As I was growing up I saw and heard many
adults either going through mood swings or talking about it. I did not hear of
anyone being diagnosed as Bi-Polar. Maybe my head was in the sand – maybe Marilyn
Munroe was Bi-Polar and I just didn't hear about it. I heard of depression and
I heard of mood swings. I also heard of PMS but I was innocent when it came to
Bi-Polar.
I heard things (usually in the movies) like:
Ø
"Oh life got too much for him,
so he ended it."
Ø
"I heard that he was so
ashamed that he had lost all his money so he ended it."
Ø
"His wife left him and he
couldn't cope."
Ø
"Her husband was having an
affair and she couldn't handle it."
Ø
"She was having an affair
and felt guilty."
But now anyone who has ups and downs seems
to be diagnosed as Bi-Polar. I am ashamed to admit that the first time I was
told someone was Bi-Polar was about 10 years ago and I didn't know what it
meant. Am I sheltered or what? As soon as I got home I investigated Bi-Polar.
My reaction was that I felt rather deflated. It seemed to me that the person
was suffering from extreme mood swings.
Now please don't get me wrong. I am not
minimalising the extent of this condition. I am merely battling to come to
terms with it. It is a name that I don't fully understand.
I am usually a "Cup half full"
kind of girl but oh boy, that cup can extremely rapidly become a "Cup half
empty". I can literally drop from one condition to the next in a few
seconds. Does that mean I am Bi-Polar? I don't consider this to be a malaise
from which I suffer. I accept that I became
depressed. Why did I change? Who knows, maybe I wanted the sun to shine and it
didn't; maybe I wanted to see a friend and they were busy; maybe there was no
real reason. The end result I feel down and, for now, it really doesn't matter
what put me there. I am there and I need to deal with it – medically or
otherwise. My usual way is to wrap myself up, curl in bed and refuse to see
anybody until I can deal with things again. I call it my Greta Garbo phase. Now
and then the doctor will give me pills but I do not want to be dependant on
them.
I have a wonderful daughter, Leanne. Leanne
is setting up as a therapist and is insistent that her "clients?"/"patients?"
will not be labelled. Good you for my girl. I have found that often people feel
they need to live up to their label.
Romeo said "A rose by any other name
would smell as sweet." So can we accept the philosophy: "Treat the
malady not the name"? – After all sometimes a condition can be misnamed
and have hilarious connotations.
A dear lady reported that her husband had
succumbed to a massive fart after being told by a doctor that the reason for
his demise was a massive infarction.
And there you have it – laughter often is
the best medicine.
