Bipolar Disorder and Scepticism: Part III

Part III: My last subject as it relates to Scepticism and bipolar disorder touches on those bipolars that choose a Sceptical viewpoint as their way or living. Namely, bipolars who think that doctors and their medications are conspiring against them, that they don't need any medications and that it is the medications that are making them crazy and not a brain disease. There is a large and tragic community of bipolar people in the cyber world that fall for the ignorant ideologies preached to them by anti-psychiatry "truth tellers" and phony bipolar "prophets" (who often have books to sell.) These suffering bipolars choose ignorance over knowledge, easy answers over hard realities. They are seduced by people who tell them how evil psychiatrists and medications are (it's a conspiracy) or that bipolar disorder is somehow a normal phenomenon not to be evaluated or treated. These "prophets" (some bipolar and others just anti brain science) ignore personal and societal moral responsibilities in their desire to attack people, those in the medical profession, who genuinely help people with bipolar disorder to improve and live happier lives with happier moods and experiences. No, I'm not talking about "happy pills," I'm talking about medication that RELIEVES painful and powerful brain storms of the bipolar. I'm talking about MEDICINE that treats ILLNESS. I'm very sad to say that it's still very much a process in the bipolar and medical communities to get intercommunication and a successful, long term doctor/patient relationship. It is so much an inexact science that it's practically a minefield between where we are when bipolar first sets in to where we need to be when we're taking our medicine and pursuing healthy options for living as healthy a lifestyle as possible with bipolar disorder. There is often ignorance from parental and school groups that need to be supportive, doctor/patient miscommunication that can lead to drug addictions and traumas that destroy a sufferer's peace of mind to just not knowing enough to feel good no matter how hard you try. I've experienced all of these things and I know. Too many bipolars bury their heads in the sand when it comes to taking their illness by its horns. This often comes from fear, fear of being bipolar due to stigma or fear of its devastating effects or fear of medications and what they do. There is also some genuine fear that is medication based as certain medications are narcotics and others, wrongly prescribed or in incorrect doses, can actually trigger or worsen certain symptoms. There are also powerful side effects to drugs (weight gain is the killer) that lead many bipolars to stop their medications. THIS MUST NOT DETER US!! I have had many horrible situations with medications and doctors and have been on and off many different medications for reasons from my own personal ignorance to the side effects of weight gain and nausea and dry mouth and sedation and fatigue. THIS MUST NOT STOP US!! It has been incredibly difficult for me to find peace and that doctor/patient relationship that I've talked about but I've managed to attain some level of stability on those issues. I've made a ton of mistakes and I'll make more and it's just so hard. It is not easy for a bipolar in this world but we must do what we can to win our fight our fight with it!! Footnote: I'll be pursing topics that relate to bipolars that are at more personal levels and are independent of classical philosophies in future posts.