Please Note: I did not write this. I found it online about four years ago and printed it out and have kept it ever since. I tried searching for it again online to give the author credit—but did not succeed in finding her. This has helped me in so many ways-it reminds me to keep my head up and keep moving on!—Heather
I expect to find it one day, hidden among those dusty volumes on the third floor of the University library, within the Psychotherapy 101 section. I expect to find the definitive expert who tells every doctor, nurse, and therapist that the best way to normalize bipolar disorder is to tell the patient that it is just like diabetes. It has to be the same one who suggests the phrase “Hang in there” for patients who are particularly hopeless. Hang in there. It’s just like diabetes.
If bipolars were just like diabetics, then diagnosis would be as simple as giving a sample of one body fluid or another. They wouldn’t have to go through a round of best guesses, disastrous results with antidepressants, convincing someone they do not have a personality disorder. Every depressed person, as well as juvenile delinquent and drug or alcohol addict, would be screened with a simple laboratory test. The results would be definitive. Children of bipolars would be screened as a matter of course, right along with their Well Baby check ups and school physicals. Home testing kits would be available so that stable bipolars could keep a close eye on their levels.
If diabetics were just like bipolars, newspapers would read, “The suspect, described as a loner, was treated for diabetes before he (choose one) tried to shoot the president, embezzled billions from his employer, tossed his wife out of the house for flirting with another man.” Historians would pore over documents and decide that Lizzie Borden was probably diabetic. Frustrated mothers would write Ann Landers about their no-good, lazy, alcoholic, diabetic sons-in-law.
If diabetics were like bipolars, they would discover that their insurance coverage is less than that for acid reflux or migraine headaches. They would have higher deductibles, lower lifetime coverage caps, restrictions on the number of days in the hospital, the number of visits with their endocrinologist, who is chosen by the insurance company as well. They would find themselves rushed in and out of their appointments while their doctors run down a quick checklist of symptoms and send them on their way with a jaunty wave, saying “Hang in there. It’s just like being bipolar.”
If bipolars were just like diabetics, they would let even the most casual acquaintance know, including their boss, so that they might receive any special accommodations necessary. Their supervisor wouldn’t balk at their needs for regular schedules and breaks, including time off to get levels back to normal. Hostesses would even ask about diet, offering non-chocolate desserts for those on MAO inhibitors.
If diabetics were just like bipolars, they would have to rely on public sources for long-term care. Treatment-resistant diabetics would find themselves forced to check into state hospitals for amputations. A large number would self-medicate with drugs or alcohol.
If bipolars were just like diabetics, they would know what their body wasn’t doing right, how that affects the rest of the body, why their treatment works. They would know beyond a shadow of a doubt that their illness was physical and no one would dispute it. They would have a respectable disease. They would tell their children about the family medical history in detail. They would not define themselves, or find themselves defined, by their illness.
If diabetics were just like bipolars, they could eat candy bars.
To compare these two disorders does a disservice to both. Bipolar disorder and diabetes both have profound effects on lifestyle, but in very different ways. As a bipolar person, I cannot begin to understand the difficulties of being diabetic. I have no experience with the everyday implications, therefore, I have nothing to compare bipolar disorder to when I am told to compare it to diabetes.
