When I met him for the first time, I felt this amazing aura around him. When he spoke to me, I could feel him truly looking thru my eyes, into my soul. It was amazing but at the same time I felt very vulnerable. It was like he knew what I was feeling, even if I didn't. All I remember thinking was, "I want what he's got".
After dating him for a while, one of my girlfriends pulled me aside and said, "I know you're happy but be careful Marla, he's Bipolar". After this encounter, it seemed more and more concerns and warnings surfaced. The more I heard these statements the more I thought, "do they know something I don't?" I was intrigued by why people thought these things so I picked up a book about loving someone with Bipolar. After a few chapters in, I understood. I've got to admit, I was a bit scared myself. It seemed as if the author pulled together all of the worst cases and published it. The funny thing is, my experience has been totally different than what the book described. It wasn't giving us the whole story.
This brings me to one of the reasons why I believe that the Bipolar stigma even exists. The available information about it seems to be very one-sided. Let's look at how the media has portrayed someone with Bipolar...Remember the Britney Spears incident. The news showed her shaving her head and running around with a bat swinging it everywhere....then out it came that she was diagnosed with Bipolar...Why isn't the news showing people with Bipolar doing positive things?! I take this as a friendly reminder. We need people to share their experiences with Bipolar so others become aware.
~Mar
