Bipolar: Email – Loser Attitude or Sad Story?
Published: Wed, 10/08/14
Hi,
How are you doing?
Hope you're having a good day.
I got an email that said:
"David-
I am sick and tired of you people saying
bipolar disorder is so easy to manage. You
don't understand. We try to manage it and you
mock us. We can't get jobs. We can't handle
money. We can't help ourselves. The government
doesn't help. No one cares. You people don't
understand."
---------------------------------------------------
Now, I ask you, is this a loser attitude, or is this
just a sad story?
Either way, I want to respond to it, line by line,
because I feel like I have a responsibility to
(and I need to defend myself and the people who
work for me).
She says she is sick and tired of "you people"
saying bipolar disorder is so easy to manage.
When have I EVER said that? I talk about how
HARD it is to manage, as far as I know. That's
why I write all these emails! I try so hard to
teach supporters how to help their loved ones
how to manage their bipolar disorder.
In my courses/systems I try very hard to teach
people how to manage their bipolar disorder, and
these materials are HUNDREDS of pages long!
SUPPORTING AN ADULT WITH BIPOLAR DISORDER?
Visit:
http://www.bipolarsupporter.com/report11
SUPPORTING A CHILD/TEEN WITH BIPOLAR DISORDER?
Visit:
http://www.bipolarparenting.com
HAVE BIPOLAR DISORDER?
Visit:
http://www.survivebipolar.net
I have even more courses and materials than
these, even, to try to help people with bipolar
disorder and their supporters to manage their
bipolar disorder. I KNOW how hard it is to
manage the disorder, because I'm a supporter
myself and I watched my mother go through
it (still go through it).
Then she says I don't understand. Oh, how well
I do understand. I get hundreds and hundreds of
responses to these emails. And I have over 5,000
testimonials about my courses and materials about
bipolar disorder. If I didn't understand, why would
all these people thank me for understanding?
What about her line about, "We try to manage
it and you mock us."? Where is THAT coming
from? Have you EVER heard me say anything
that is mocking?
Sometimes I might say something in my emails
that is humorous, but as one of my people who
works for me that has bipolar disorder says,
"Sometimes if you don't laugh about it, you'll cry."
But mocking? No. I think bipolar disorder is a
VERY serious disorder. I talk about that all the
time.
"We can't get jobs," she says. Then what about
all the people who work for me? They got jobs.
And what about all the people who bought my
material on getting jobs even though you have
bipolar disorder? That one is a BIG seller! Those
people have gotten jobs, too.
Just because you have bipolar disorder doesn't
mean you can't work. Many people who have
the disorder have even started their own home
businesses. Another one of my materials is
about just that - starting your own home business,
and that is another one that a lot of people buy,
and they do very well. They don't let their
bipolar disorder stop them.
"We can't handle money." Well, that may be
true. Many people with bipolar disorder can't
handle money. But they have supporters who
can. In my courses/materials I do go into that as
well. And I have talked about it in my emails,
too. So there is a solution for that.
Yes, one of the symptoms of bipolar disorder is
excessive spending. But bipolar medication does
help with that, too. So maybe this woman is just
off her medication?
"We can't help ourselves." Well, I'm sorry, but I
strongly disagree. I have just known too many
people with bipolar disorder who HAVE been able
to help themselves.
"The government doesn't help." I've tried and
tried to tell people that you can't live on
disability alone. You have to supplement your
income somehow. But I also know a woman
on SSDI who says she is not too proud to take
charity or go to food banks to feed her kids.
She says she does whatever she has to.
"No one cares. You people don't understand."
I guess I would leave that for you to answer. Do
you agree with her? Do you think I don't care?
Do you think I don't understand?
Because by now I am frustrated with this woman
and her email.
Because I have so many people who work for me
who have bipolar disorder, and they are some of the
most creative, hard-working, problem-solvers, and
productive, stable people I have ever known. They
are not like this woman at all.
I told one of the people who works for me about this
email, because at first I felt sorry for this woman. I
thought her story was so sad.
This is what my employee told me:
"When I was first diagnosed, I felt sorry for myself,
and I told my girlfriend my problems. She told me,
"You're not on a pity-pot, you're in a pity-bathtub!"
In other words, she didn't get any sympathy from
her girlfriend. She was practically told that she had
a loser attitude, not that she had a sad story.
So that's what I'm asking you. I'm done defending
myself. Do you think this woman has a loser attitude
or a sad story?
What do you think?
PLEASE POST RESPONSES TO THIS EMAIL BELOW
FIND OUT WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING ABOUT ME
Visit: http://www.bipolarcentral.com/testimonials
Well, I have to go!
Your Friend,
Dave
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