Don't say this to me just because I have Bipolar!

 

  Here are just a couple of things that people should NOT say to someone who is bipolar.  I borrowed them from an online article entitled, "10 things you should never say to someone with bipolar disorder" by Hannah Jane Parkinson

"Are you bipolar?"

Referring to somebody as “bipolar” sort of insinuates that the only thing this person is is an illness. 
Rather, I think it is more polite to say someone “has bipolar” than “is bipolar”. You wouldn’t say that somebody “was cancer”. You wouldn’t say: “This is Maya. She is diabetes.” But people will talk of someone “being bipolar”. Bipolar is a part of my life, sure. But so are friends, family, work. So are words and music and photographs and Diet Coke and daily Google Image searches of Jamie Dornan. I’m not just bipolar.

"Oh yeah, I’m a bit like that"

I’ve had plenty of people say this to me after finding out that I have bipolar disorder. It’s meant kindly, as a means of finding common ground. Except often it comes across as insensitive.
Everyone has ups and downs as a natural course of life; this is why people who are permanently smiley are irritating. Ditto those who seem to look to Grumpy Cat as a role mode, or the newest term "resting bitch face". The difference with bipolar disorder is the extremities of the moods (and the frequency).
Someone without bipolar might go through a period of "craziness" for example "I'm going mad!"”  A person with bipolar, however, during a manic phase, might sweep into Saks Fifth Avenue and announce that they are going to speak to the manager because boy, they have so many great ideas. Have you heard all these great ideas though? Listen to these ideas.
Similarly, feeling down and miserable sucks, and it is something we all feel at times. Grief is a normal process. Feeling fed up is normal. Clinical depression, however, is a devil that chews on bones and gorges on souls and should never be underestimated or undermined.

 Has anyone ever said these things to you? How did you react?