Well here we are in 2012. It just turned the year of the Dragon here in Calgary one hour ago. A new year; we all get to start over. At the turn of a year not that long ago I made a life-changing decision; to come out of the bipolar closet at work.
No more telling my boss that I “have a migraine” when my brain chemicals are so scrambled that I can’t string a sentence together. Trying to work would be slightly less difficult than finally getting that Jell-O firmly affixed to that tree. No siree! No more lying and apologizing because I drew a genetic straw and my brain operates about as well as a diabetic’s pancreas.
The response was amazingly supportive! “No problem. I understand. No one would judge you if it was epilepsy. You just tell me what you need.”
After the shock wore off and I got through patting myself on the back for striking a blow for mental illness sufferers everywhere, a new issue that had been lurking around the corner leaped out to greet me; hyper concern.
At what point are we allowed to scream I AM NOT A CHINA TEACUP FOR CHRIST’S SAKE!!
I mean support and concern are great but I’m not a mental invalid! “So how’re you doing?” is a perfectly normal question. But when it is said with that telling tilt of the head and tone of voice that accompanies the unspoken “Have you spoken to any furniture, seen any dancing dragons or tried to bathe with the toaster recently?” I just want to scream. Either that or answer with “The voices are telling me to sharpen the knives but other than that I’m good. You?”
So it looks like this New Year will have to bring about a new life-changing decision. Time to let you folks know that just because I’m bipolar, that doesn’t mean that that is ALL I am. What am I? I’m just fine thank you.
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