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Illness

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Bipolar is an illness that could be used as an excuse. If the person wants to excuse their behavior he/she would do so no matter what the illness.

The problem with Bipolar, as with any mental illness, is that it isn't visible. Onlookers do not see the problem the way a person can see that an appendage is missing or if someone is connected to an oxygen tank. While we with the chemical imbalances in our brains that cause Bipolar try to function, others shake their heads and wonder why we can't be "normal" and figure we are looking for excuses.

We are not looking for excuses for irrational behavior, moods or inabilities. We are looking to function somewhere near normalcy. We take our pills. We follow our health care giver's instructions. We do everything we are supposed to do and still we cry for no apparent reason and wish for days on end that we were dead. Or perhaps, even after we take our meds our moods escalate and we fly off the handle, become terribly paranoid, throw anything that isn't nailed down and wind up in the psych ward. We do not do those things for a good time. We can't even explain why we do them.

Of recent, Bipolar has become the popular diagnosis which means there are people who are not but say they are. Perhaps their doctor misdiagnosed for some reason. Whatever the reason, this swing of the pendulum will leave a bad taste in many people's lives since there will be people who use Bipolar as an excuse. For the rest of us, we will endure this phase in society's attitude and do our best to function without excuses.

Learn more about this author, Kareen Rose.
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