i think of it as a mental illness i guess. the words disease and disorder never really entered my mind which is strange considering its called Bipolar Disorder.

I guess a disorder kind of says to me that I have an inability to do soemthing. I don't like to think like that although I soemtimes do. I prefer to say I have an illness/mental illness.

I don't like mental illness, it has too much stigma attached. I prefer disorder myself.

I see it as a chronic disease, the same as the others I have, diabetes, Lyme disease and severe arthritis. Nothing can 'cure' the diseases, just try to hold them in check with the medications.

Disorder. Im not ill :((

I sometimes just call it bullshit. :)

I'm not sure about calling it a disease or illness. I like the term manic depression. I fly sometimes and crash sometimes. It fits.

if I don't want to go into specifics, i say that i have a "neurobiological diorder". no one asks questions about that.

For me is a disorder, because sometimes I don't where to start, complete chaos.

I call it a disorder. Doesn't matter what you call it, it's HELL.

It is all of the above. I call it disorder and sometimes disease or illness......to me it is all the same....aaaahhhhh!!!!!!!!

I think it is a condition. Sometimes the condition feels like illness, sometimes like disorder and sometimes like disease.

But the terms are used so interchangeably. One can have the condition (bipolar) and not have any problems. Then one would not feel ill, disordered or diseased but they still have the condition.

I don't like the term disease because that term often connotes something that progressively gets worse over time. Not everyone gets worse.

i sometimes think of it as a chemical imbalance, it makes me sound less crazy lol other times i think of it as a disorder