Unfortunately I, too, am plagued by constant anxiety. I also have ADHD and Bipolar Disorder NOS (not otherwise specified).
I am being treated for all of this but because mental illness does not have the same respect as “legit” illnesses, I do not see enough support whether it be with friends or even charities. I looked up a list of the charities with the most contribution and it was shocking to say in the least.
Susan G Komen(?) for Breast Cancer Awareness is at the top with the most donations and contributions. Mental health donations, specifically for suicide awareness, was at the very bottom. People just simply do not think mental illnesses are “real”. People donate more money every year towards Prostate Cancer research than they do to organizations that intend on saving the lives of people who are experiencing these terrible emotional problems. Granted, prostate cancer is very serious and so is breast cancer. I am in no way saying that these illnesses are not deserving of more research.
Suicide just happens to be the one thing that people get weird about. Many times I have been in a depressive state, such as now, and made my friends/family aware that I was depressed. My family understands more but my friends do not take it seriously. I don’t plan on hurting myself or anyone else but being depressed isn’t exactly a walk in the park especially if it’s Bipolar depression. I won’t go through all the specifics because you guys can all go look that up but I will say that there’s a difference between stupidity and ignorance. Ignorance can be fixed, stupidity cannot. My employer is already beginning to discriminate towards me and is basically telling me I cannot have a promotion because I can’t do my job at hand…no further details on that situation other than, I have perfect scores on my performance across the board. That is an example of ignorance.
Sometimes I wish I could go online to the Bipolar Foundation website and just print pamphlets about what mental illness truly is and NOT how everyone imagines it. The minute I disclose my issues with Bipolar, I see their minds suddenly shoot for these words: crazy, moody, angry, out of control, PMS (yes I have heard this), whacko, nut job, two-faced, psychopath, etc. You name it and I’ve probably heard it. I do not feel ashamed of my illnesses and I never have. This is just me. Do I identify myself and associate myself with Bipolar? To be honest, YES. It’s a rough illness to deal with and sometimes you really don’t feel like anybody gets it. But I know that it doesn’t define me.
I know, I know…everyone says that “my illness does not define me” but it’s true. With me at least. Any questions you have can be PMed to me directly or via response in this thread. I don’t mind talking about it publicly.
I understand what a lot of you are going for and I genuinely empathize. Others still, I cannot empathize; I can only sympathize. No matter how bad you think you’ve got it, there’s always someone somewhere who has it worse.
