Depression

Although my underlying disease has no treatment, many of the symptoms of my disease can be treated, and even a small reduction in my symptoms can be life-changing for me. Yet, unless I really push my doctors for a treatment plan, they rarely offer any suggestions. I understand that there is no pill to cure me, and I don't feel bad when my doctor doesn't have one to offer.

Let’s just be real with each other, we all have bad days.

No medication seemed to really work, so I started to believe I was responsible for my own sickness. While I professed the notion in public that mental illness is akin to physical illness and therefore no more or less anyone’s “fault” for having to cope with it, when I was alone I hurled all the blame in my own direction.

You. Are. Amazing. And I mean that. I want to commend you for all of the hard work that you’re doing to put yourself in a place that feels healthy and happy. And even if you feel like you’re not doing much, you’re clearly doing something by reading this in the first place.

I’ve been in treatment, at different times, for mental health issues all my adult life. I’ve been medicated with different drugs in different combinations, and not medicated, all at the behest of well-intentioned doctors and psychiatric professionals. And I was hospitalized in 2013 for a week in the psych ward at the local medical center.

If we openly acknowledge that these are life-long struggles for many people and that you’ll slip up, mess up and some days, panic attacks will happen, then it’s not so terrifying when they do. By putting the focus back on improving life where we can, with the tools we have, and doing the best we can, we take the pressure off ourselves to find a cure or be cured.

The symptoms of borderline personality disorder and bipolar disorder can often overlap. Understanding the difference is a first step in getting proper care for them and yourself, and being able to better relate to each other.

Tonight, I went to a class called Yoga with Anti-Gravity Wings.