“On a bad day, I have mood swings – but on a good day, I have the whole mood playground.” – Charles Rosenblum
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Bipolar disorder is characterized by its mood swings, but I think mood swings are part of EVERY mental health challenge, from alcohol abuse to schizophrenia. Everyone in the world has moods (except for maybe Mr. Spock). But for those of us who are overly sensitive, moods can be so much more extreme than for the average person. When we’re happy, we’re really really happy – and when we’re sad, it’s a short distance to go before feeling like we want to be dead.
The thing most suicidal people say is, “I don’t want to feel anymore.” It seems that the moods we feel are too overwhelming to deal with. And even “mood-stabilizing” medication only helps so much. So we’re left to deal with crushing lows that we can feel throughout our whole bodies, whether the situation is major or trivial. Most of the time I wish I had feelings like an average person.
But today, I’m wishing the average person had feelings like me – just for a day – so they could understand what it feels like. How far that would go in eliminating the stigma!
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