Posted by lucie lu on September 12, 2008, at 12:17:39
In reply to Re: It's Mixed state bipolar )) racer » Dinah, posted by seldomseen on September 11, 2008, at 17:16:21
> I will add however, there is a significant upside to the way I feel. I feel more creative than I have ever felt in my life. This past month I've been noting connections between things at work that no one had ever seen before. Of course I'm too lethargic to ACT on those connections, but that would just be having my cake and eating it too.
Seldom, I'm so glad you brought that up. There IS an upside to BP. Since there's a strong genetic component, there are also some innate personality traits that are often found in people with BP. One of the most striking is creativity and intuitive thinking (those imaginative, non-linear leaps and making new connections) but there are others, e.g. ability to feel and experience life more deeply, etc. The big trick is to manage the symptoms. If you write down your creative insights even when you're too bushed to act on them - well, they will be there when your energy comes back! You can have your cake and eat it too.Mixed BP isn't easy to deal with when you're acutely symptomatic (which as you know can be VERY distressing) but I think that when the symptoms are under control, you may be able to identify some positive characterstics in yourself that you might have in connection with BP. With such constellations of traits, many BP artists, writers, etc have done very well by capitalizing on those strengths. There are BP people (there was one actor who they had a TV special on about his BP a couple of years ago) who don't even want treatment because they like the intensity and variability in their lives and are willing to accept the downside. Albeit this is usually from high-functioning people, not those who are miserable or whose lives are badly damaged from having it. I personally would not want to do that - what inner stability I do have these days, I'd like to hold on tight to :)
Have you read up much on mixed BP on the internet, e.g. starting with Wikipedia? There is actually a lot of useful information out there if you are selective.
So... about the genetics. Yes you very likely inherited some BP gene(s) from your mom but: (1) you do not need to manifest BP in the same way, nor does yours need to follow the same course as hers; (2) you are not identical twins, you have different personalities of which BP is onely one component, so you can live out very different lives with it; (3) you may have also inherited some traits that are both interesting and useful, as you are finding out and (4) as we keep saying, you are NOT your diagnosis :)
Take care and keep us posted when you feel like it. -Lucie
poster:lucie lu
thread:851419
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20080906/msgs/851658.html