The Daily Grind

This is probably a familiar story to people with BiPolar:

You go to a psychiatrist. You have the talk and determine that you are BiPolar. They issue you some medication, and then you think you’ll be totally fine now that you’re medicated!

But then you realize that it’s work. You still have episodes, but not as often, and maybe a bit more restrained. And of course, you’re taking daily pills who’s efficacy diminishes over time, and so you have to keep going back to the psych every 1–3 months to maintain your prescription, increase the dosage where needed, discuss changing the dosage, discuss side effects…

Mental health already requires daily work, but for people with disorders like this there are all of these added complexities. I have a huge issue with stress-induced manic and depressive episodes, especially at work. When things pick up and I need to move faster with what I’m doing, it isn’t uncommon for the stress to trigger a manic episode. That helps me move faster, but it causes so many more mistakes that it ends up making things go slower. So Stress Management is a constant concern in my life. For others, there are environmental or situational triggers, so they need to avoid those places and situations, adding still another layer of complexity. And let’s not even talk about the American Horror Story that is finding a psych in the first place, what with insurance coverage. And gods forbid you’re in poverty when you have to deal with all of this.

These added layers of complexity are overwhelming. They limit the ways we can function in the world, and because of a variety of societal issues we’re just expected to deal with it. And that’s bullshit.

So to the people living with disorders that require all of these mental gymnastics to keep up with their added bullshit: Don’t be afraid to rely on your friends. Don’t be afraid to make odd requests, like grabbing your meds from the pharmacy, going after some groceries for you, or even just asking them to tell you to get out of bed. That last one is the one that helps me the most, just asking people to tell you to do the thing, because once it becomes a missive from outside of yourself you feel the need to do it more concretely. It becomes something that you have to do so that someone else isn’t disappointed in you. Honestly, I should just write up a post about all the little life-hacks I’ve used to keep moving the last few years, especially this last one where I was in crippling poverty the entire time.

To people who aren’t living with these disorders, but want to be an ally, don’t shy away from some of the stranger requests of the neurodiverse. Like I said before, we have to do jump through some weird fucking hoops to function sometimes. But more importantly?

Fight for us.

We do what we can when we can to fight for our rights and our needs in political spheres, but we need all the help we can get. We do what we can to correct the societal stigma around our conditions, but we need all the help we can get. We do what we can to fit in with society, but we need all the help we can get.