Hi, I hope you’re doing ok today.<\/p>\n
I was talking to this woman the other day, and she was sharing with me about how she had just<\/p>\n
gotten some bad news. She didn’t seem very upset, though, so I asked her what happened. She told me that she had just found out that she has kidney disease.<\/p>\n
I thought, wow, that’s pretty bad news. But again, I noticed that she didn’t seem to be taking it that hard. The more I talked to her, the more upbeat I felt, which was really strange. I mean, she gets this terrible news, but she is so upbeat that it kind of like rubs off on me! I swear, this was the most positive woman I’ve ever talked to. And talking to her put me in a positive frame of mind.<\/p>\n
When I asked her how come she could have such a positive attitude, she told me.<\/p>\n
1.\tWhat she has was caught pretty early<\/p>\n
2.\tIt’s treatable<\/p>\n
3.\tIt’s not fatal<\/p>\n
4.\tShe can still do her normal things<\/p>\n
5.\tShe can still do her job<\/p>\n
Now, here’s the opposite of her. There’s this person at one of the support groups I go to who complains about everything. But she’s not sick, and her husband isn’t either (physically, I mean). They live in a nice house, drive a nice car, and basically have a pretty good life. Except that her husband has bipolar disorder.<\/p>\n
But like the woman who shared with me that she had kidney disease, this woman’s husband is not going to get worse (as long as he does certain things). He found out pretty early that he had<\/p>\n
bipolar disorder, so he’s in treatment for it. Bipolar disorder doesn’t have to be fatal, as long as he stays on his medications. He can still do his normal things. And he is still able to work part-time.<\/p>\n
She should be grateful for all that, as her husband sounds like a high functioning person with bipolar disorder. Plus he’s not physically sick. She shouldn’t be complaining, she should be glad that things aren’t worse.<\/p>\n
Like this woman with the kidney problem, she has a positive attitude, and she is looking for the good in her situation. Not like the woman in the support group, who is looking at all the bad.<\/p>\n
Many people with bipolar disorder are much worse off than her husband. Some haven’t even been diagnosed yet, much less diagnosed early. So they’re having to still go through episodes, with lots of consequences, and they don’t even know why these things are happening to them.<\/p>\n
Some don’t stick to their medications, and go into episodes because of that. Some people are still in denial over the fact that they have bipolar disorder to begin with. Some don’t let their supporter (or anyone else) help them. Some people fight this thing all the way, thinking they can do it all by themselves. They can’t \u2013 they need a strong support system. And they need to have a positive attitude. That’s just as much a part of your treatment as taking medication.<\/p>\n
Whether you have bipolar disorder or are supporting someone who does, having a positive attitude will help you.<\/p>\n
Well, I have to go!<\/p>\n
Your Friend,<\/p>\n
Dave<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Hi, I hope you’re doing ok today.<\/p>\n
I was talking to this woman the other day, and she was sharing with me about how she had just<\/p>\n
gotten some bad news. She didn’t seem very upset, though, so I asked her what happened. She told me that she had just found out that she has kidney disease.<\/p>\n
I thought, wow, that’s pretty bad news. But again, I noticed that she didn’t seem to be taking it that hard.<\/p>\n