Bipolar disorder IS NOT PMT(PMS)!

Ignorance is wonderful isn’t it?
I mean, its really nice to get up in the morning, be depressed and ratty and get a freind demanding to know why I’m taking my ‘PMT’ (for my American freinds, it’s PMS – we say ‘tension’, you say ‘Stress ) out on them. I remember that a couple of years ago, I wrote an article that explained, in fairly non-threatening language, what it felt like to be bipolar, and that though being bipolar itself isn’t an excuse for behaving badly *because we can* – it did explain why, occassionally, we didn’t socialise ‘properly’.

And I got to thinking.

I’ve had to explain bipolar disorder for so long in terms that others can relate to that I’ve found that I’ve lost some of my impact. That’s not a good thing.
So just a quick statement.

BIPOLAR DISORDER is not PMT.  BUT – if it gives you a reference point to understand how we cope (or don’t in some cases) more the better. Just remember its a reference point. Like PMT, bipolars don’t have an control over how they are feeling – unlike PMT, it doesn’t go away and doesn’t only affect one gender.

I think that if you’re bipolar and that way of looking at it really offends you – that’s your choice, but I would also like to point out that if something is so alien to someone that they assume you are dangerous, crazy or unstable constantly in the first place, its my view that a reference point, no matter how strange, is better than none at all.

And no – at no point did I actually compare bipolar disorder to PMT – you can see the origional article that lead to this post here: What is…

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