Bipolar Disorder Saved My Life
At least for now
The onset of bipolar disorder rarely happens to someone my age. I was 52 years old. I was struggling through my first few months of a promotion in an already stressful job. I was an IT manager at a company that operated 24 hours per day, and our systems often broke at night. I wasn’t protecting my health, and I wasn’t protecting my sleep. I’ve never been adept at handling stress, and the extra responsibilities exacerbated the situation.
One evening during this period, I was saying odd things to my friends, who convinced me to go to the hospital to have myself checked out. They ran tests for the next 36 hours, including an MRI and a CAT scan, to rule out physical symptoms like swelling of the brain. These tests came out negative, and my psychiatrist, after a few sessions, reached the diagnosis of bipolar disorder.
It’s been two years. I’m not sure if I should say that my bipolar disorder is in remission, but it’s been a year since I had a major episode, and about three months since I’ve experienced acute hypomania.
My experience aligns with other personal stories I’ve read. I was lucky enough to find a psychologist I trusted within the first three weeks of my diagnosis. However it took me a long time to find the right combination of medications, and it took us time to dial in the dosage…
