"The Professional, High-Functioning Bipolar Patient"
There exists what I’d like to call the PHFBP, or the professional, high-functioning bipolar patient.
When looking at the PHFBP, it would appear that he faces few problems. He is compliant in his treatment. He is successful in his job; he may be married and have children; he has friends, and in essence, he is happy. For the therapist, this patient might be called "the model patient." In reality, although this patient is seen as a "model" patient, he still must cope with several, important life issues. (I know because I’m a PHFBP and have been one for several years.)
The issues are as follows:
1. Do I really need to take my meds?
Medication is a sticky subject. It’s usually visible, either sitting out or in a cabinet, just sitting there for any nosey guest to come along and read the bottle. Medication also can put on the pounds, like around 50. It’s a hassle to take it every day. A nuisance. Life would be much easier without it. Wouldn’t it?
2. Should I "come out" in my family, the neighborhood or at work?
I really want to tell people, but I’m afraid of the after effects. Will they lose trust in me? I feel like an imposter, like I can’t truly be myself. Who am I, really?
We value and respect the experiences of all of our HerWriters, but everyone is different. Many of our writers are speaking from personal experience, and what's worked for them may not work for you. Their articles are not a substitute for medical advice although we hope you can gain knowledge from their insight.
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i'm a high functioning bipolar. diagnosed at 26 after working fulltime going to school three nights a week to finish a bachelor's degree while raising a 3yr old and getting divorced. i often wonder if i had been better taken care of during that time, if the bipolar would have "surfaced". hmm. since then several high profile professional positions, bought a house solo and raised a boy through college. 3 hosps in 20 yrs. now? at 45 finding things more difficult perhaps beause of long term effects of meds? went on ssdi and now work part time. trying to keep the house and my sanity with low paying but low stress job and boy grown and gone. sometimes i wonder if its all worth it? but not plagued with any other bad habits ie dont drink or smoke, worst thing i do is drink coca cola...will i ever meet someone is my cry. i live in remote area with lots of seniors. best to all . j
Hang in there. It's nice to hear from a fellow high-functioning bipolar patient.
This was a wonderful article. I was just looking up high functioning bipolar and found this. I looked up these key words because I just ran a life coaching ad on Craigslist for people with bipolar and depression that want to have a highly functioning life.... I do... I refer to myself as "TheBipolarCoach." I authored a book "Surviving Bipolar's Fatal Grip" to interviews on tv, radio and love to help others...
This was one of the best articles I have ever seen about bipolar... kudo's to you... For the author, send me an email and I will send you a gift copy of my book. I appreciate you taking the time to write what you did.
David Mariant
david@thebipolarcoach.com
www.thebipolarcoach.com
Yes, and I related to all of them. I have been off medication for about 15 years after an incredibly serious episode that I thought at the time was a life ruined. I simply stopped taking medications after 2 years of re balancing. I needed to know can i go without meds, with a plan. My life had been dominated to that point by BiPolar, I recieved BA in Religion simply based on an experience and was seeking understanding. My break was my lack of developing any clear understanding and that then set me with an undertanding of the biological nature of who we are. 15 years of random reading, introspection and simply not buying the purely scientic view of reality, or the religous view of reality and simply going my own path I finally had a major experience last year that synthesized the who framework for me. you might say my amygdala was finally balancing itself. I was self aware, knew it was a biological experience, went to bed and slept much of it, and through that, in allowing my biological come into balance I came into balance. I have made over 200K per year over the last 5 years, I realized that living on the crazy train of our culture is not healthy, have stepped off, and am allowing my life to become more balanced and in a very real way stepping back from our culture and simply understanding it from a larger perspective is all. Being bipolar is not a defect, it's a genetic aspect of who we are, completely embracing it and learning how to embrace it is our great struggle. We need to stay true to our religious tendencies we need to understand that in a larger context, church is beautiful for those who are not bipolar it's dangerous for us who are. We can become confused in what is being taught from a distinctly different experiential framework than our own.
I forgot to add this quote
"We are here to awaken from our illusion of our Separateness"
This sense of mindfulness is important, and I might add being trained in Christian apologetics, living a life for 15 years embedded into Christianity my break was a break from the perceptual framework of Christianity, it was never a break nor would it ever be a break from the New testament. That is a work of art to me that is meaningful and profound, independent of all interpretations.