Bi-polar insanity or genius?

[btsmith]

  You know with all this talk about the famous bpers throughout history and being a chronic overachiever myself, I would gladly trade all my creativity and "grandiose ideas" for just one day of normalcy and mediocrity.
btsmith

[btsmith]

    The bottle and I are close friends too, we don't see each other anymore but think of one another alot.  I remember when my Uncle came back from WWII, he was a b-per, a fine artist, they stationed him in London with the job of finding homes for kids whose parents were killed in the V-2 and Luftewaffe bombings.  He came back a mess, a real mess.  The VA put him on valium for 30 years,  made him pretty much into a door-nob.  Didn't clean his house for 15 years but god was he a good artist.  When I look around and observe the world and all it's messed up people I feel very blessed as I sure don't steal, rape, rob, murder molest children etc.  Who are really the insane criminals?  It reminds me of that movie where the insane asylem is bombed and the patients get out, only to go back in as the ugliness of the world is too much for them.
    Right now I am heading into treatment for hep C so will probably be busy with that for the next 6 mos., maybe then I'll look up one of the new psychs.
thanks for your e-mails they remind me that some of my species are out there,  I just have to look a little harder.

  

[Tink70]

I recommend a Psychiatric PA that is a Licensed Counselor.  They are the BOMB!  They actually LISTEN!  Can you believe it, Siggy?  There will always be the "disorder flavor of the year"  and yes, Bi Polar happens to be the flavor of the month this year.  Last year it was Generalized Anxiety Disorder.  Or was that in 2003-2004?  Well, its all about perception and the area of the world you live in.   See, in the military community - it's all about anxiety and depression.   Substance abuse is a close 3rd and Bi Polar just really isn't looked at.  Military hospitals hand out antidepressants and antianxiety agents like they were candy!  
I've been in some form of counseling for about that long myself - on and off.  It just wasn't until the bottle broke me down that and I spent any considerable time sober that the Bi Polar could be identified.  
Anyhoo - Most psychs treat straight from the DSM IV and the prescription pad.  That's what they are trained to do - I say go for the new class of therapists and you will see and feel the difference.
Luck to Ya'!

[btsmith]

    The few responses I have had on the nuclear/brain analogy has been very positive and you can use it as I really don't think there is such a thing as an original idea.  Old Mal from Australia really flipped on that one too, but let's remember that it is just an anaolgy, a way to make a very complex thing simple.  There's a lot in between.
    I am required to see a pshchiatrist for meds and my disability pension.  I don't know how many times I have sat there talking to my psych and wondering if what I am saying is sinking in at all.  I get bored, try to lead him down this path or that path of thinking and in the end saying to myself "this guy hasn't a clue". He also told me that bi-polar disorder is the new "in" disorder du jour.  I guess it is a hot topic at yuppy get-to-gethers and is almost a contest to see who is the "most" bipolar....can you believe it?  He also said he spends a lot of time trying to convience these people that they are not b-pers.
   I have been seeing psychs for 20 years now and have come to the conclusion that those psychs who just go along for the ride, site back, do your 40 min. in the trenches with this guy, don't try to figure him out and then the next patient, please !  Can you imagine that the only experience of people that are in charge of b-pers, have only their experiences and text books to go by....My god.

[Tink70]

Normal:  It is just a label that is put on a behavior or action from society that mirrors the current flavor or trend for the month/year/era/decade- whatever!  My prayer?  That my HP makes me STABLE and ABLE!  I wouldn't give up my creativity and intelligence but I always am on the look out for the ability to stabilize and "quiet" the cacophony inside my head!  Your description of the BP brain is right on the money.  I love analogies and I will, with your permission, use that one!  I always refer to mine as the "orchestra".  Those "normal" people can't understand us.  They never will!  They will never have our courage, our strength, our depth, our vision, (our hallucinations! LOL), our creativity, our compassion and they couldn't last one round in our brains!  They would run screaming into oncoming traffic pulling their hair out of their heads and shouting "Make it Stop!".  It is a testament to our characters!  With great vision comes great sadness!  "Normal" people will never feel the horrid lows we can experience but by goodness they will never experience the incredible joy that we can feel either!  Accentuate the Positive whenever you can with BP cause you never know when the floor is gonna drop out! LOL
Hope all goes well....

[determined2beatit]

I think you're right on the money!! I doubt anyone else can understand that analogy!
In fact,  it makes all  the sense in the world...you have to be bipolar to understand the concept!  Now that thinking borders Genius!!!!!!

Linda :)

[btsmith]

     This is how I usually describe being bipolar to people that aren't.
     The brain in a bipolar person is like a nuclear reactor, one thought triggers another thought simiilar to a chain reaction.  If this brain/reactor isn't controled it will have a meltdown.  That is where the medications come in or reactor rods for the power plant.  The more the rods are shoved in, the quieter the reactor becomes which is similar to say lithium, the more you take the more subdued the person will become.  In both instances nothing is done too fast as it takes awhile to see the results.  Once a desired level is obtained they both need to be monitored to keep that level stable as they will try to creep out or completely shut down, both are undesireable results. The power plant is an atomic reaction and the brain in the bi-polar person is a chemical reaction.
   This maybe an oversimplification but I don't think a non bipolar brain can understand a bipolar brain.
    Let me know what you think.
btsmith

[determined2beatit]

Normalcy and mediocrity?? What's that? I don't even know anymore!!!
I think there must be something in the bipolar brain that makes us very creative and at the same increase our intellect.. I mean if you think about it, with all the high functioning that we do, we must be accessing another  part or more of our brains. All that stimulation has to bring higher intellect with it.I find when I'm manic, I'm really creative with ideas, speech and my thinking! Now depression on the other hand....:(