A Fruity Bipolar Lesson
Published: Tue, 08/10/10
Hi ,
How's it going?
Hope you are doing well.
Have you ever compared an apple to an
orange?
Now, this can be taken in two different
ways.
I could mean literally comparing the fruit.
Apples are oddly shaped and colorful,
while oranges are round, and, well...
orange.
Apples are often tart, whereas oranges
are often sweet.
I could also be referring to the comparison
of things that aren't on the same level as
each other.
Like comparing the level of difficulty of
a supervisor's work to that of their
employees.
They are both likely to be hard, but in
different ways altogether.
Here's one that's likely to throw you for
a loop:
How about comparing the lives of
someone who has bipolar disorder to the
lives of someone who doesn't?
Most of us do it all the time.
I'm probably guilty of it myself.
But if you honestly think about it, it's like
comparing apples and oranges.
It just doesn't add up.
The two people have different brain
chemistries and processes.
They have different difficulties and
accomplishments.
They have different levels of functioning
in certain areas of life (with some areas
favoring one and some areas favoring the
other.)
They have different sorts of addictions
(less extreme examples being caffeine or
spending.)
They have different pills they take to
handle their problems (everywhere from
aspirin to psych meds.)
They have different types of jobs that they
are skilled at.
And they are likely to have the sorts of
differences that everyone has with each
other, on top of things (different tastes,
personalities, and interests, for example.)
You know what else is different?
They have different strengths.
One is a strength of perseverance through
struggles, hope beyond despair, and
coping skills that combat mania and
depression.
For the other person, their strengths will
depend on the circumstances that they have
lived through and what they have bothered
to learn from them.
There are many ways that both are similar,
also.
After all, we are all human and we all
share some of the same traits with at least
some of the people in this world.
One person with bipolar disorder might
have the same sense of humor as their
friend who doesn't have the disorder.
One typically functioning individual might
have the same fears as their neighbor who
has bipolar.
But comparing tends to take something
away from both parties.
It lessens what they have been through
and where they are going, and packs it
into a nice, neat label that doesn't match
their life at all.
It's a cousin to stereotyping.
Maybe we should all try to stop comparing
people who have bipolar disorder to
people who don't.
Maybe we should stop comparing apples
to oranges.
What are your thoughts on this?
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Well, I have to go!
Your Friend,
Dave
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