by Doc Holiday

Created on: April 23, 2008

Bipolar disorder can seem like it's a life sentence, and it really is. I was just diagnosed three years ago but I lived without a diagnosis for years. I new something was wrong but I wasn't ready for something bipolar disorder would bring, a life long sentence.

Yes it is a life time sentence. I know I will be taking medications and living with the ups and downs of being a manic depressant. It doesn't mean that you have to live by the fact that bipolar is a life time disease. There are medicines that when the right combination you can actually live better then you were.

There are millions of people living with bipolar disorder, saying that people have come up with ideas that help you live with this disease. I know that there are people far better then I am right now, but when you except that you have bipolar for life, you can then accept help. There are so many people out there and if you find the right sites you can gain so much. I recommend that you research everything. What you medications do and what are the side effects. I still believe you can learn more from the people who have been living with it then doctors, that's just me.

Like I said before I am only six months since my diagnosis and I have learned to do things a different way. Bipolar doesn't have to run you. Use it for good. When I manic I know I don't sleep, but I also know my best work writing is done when I am manic. So I write when I am manic or normal. When I am depressed I read books. If I am really depressed I will read two books everyday. Just because I can't get out of bed when I am depressed doesn't mean I can't be productive.

Now I have regular things I do everyday to keep me busy. I take my pills at certain times, I work out everyday, and I write everyday. All things I love and it keeps me from thinking about all the things that gets me depressed.

So is bipolar disorder a life sentence, yes it is. The difference is controlling bipolar disorder and letting in control you. I have done both and it's not easy. I have struggled and I have succeeded at times. You don't want a lifetime of being controlled by bipolar disorder.

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