If Bipolar Were Like Diabetes

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.

There are no simple explanations for bipolar disorder. We do not know what causes it or why treatment works. We aren’t really that good at quickly diagnosing it. Why can’t those in the industry leave it at that? It is physical. There is no cure. There are some very effective treatments. It will last the rest of your life. Your genes determined whether or not you would have it. We are smart enough to understand that. Forget telling us what it is like. Just try to tell us what it is.