Posted by BryanII on November 21, 2006, at 16:26:46
In reply to Want to hear BPII stories/what helps you manage it, posted by Rani on November 16, 2006, at 18:23:07
Rani,
This sounds very familiar to me. I've had the same sort of uneven performance over the years. Sometimes I've been a very high achiever and sometimes I've just dropped things inexplicably and failed to follow through. This has been confusing and very disappointing for me and for people I work with. It was only moderately disruptive for many years, but eventually it forced me to stop work for several years and nearly cost me my marriage. I think I could have avoided this chaos if I had known I was bipolar II (or something like it). If your diagnosis is correct, or close, this knowledge could be a real gift that helps you avoid bad decisions and get treatment if that's needed.
The way I look at it, my behavior reflects both my personality and some type of biologically based mental traits (sometimes I consider it a "disorder"). I can't separate them completely. It only became necessary for me to see it as a problem when it turned my life upside down. At that point, understanding it as a biological condition helped me deal with it practically. This was both through medication and knowledge. Knowing (at least partly) the cause of some of my behavior helped me think about how I acted, how other people saw me and how to be more strategic. Medication helped lessen the problems.
Identifying mental traits that affect personality and behavior doesn't have to mean that medication is the only or the right approach. Some of the discussion on the psychology/therapy board here may be helpful to you.
Please don't look at this new perspective as a damaging label. Bipolar II and related conditions are common, and a lot of people handle it well and do well professionally and in their relationships.
Good luck,
Bryan
poster:BryanII
thread:704367
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20061117/msgs/705894.html