Personal Narrative: My Life With Bipolar Disorder

I’ve always been passionate about understanding others; stepping into their shoes and seeing, thinking, and appreciating the lives they live. I think it is important to take that extra step and see things from a different point of view. It is the only way to achieve a true understanding. I believe in this philosophy so much so, that it’s one of the main reasons I have this blog; to give others a glimpse of a life with mental illness. I’ve been in treatment for 2 months and 26 days and I think it’s time for another peek into my brain.

I sat on the table covered in all too familiar low grade tissue paper that everyone recognizes from their yearly physical check ups. I despise being at the doctor's office, but I needed to figure out what all these panic attacks meant. I remember feeling foolish going to the doctor for such a thing. It was embarrassing to think I had some sort of issue that I couldn’t contain. After running through a long list of fixed questions such as: “Does your breathing increase? Yes. Do your extremities go numb? Yes. Can you feel the attacks coming on? Sometimes.” etc.

Bipolar disorder, also commonly referred to as manic-depressive illness, is a brain disorder that causes unusual and heightened swings in a person’s mood, energy level, and ability to function. The symptoms of bipolar disorder can be severe and therefore, they are quite different from the normal shifts in mood that everyone goes through on a daily basis. The effects of bipolar disorder can result in broken relationships, poor performance at work or school, self-mutilation, and even suicide. However, in most instances, bipolar disorder can be treated and people with this illness can lead normal and productive lives with the help of medication and therapy.

It’s a struggle to get out of bed sometimes, I often just sit there struggling to comprehend the sequence of events which have taken place over the past year. I mean, I’m used to this now, its normal to me, but the fact that this has happened and that I am now ‘disabled’ as people would put it is hard to get my head around. And every time I look down I’m reminded of the pain and the struggle I faced, it’s a physical scar which links me to my grueling past, a physical and emotional journey.

This paper is a fictional first person account of what my life would be like if I had been diagnosed with bipolar II disorder during my freshman year of college. This account will explore the interpersonal, environmental, and developmental effects this mental illness would have had on me as well as how my life course would have changed. Scholarly articles, the DSM 5, and my education in both the psychology and social work field influenced the depiction of bipolar II disorder presented. This paper will also focus on types of treatment and therapeutic relationships that I would find helpful if I was diagnosed with this mental illness.

Being diagnosed was very scary. My parents and I didn 't know what was going on with me, and when I was first diagnosed my parents sought out specialist after specialist to make sure they ruled every other possibility out before they accepted I had bipolar disorder. I was diagnosed with bipolar at the age of 16. It wasn 't until I was 18 that I finally got the healthcare I needed. Before I was diagnosed I didn 't think

No one considered that Schizophrenia was the ailment that tormented my brother. We assumed it was just stress and anxiety that stole his nights, his sanity, and his joy. We all believed that it was just a phase my happy, go-lucky, comic brother would get over. After all, doesn't everybody go through these rough patches of their life, and like a phoenix tried through a fire, rise triumphantly? That was my hope for my brother. But as the days progressed, fatigue mixed with delusions consumed my brother’s thoughts and disrupted his ability to function. As a sister, I felt helpless watching my big brother, my hero, and my confidant going through the greatest battle of his life - mental illness. Episodes and psychiatric breakdowns were constant,

There are many factors that influence the treatment outcomes of individuals experiencing bipolar disorder. Demographic variables such as gender, socioeconomic status, and ex-offender status may have an impact on an individual’s overall perspective towards mental health, thus affecting the willingness to seek treatment and overall outcomes. Recent research examined the relationship between gender differences and counseling outcomes and found both genders responded positively to psychotherapy (Watson & Nathan, 2008). Specifically, Watson & Nathan (2008) found no differences in gender on treatment outcomes between individual and group cognitive behavioral therapy amongst depressed clients. Men and women presented with symptoms of depression

When I heard that these disorders could also affected me resulting from major depressive disorder, I was still in denial mode. Then I came to realize that having MDD was only affecting me, but also affecting my family and my friends. I became a bother to them and also came to realization that I needed help. So I asked my parents to help me seek treatments to where I can get back to my normal self. My normal self was a person that was cheerful, always making jokes, happy, and just lived life to the fullest. I miss my normal self. The treatments that I had were very affective. The disorder that I was treated for is psychotherapy, where I talked about what is making me think negative thoughts and it allow discussing how I can improve on thinking

I have personally experience with bi polar disorder on a regular basis; with my cousin Jamie he was diagnosed after battling with drug addiction. He under goes treatment for his drug addiction and while away in rehab he was diagnosed by the healthcare professionals who took care for him. He has been clean and sober for 6 months now we are off to a good start. Even though he struggles daily and I know it is not easy for him, it is not easy for those family members that live with him. He struggles each day and is on medicines.

I was 10 years old when I was diagnosed with Bipolar-Depression. This was a huge challenge to me. I had to learn how to deal with the issue. I also had to learn to overcome this challenge to make life just seem okay again. It all began when i was 9, I had been constantly sad about a week and I was always angry. It slowly got worse and everything sent me into an enraged state. Even the simple things like my sister having her TV on to high while and I was trying to do school work. I would go from angry to cry in a matter of seconds. When I was 10 my mom took me to get a brain scan to see if something was wrong . It turned out i have bipolar depression .

The author, Kay Jamison talks about her life with bipolar I disorder in her book, An Unquiet Mind. Jamison was a Caucasian woman who at the age of forty seven wrote this memoir. Currently she is seventy years old and dealing with her disorder. She spent her life moving around a lot because her father was an air force pilot. She grew up with an older brother who was very caring and an older sister that she bumped heads with. Kay’s father was a really delightful person. His emotions were contagious. Her mother was always helpful and caring for her family no matter how busy she was. Kay’s parents were supporting in all her interests; such as pets, poetry, science, and medicine. When she was fifteen, things took a turn and her family moved to California for her father’s new job as a scientist. Her father began to show worsening signs of depression. Around the age of sixteen, Kay realized that she was having mood swings that were very drastic. In her senior year of high school, she had her first manic depressive attack. She started her undergraduate study at UCLA dealing with her constant depression and manic episodes. As she was studying as an undergraduate, Kay began to take an interest in psychology. She pursued her PhD in psychology at UCLA again studying mood disorders. As a graduate student, she also began working in the psychiatric ward and dealing with marital problems in her first marriage. She was slowly spiraling out of control until she had a terrifying

I wake up to see the morning light i’m now recovering from depression I get up even with my normal mental state i’m not fully recovered i’m trying though. I head downstairs to see my mom “Morning Lizzie how was your sleep.” she tries to make me smile make me think she really cares. “Fine I…...I guess” I eat my breakfast ignoring everything else I then head off to school for another ignorant day of taunting by my peers. I have no friends I……..I have no life. I get to school and head to class I have ELA first hour so I began to write “Help I need help due to my mentality it is all so real I feel like i’m going to hurt myself one

¨ I hadn't seen the door before. It wasn't there last night. Cautiously, I turned the handle..¨ That day I walked through the halls of the high school, heading to my locker I heard whispers. What was it now did someone put a note on my back again. But, as I looked up nobody was looking at me they were all caught up in their phones. I went up to my group of friends ¨What´s going on¨…..¨You haven't heard¨ they all said at once when Meg showed me her phone. I looked down to see a picture of one of my friends the caption said missing. What´s going on? They all looked hesitant toward me, well Claire went missing last night and no one can find her. I made my way through the hallway to see kids now looking at me crying. I asked one of them if they