I am sick and fucking tired of being told how to refer to my illness.

The bipolar community has become hung up on semantics. Some swear that ‘Bipolar Disorder is a disease, not a disorder’; some argue that it is actually ‘Manic Depressive Illness’; and some contend that it is in fact ‘Bipolar Disorder’.

Personally, I do not give a flying rat’s ass what it is called. What I care about is how it affects lives – millions of lives. We shouldn’t be squabbling over what to call the damned illness. The energy spent bickering over semantics would be better put to use looking for safer treatments or even a cure. We should also be working together to educate others about what it is and its effects – that would reduce some of the fucking and . That is what bipolar people really need.

In addition to clashing over what the illness should be called, many people in the bipolar community throw a hissy fit when someone says ‘I’m bipolar.’ They want us to say we are not bipolar, we are people who have bipolar disorder.’

In order to back up their attack they say, ‘you wouldn’t call someone with , Cancer, so you shouldn’t call someone with bipolar disorder, Bipolar.’

Okay, using that rationale, people with diabetes are called diabetic so people with bipolar disorder should be called bipolars…

What the fuck difference does it really make? Semantics does not change a damned thing about the illness. It also does not change the public’s perception of bipolar disorder or of people who have the illness. The only thing they care about is whether we are going to go ‘psycho’ and harm them.

I call myself a bipolar chick because it is the easiest label to apply to myself. In addition to that, www.womanwithmanicdepressivedisease.net doesn’t fit on my t-shirt.

On this day..