Guest blogger Daniel Bader talks about life with bipolar and how learning to forgive himself for past behaviors helped him create strong relationships and a successful career as a therapist.
Like most people with bipolar disorder, I have done many things that I regret. Some of them involve harming other people: broken friendships, horrible things I’ve said, and even betrayals. Some of them involve harming myself: missed opportunities, lost jobs, and burned bridges. Looking back, it’s difficult to think about these events without cringing. I will often think self-abusive comments: “You’re an idiot!”, “Your so stupid!”. Sometimes, I even say them out loud.
In order to stop being so abusive to myself, I’m learning the art of self-forgiveness. I’m not perfect at it. Sometimes I’m [ Read More ]
People ask this al of the time. Here is my basic answer: The only way a person can have bipolar disorder is if they have mania. If you have mania as described below, you have bipolar. Mania refers to energy. It can be an upbeat energy that we call euphoric or an agitated depressed energy called dysphoria. It always means energy. The #1 symptom of mania is needing less sleep and NOT being tired. People who are manic do not need to catch up on sleep. Everything is sped up. For example, a person will sleep three hours a night and say things such as, “Sleep is such a waste of time. I get SO much more done! I can’t believe I used to need so much sleep!” And they will be 
