Not me - I was glad to have a direction, not knowing why I felt messed up - sucked more, and felt worse.

I agree with Gina, by finding out the troubles I was having were caused by a biochemical reaction, I learn that my mental and spiritual disconnect were not of my own doing.

By learning the disconnect was not of my own doing, I was able to work more on my focus and increase my effort to connect to my spiritual path.

I was also in the same boat as Gina and wiccan.. I'd been messed up for quite a while off and on pre diagnosis and eventually had some psychosis.. It was a great relief for me to find the 'reason' and start to be treated..
I know a lot of people do struggle with acceptance though ..and I've never struggled with my Spirituality being psychosis.. That would be a tough one to handle...xo

My experience is kinda like wiccan & gina. I was glad to be dx'd.
I also understand where you are coming from with your quote. That quote was my idea when I was in denial about it, in order to rationalise why I was in denial. I'm not saying this is your experience it was just mine.

With all due respect, Captain, I did not feel disempowered when I was diagnosed BP2 and learned about the biochemical nature of it. I felt empowered to know that 70% of my treatment would include things I had a lot of control over -- nutrition, exercise, therapy. I gave a valiant effort to get the sleeping down but, alas, I need medication for that in addition to my BP meds.

In which ways did you feel disempowered?

Just for your interest and to give you a background to the quote and Dr. Peter Breggin. He is well renowned psychiatrist, but very anti-establishment. He does not believe there is enough evidence to support a biochemical imbalance in the brain, in those with mental health disorders. Thus, he thinks individuals with mental health disorders should not be on meds.

Again, if you want to learn more about him, google him, and his views become quickly apparent.

With all due respect to my fellow beepers.

And I do point out that I do not 100% agree with this quote.

1..yes I was relieved to receive a DX, it clarified a life time of behavior

On the other hand

Having a High Tech career, and a SUPER WOMAN too boot...I DID feel as if my brained had turned on me , and now became a total stranger to me , a traitor .

I am regaining my empowerment daily

Explanation = peace of mind.

Brain and behavior works for me. Better than the alternative of psychosis and suicidal depression having no cause except wanting to be that way. Or not having the will power to "snap" out of it.

A diagnosis also gave me something to work on to get stable, and to stop the cycling through a variety of natural methods. But still chemicals in the brain, all the way.

An interesting show on Mirapex, a drug to treat Parkinson's disease was on W5 a few years ago. It showed that the drug, which worked well by changing the chemical imbalance in the lower brain stem was leaking up into the upper brain stem and causing bipolar like symptoms. In fact, it is such a big issue, that there are giant law suits for the people that were affected. Here is a link:

http://www.yourlawyer.com/topics/overview/mirapex

Sort of like inducing bipolar disorder with chemicals. Kind of lays waste to this quote and theory.

The disempowerment stemmed from the letdown I was given by Lithium. I was the Jesus/Mohammed/Savior of my community. I spent about 3 months preaching to random people, where some even believed me. I didn't become the savior over night, it was a process that took about 2 1/2 years of research, interviews and "signs from God". Then came dealing with the stigma of mental illness. I've never heard of BPD before and the stigma of mental illness is heavy here too (Kuwait).
Suicide was the hot topic for me the entire first year.
Time and knowledge empowered me the most over the next couple years.

bipolardiva ty for the pointing that out. I don't think I care too much about Breggin's opinion anymore :)

in lithium letdown I mean it helped me see reality that I was not chosen, but just bipolar.

Being Jesus/Mohammed/Savior to your community must have carried a tremendous amount of responsibility. I think if I were in your sandals I would have felt relieved instead of disempowered. That's just me though. I don't think I was chosen to bear the weight of the world on my scrawny little shoulders.

I think I was chosen to be the cheerleader .... complete with pom pons. :)

I think I go back and forth, feeling like I've been given a diagnosis of some incurable disease that will wreck havoc on my life forever and it actually contributes to depression from time to time. However, I agree with the other as well, it was also good to know I had something wrong that could at least receive treatment and the more I learn about it the better I understand myself. Guess it's a toss up on how you view it, but I like the quote :)