Despite stigma and misunderstanding, many people with bipolar disorder find ways to live with purpose and peace. Here’s what helps.
In an effort to combat the stigma and discrimination surrounding mental health conditions, I’ve been writing and speaking publicly about my experiences with bipolar disorder for nearly a decade. In that time, I have encountered countless others who share my condition.
Among them, several struggle, some manage, and others thrive.
RELATED: Living With Bipolar: Is Self-Care Selfish?
Granted, nearly all of us living with bipolar struggle, manage, and thrive at different points in our lives, but some of us thrive more frequently and consistently than others. By this, I mean that they maintain healthy relationships, engage in meaningful work, and prioritize kindness toward themselves and others.
Thriving With Bipolar Disorder Looks Different for Everyone
Over the years, I have tried to understand — and yes, join — this band of bipolar success stories, which I fondly call the “Thrive Tribe.” Who are they? Where do they come from? What do they share in common?
Answering these questions proved difficult, as the tribe members make up a highly diverse cohort. Professionally speaking, they are teachers, doctors, entrepreneurs, musicians, politicians, dentists, publishers, lawyers, statisticians, editors, nurses, painters, veterinarians, computer programmers, writers, and more.
Personally speaking, they are female, male, and gender non-conforming; black, white, Latinx, Asian, Native, and multiracial; Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist, Hindu, Sikh, Baha’i, Taoist, Jain, Shinto, agnostic, and atheist; married, single, divorced, and widowed; and the list goes on.
In short, there is no constant with respect to professional or personal status within the Thrive Tribe.
Managing Bipolar Disorder Means Knowing Yourself — and Your Needs
While all of the tribe members seem to have their own set of unique therapeutic practices in place, those practices vary wildly from person to person. These thriving individuals are not all taking the same meds or engaging in the same treatments by any stretch, but they are all doing something.
In other words, they have their own clear and customized mental health treatment regimens.
Of course, creating and maintaining such a regimen also requires that they have insight into their conditions, meaning they accept that they have a medical condition that requires treatment. Since lack of insight — known as anosognosia — can be a symptom of bipolar, it’s important to recognize that insight isn’t a given.
Anosognosia remains a common barrier to treatment that must be overcome in order to move from struggling with bipolar disorder to managing — and ideally, thriving — with it. That said, while insight and carefully tailored mental health treatment regimens are necessary to manage bipolar, they are not sufficient to thrive with it.
2 Common Traits Among Those in the Bipolar ‘Thrive Tribe’
Ultimately, what distinguishes those who thrive from those who simply manage has less to do with one’s personal or professional status and more to do with establishing and maintaining healthy habits.
Indeed, the most successful people I meet who are living with bipolar disorder invariably share two traits in common, both of which are deeply rooted in routines.
1. They Take Sleep Very Seriously and Follow a Sleep Routine
This is not to say that they share the exact same sleep habits, because they don’t.
For many, this means waking up at the same time every morning and/or going to bed at the same time every night. For some, it means:
For others, it includes some, all, or none of the above.
The point is, whatever customs Thrive Tribe members settle upon, they think deeply about sleep, actively constructing and tailoring special rituals and routines that ensure regular sleep patterns in their everyday lives.
2. They Avoid Substance Use
This means one of two things: that they have never had a coexisting substance use disorder or (more likely) that they are in recovery from it.
RELATED: Dual Diagnosis of Bipolar and Substance Abuse
Plenty of highly successful people with bipolar disorder have dealt with substance use. But I know of no one who has maintained both an active addiction, and a successful personal and professional life, for any extended period of time.
What It Means to Be a Member of the ‘Thrive Tribe’
After years of studying the ranks of the Thrive Tribe, I am now a proud member. I still struggle — a lot! — but I also thrive far more frequently and consistently than ever before.
As a member of the tribe, I’ve learned that we all have diverse approaches to treatment — to diet, exercise, relationships, therapy, medication, faith, and more.
But when it comes to prioritizing sleep and steering clear of substance use, we are all on the same page.
UPDATED: Printed as “Two Keys to joining the ‘Thrive Tribe’” Spring 2018
