Let’s talk about the ugly side of bipolar disorder. The parts people don’t like to hear or are too embarrassed to speak about.

It’s losing trust in your own mind. Constantly questioning whether your thoughts, emotions, or decisions are you or an episode forming. The manic highs and the depressive lows. It’s the shame after episodes. The apologies. The mistakes. The decisions that were made that don’t truly align with who you are as a person. The relationships strained or lost. Not from lack of love, but from a brain at war with itself. It’s isolation. Pulling away because you’re afraid of being a burden, while quietly needing connection the most.

It’s surviving moments you didn’t want to be here anymore and then having to learn how to live after that. Medication trials. Side effects. Acceptance. Resistance. Learning that stability isn’t weakness and needing help doesn’t erase strength. Even on good days, bipolar disorder leaves scars, hypervigilance, grief, and a level of self-awareness earned through pain.

I advocate because honesty saves lives. Because romanticizing this illness helps no one. Because survival is something to speak about, not hide. This is the ugly but necessary truth.

And I’m still here. Still growing. Still choosing to live. Walking right with you. Because, we are Stronger Together. 🤍

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In mental solidarity,