods? Are these really true? Society gets inaccurate pictures, sensationalized views of many misunderstood problems.
So say you have bipolar disorder. The roller coaster you're on affects your work performance a bit. People wonder why you max out your sick days. Your boss notices that sometimes you're on fire and you work like a fiend, and sometimes your progress is agonizingly slow.
So what do you do? Do you let your boss know that you have bipolar disorder? There's a lot that could run through your mind. What will he think, will he think I'm crazy, will he fire me? How do you let your boss know what's going on if you're afraid he'll fire you?
What about your friends. They're even closer so they notice your ups and downs, notice that they tend to be more extreme than regular ups and downs. You might have alienated them, crossed the point of no return during a manic episode. Do you tell them? Will they still be your friend?
Well, the cliché response would be that the ones that matter will stick around, and the ones that are scared off, good riddance. And I guess that's what happens. My best friend knows I have bipolar disorder. The last volunteer job I had, the admin knew I have bipolar disorder. I put it right on the application form under medical conditions. And they took me. And they gave me the Most Valuable Player award. Bipolar didn't hold me back.
So who do you tell? It's up to you. Some people like to keep it to themselves, telling no one. That's what works for them. Some people tell select persons, careful who knows and who doesn't. Some people are open about it. I think I'm one of them. Yes, I have bipolar disorder.
But bipolar disorder isn't the only stigmatized condition out there. I have experience with a few more, and maybe I'll even talk about them here.
But for now, remember that normal is just a setting on the dishwasher.
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