high-functioning bipolar disorder

*Catherine Zeta-Jones *Carrie Fisher
*Demi Lovato *Vincent van Gogh *Winston Churchill *Mel Gibson
*Mariah Carey *Russell Brand

*All bipolar just like me. But nonetheless, successful in their fields. Why not me too?

But a look further, I'm still here. Maybe they don't the level of bipolar that I do. Maybe mine is more disruptive. Many are fallen to the disease.

I follow Christ. I know Him and trust Him. I wouldn't trade belief in Him for success. I know he has kept me alive (spirituality).

Good for them. Good for me.

Comparison is never a measure of self worth.

#ChronicDepression bipolar Disorder #Depression #HighfunctioningBipolarDisorder

#BipolarDepression #Anxiety #HighfunctioningBipolarDisorder
This divorce is kicking my ass. It's about to be finalized, so the big wave is coming to crush me. Being separated felt like I was constantly drowning in an endless sea of heartbreak. I just got insurance so I'm looking out for help, I'm unmedicated due to having lost everything and restarting, living back home in a small town, help is very limited. Barely any options and if there is, the waiting is unbelievably long! I can't deal with this without meds /: I just wanna balance💔😔

Is it better to be high functioning with depression - and nobody ever really knows how hard you are struggling? Or is it more helpful to wear your heart on your sleeve? (Context: I just had a long talk with my sister in law about how bad my bipolar depression is getting - while I smiled and joked over a cup of tea. She seemed confused and I don't blame her!) #HighfunctioningBipolarDisorder

I was just given the probable diagnosis of bipolar disorder. Not even my therapist really believes I'm bipolar ( he doesn't even believe in any diagnosis) bc I am so damn good at putting on that happy face and pushing through bc I have to. I'm a mom of 4, there is no choice in it. Thankfully, I found a great psychiatrist who believes me and doesn't try to dismiss the symptoms I have. Now when I talk about symptoms to family members it's as though they feel like I'm faking it, when in reality this is how I've felt all along. It's so invalidating and frustrating. Anyone else?? #HighfunctioningBipolarDisorder

Just wanted to share this with other #HighfunctioningBipolarDisorder people. I am now down from about a six month manic episode that began before the quarantine. Because I am a high functioning BP1 and on the correct med cocktail, I worked through the whole episode, kept up with family and friends and even kept the house clean (thank you mania.) Now, however, I am exhausted, fatigued both mentally and physically. When I’m “normal”, I forget the toll of a manic episode. And the carnage clean up that necessarily follows. However, I am lucky. My life is set up now so that I have very few “have to’s” and for me the quarantine has been a bit of a blessing since I don’t have to feel guilty about not going out. I will bounce back, but, man, it takes work.

I was diagnosed with BP1 during my third semester at Columbia. Took lithium (still taking) and focused on my studies and managed to ace my last semester.

I am looking for a mentor.
#HighfunctioningBipolarDisorder

Sometimes it feels like being "higher functioning" is a lie. Those of us considered "high functioning" may or may not experience "severe" symptoms but it's how we cope and deal with them that gives us this lofty title. Those who aren't often say the phrasing as though it excuses away what we experience, minimizes them. When we have good days, the ones with minimal or even no symptoms, these are what are considered our baselines by so many and then our normal is considered "bad days" and heaven(s) forbid we have an actual episode because then we get the looks of "now you're just faking it, I've seen you when you're not doing well"...
I don't feel like I'm "functioning"... I feel like I'm merely existing most of the time. I sit at my desk or even in the field struggling to focus half the day and trying to use deep breathing exercises. Most of the time I'm losing approximately half my day worthy of productivity to "coping". Luckily, I'm still productive enough that it's not so noticeable, or so I think, so I hope because I love my job and do not want to lose it... But this doesn't feel like functioning.
However, if I were to go to someone and say "hey, so, I feel like crying, screaming, laughing, passing out, painting a picture, pulling my hair out (literally not figuratively), and curling up into a corner staring at nothing and everything all at this exact moment" I am not likely to be believed because I "look fine". This is Fine.
#HighfunctioningBipolarDisorder

#BipolarDisorder #Addiction I just came to the realization that I am no more or less afflicted by this disorder than most people with it...I just feel like no one can really tell because I am high functioning now. Yet, the intense struggle continues day by day...I do know that putting down the drugs and alcohol has greatly improved my mental health and quality of life....I guess I'm coming to accept the fact that I cannot completely empathize with most people, and accepting my intense feelings of alienation, or incomparably inequivalent to the rest of"normal" society... I need to accept the new me, because at this point there is no going back to the old me.... and I've grown to accept that.... it's like a new beginning because even though the new me can remember the old me, I now am learning life all over again,....I refuse to live in denial, this is what it is, now, till the day I pass on....

I’m rarely actually alone. Whether home caring for my mom, with my boyfriend or surrounded by friends. I often feel detached , excluded, sad and paranoid. It’s my own doing, my brain bringing me to this space but I can’t seem to stop it. My best coping mechanism is music but it’s not very conducive to public/social settings. I’m not sure the people in my life understand how hard it is living with mental illness and being a caregiver. I’m fortunate to be high-functioning with bipolar disorder but sometimes it makes it harder too. #Bipolar2Disorder #HighfunctioningBipolarDisorder