you're just starting on your journey - to just say it's a long hard road is
not the case.
you will grow and learn to know yourself and your friends family and coworkers in a new and different way.
You'll learn to be self responsible and what choices everyone makes in how they deal with their feelings and emotions and work and managing life.
It really is a road towards knowing yourself in a really depthful
way. It can be bittersweet but you will still have joy - and then eventually more
joy than not. :) peace someusername!

keep reaching out. come on here and talk it out, keep learning and growing.
that's what this place is for! we're here!

Thank you malibumark! It just bugs me that i’ve been struggling with bd for three years and the treatment isn’t helping very much. Once i even gave up on meds because it wasn’t any better with them. I just had a lot of pills and the same sh*t. But then it got really bad because i had a really stressful period and i got psychotic symptoms. Then i went back on meds and the psychosis went away but the bd is as bad as before.
Yes, i got to know myself better and know when my mood will change but still can’t manage to function normally.

It is hard to accept parts of ourselves that we do not fully want or understand. However, know that through this journey you will learn so much about yourself and how to navigate the world despite having bipolar. Some days may be really hard, but there are going to be days where you will feel so proud of how far you have come. There is so much growth to be had and so much opportunity amidst this disorder. You are wonderful, special, and unique apart from your disorder. YOU are not your disorder and you get to choose how you combat bipolar. You got this~

It is hard to accept parts of ourselves that we do not fully want or understand. However, know that through this journey you will learn so much about yourself and how to navigate the world despite having bipolar. Some days may be really hard, but there are going to be days where you will feel so proud of how far you have come. There is so much growth to be had and so much opportunity amidst this disorder. You are wonderful, special, and unique apart from your disorder. YOU are not your disorder and you get to choose how you combat bipolar. You got this~

It is hard to accept parts of ourselves that we do not fully want or understand. However, know that through this journey you will learn so much about yourself and how to navigate the world despite having bipolar. Some days may be really hard, but there are going to be days where you will feel so proud of how far you have come. There is so much growth to be had and so much opportunity amidst this disorder. You are wonderful, special, and unique apart from your disorder. YOU are not your disorder and you get to choose how you combat bipolar. You got this~

It was actually a relief to get the diagnosis
I had been struggling for quite a while so tbe diagnosis gave me info I could use to help myself
I decided fairly early on to advocate for mental health
Then it became something I felt I used in a positive way so it helped me
It took me a long time to find the right med regime as well however your doc will work with you
Just be open about side effects that you may be having
I think you've been given some good advise on here
You aren't a disorder...You have one that's treatable....xo

For me it was easy to accept. I have a family history of mental illness. For me it was the golden answer to why I am the way I am. Bipolar is absolutely treatable. Therapy and the right meds have finally put me in a good place in life. I just live my life. I have limitations and my family loves and accepts me as I am.

How your family is dealing with your condition I know is hard

I still feel like I haven't come to terms with it, and I've been diagnosed for over 10 years.

It is still very difficult for me to manage, and I still wish that thins weren't this way. Just trying to take it one day at a time can be helpful for me.not focusing on the future and just trying to get through 1day at a time can be helpful.

I think it is somewhat of a relief to understand there are things happening outside of your own doing that contributes to any life stressors you experience in life. Having the awareness of your own journey with an illness affecting the brain can lead to great strides in building a life that feels more than worth it. It helps to have community alongside it so you aren’t dealing with such complex things alone. Online group is good for me where I am at now, but in the past I was involved in in person groups and workshops and art therapy groups etc. nobody is ever alone, even if terrible parts of the mental illness at hand make us feel that way.

yeah my family is supportive but doesn't understand that i will never be fine without meds and function normally. it seems as they don't really believe that i am not okay, because i don't really trust my parents (they were kind of absent in the time of my childhood when i needed them) and in general i have trust issues. so i don't tell them about everything. i've hid my mental problems for five years and they did not notice, so i can hide it quite good and when they don't see my problems they kind of don't believe it.
but this web site really helped me because i don' know any bipolar people (except my grandma who doesn't admit it but has schizoaffective disorder). i felt like i was faking all of it and that this is just an imagination because i need attention. even though i don't think i could fake all of this.

the diagnosis helped me in the begining because i finally got the confirmation that this isn't my imagination. but when the time went by and i am not progressing, stresses me out. because i can't see myself live like this my whole life. and the fact that i left my psychiatrist shocked when i told her about my problems now (even though i am on meds), is not a good sign. i am trying to adjust my meds, but there is not many other meds to try. and i am simply afraid. i can't give up on everything because of my friends. they need me and i can't hurt them like this.

There are a lot of in person Bipolar peer support groups as well.... You can look up in your area and see what's available if you'd like... I think MeetUp's have bipolar groups.... xo