{"id":73,"date":"2008-07-15T08:28:35","date_gmt":"2008-07-15T12:28:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bipolarcentral.com\/bipolarsupporterblog\/?p=73"},"modified":"2009-03-19T14:13:53","modified_gmt":"2009-03-19T18:13:53","slug":"big-argument-over-advantages-to-bipolar-disorder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.bipolarsupporter.com\/bipolarsupporterblog\/big-argument-over-advantages-to-bipolar-disorder\/","title":{"rendered":"Big argument over advantages to Bipolar Disorder"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Hi,<\/span><\/p>\n

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How’s it going?<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

I hope you are doing well.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Hope you have a great day today.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Yesterday I got into a big argument with someone that basically said, “oh poor me, I have bipolar disorder my life is a nightmare\u2026.You don’t understand what it’s like Dave. It’s impossible to do anything.”<\/span><\/p>\n

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I disagreed of course and tried to explain that bipolar disorder has many advantages.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Think I am out of my mind?<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Do you think there are any advantages to bipolar disorder?<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

I DO!!<\/span><\/p>\n

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I try to get people to see the positive side to things all the time, because I\u2019m a pretty positive person to begin with, but this is a pretty hard topic to get people to see the positive side of.<\/span><\/p>\n

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But at least I try to get people to see the good and the bad side to the worst of things, even a diagnosis of bipolar disorder, which is some- thing I go over in my courses\/systems:<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

SUPPORTING AN ADULT WITH BIPOLAR DISORDER?<\/span><\/p>\n

Visit:<\/span><\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.bipolarsupporter.com\/report11<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

SUPPORTING A CHILD\/TEEN WITH BIPOLAR DISORDER?<\/span><\/p>\n

Visit:<\/span><\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.bipolarparenting.com<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

HAVE BIPOLAR DISORDER?<\/span><\/p>\n

Visit:<\/span><\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.survivebipolar.net<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

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With that being said, I know you live with bipolar disorder every day, so you experience the bad side of it. <\/span>But let\u2019s try to see if there are any advantages to it.<\/span><\/p>\n

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I talked to Bill and Michele about it, because they\u2019re married, and they both have the disorder, so they both see it from being survivors AND supporters.<\/span><\/p>\n

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They said in their opinion, there ARE some advantages:<\/span><\/p>\n

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They were diagnosed in the first place because they were really stressed out in the workplace, so these are some of the things they now see as advantages:<\/span><\/p>\n

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  1. <\/span>They are out of the workplace.<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. <\/span>They have less stress.<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. <\/span>They live a simpler life-style.<\/span><\/li>\n
  4. <\/span>They get to spend more time together.<\/span><\/li>\n
  5. They are more creative with their time together (ex. They go on a date night every Friday, even though they\u2019re married).<\/span><\/li>\n
  6. They are closer to each other now (fighting the disorder together).<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    <\/span><\/p>\n

    The main thing is that dealing with bipolar disorder is not a death sentence, for one thing. although there is no cure, there at least is treatment.<\/span><\/p>\n

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    And with treatment, as you just read about with Bill and Michele, you can live a pretty good life.<\/span><\/p>\n

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    The thing is, that good life depends on a good attitude. <\/span>If you have a negative attitude, you\u2019re going to be focused on the disadvantages of the disorder. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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    But if you have a <\/span>positive attitude, you can be <\/span>focused on the advantages of the disorder, like the examples above\u00a0 There are other advantages that I came up with, too:<\/span><\/p>\n

    <\/span><\/p>\n