5 Things Not to Say to Someone With Bipolar
If you know or love someone with Bipolar, do them a favour and research it! If you don’t understand, or want to know more, just ask. And if the person doesn’t want to discuss it, please respect that. Some people aren’t open and honest with it because they fear judgement & being stigmatised or being seen as a “crazy person”.
#1 Please don’t give them unsolicited advice
I have a mental health team for this reason. It’s hard enough for me to figure out what’s going on, let alone with people saying things like “oh my friend has bipolar and this works for them”. It’s completely invalidating, please stop.
#2 Something that works for you may not work for someone else
If yoga/meditation works for you, then great. But please don’t force it down my throat. I’ve tried it and it doesn’t help me. Please just remember that the person is going through enough and is trying to manage it themselves, and if they’re talking about it with you, it does not mean that they’re asking for advice. I like to talk to people to try to enlighten them and educate them, but it mostly backfires for this reason.
#3 Don’t shame someone for being on a lot of medication
Bipolar is a complex and misunderstood illness, people like me need a lot of medication to get our brains as close as possible to “the baseline” ie. not too depressed or manic. Personally I’m on 3 different medications and I’m barely holding on a lot of the time.
#4 Please don’t say things like “I was depressed last week” or “I was on a totally manic shopping spree”
Bipolar is a mental illness, a very serious & debilitating one. It’s not a state of mind. Being sad is not the same as being depressed, being happy/excited is not the same as being manic. Try cycling through both of these states for the rest of your life.
Bipolar disorder is classified as a class of mood disorders where a person feels depressed for a minimum of two weeks followed by a mania episode which constitutes of elevated energy and high spirit for at least seven days at a stretch. In between two episodes the person might not show any symptoms of the condition. Even when the person is devoid of the symptoms the extreme moods are capable enough to wreck havoc in one’s normal lifestyle and daily activities. — The Health Site.com
#5 The biggest lesson out of this is:
All a person like me is asking for is support without judgement. Sometimes all I need is a hug and for someone to listen to me.
