Fear Itself

“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”

-          Franklin Delano Roosevelt

As the psychiatrist speaks those fateful words, “bipolar disorder”, fear floods over you. Like a tsunami it crashes through every mental defense you have built up, saturating your inner self with terror. Bipolar disorder is certainly not something to be taken lightly. And fear is a perfectly rational reaction to being diagnosed. I wouldn’t expect any less.

But do we have anything to fear? Certainly bipolar disorder is venturing into a new landscape. With all the stigma that casts its shadow across the illness, you might feel a swelling discomfort at the notion that you actually suffer from it. People still do not understand what a mental health condition pertains.

But I’m here to tell you that you have nothing to fear. In fact, you should feel relief. Finally you can put a label on those swinging moods that you have felt. There is a reason that you feel hopeless at times and a reason you feel on top of the world at other times. Being diagnosed with bipolar disorder is absolutely nothing to fear.

In fact, the only people that truly feel fear are those around you that don’t fully understand the disorder. They are the ones that squirm with discomfort when you mention the illness. It’s hard enough for you to understand, and it is nearly impossible for them to. It is a sad fact that many people make no effort to understand mental illness, whether it is bipolar or any other affliction. This fear is what drives the stigma that society has applied to mental illness. This fear is what is refracting the light of understanding into something negative. And this fear is what is preventing society from accepting those of us that suffer from this disorder.

It is my goal to eliminate this fear and stigma that permeates through society.

I want to cast a light across bipolar disorder and let it shine for all to see. I no longer want any of us to feel ashamed or terrified of telling others that we suffer from this condition. We shouldn’t have to.

This month is Mental Illness Awareness Month, and we should wear our green ribbons with pride. Understanding and education begins with us, as we have been the ones that have truly felt what this condition is like. Let us band together and stand up to stigma.

Alone we are few, but together we can make a difference.