What have you done for meme lately? Ooh ooh ooh yeah!
6.. What do you wish you’d known when you were diagnosed?
A bipolar meds first aid kit would have been nice actually. Nausea meds, diarrhoea, headache, rashes … those sorts of remedies. I was ok for a bit, and then a lithium hike caused me to erupt from both ends for a month. And I really, really wish I’d been warned about the cognitive dissonance and dulling.
I didn’t tell people right away, but I’d like to have been told to wait a bit longer, that while I was fumbling towards understanding, every man jack would start informing me of their allegedly thorough knowledge. Eeeeeeritating. And maybe something like people are going to write off the neurotoxic aspects as bad science and tell you to heal thyself by chanting, yoga, eating fish … grumble.
Act cool always, because there will be some people who watch fearfully, waiting for your head to explode and you to get instant St Vitus dance and scream like a banshee. It’s highly unlikely guys … though I may as well reserve the option just in case. One time, the poison pygmy neighbours had a loud argument and my other neighbour came rushing to my house because she thought it was me freaking out. Mildly mortifying.
But on the whole it’s all fine. I got my diagnosis, sat fairly stunned with it for 24 hours, cried for another 24 hours and then started reading voraciously. I think that’s pretty decent. I was really fucking scared initially, I’m not now. I mean, who is ever prepared for shit like this anyway?
