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The Truth About Bipolar Disorder: Finding Purpose in My Pain
by Michelle Montoro
I have Bipolar Disorder. An illness that nearly killed me. More than once. But that was a long time ago and now I live a very happy, blessed, fulfilled life, medication free. I am often asked how I do it. I still have Bipolar Disorder. I will always have Bipolar Disorder. But I will no longer allow it to control me. I am choosing life over mental illness. And while that may sound impossible to some, I am a living example that nothing is impossible.
I have stood on the brink of suicide more times that I care to admit, but something kept me here. I don’t know what it was that kept me hanging on when I was dangling by a string ready to just give in, give up, and end it all. But I am sure glad that I held on. While I may not know what kept me hanging on, I now know why. I have found my purpose in my pain. I have answers that may be able to keep someone else hanging on until they are strong enough in their own right to make their way through to the other side. The side where the illness can be controlled.
Mental illness, and particularly Bipolar Disorder, can be quite a staggering and confusing concept to many people. There is so much stigma attached to the entire idea of “mentally ill”. And that is the worst possible thing for the people who suffer from it. Because more than…
