7 Important Bipolar Disorder MILESTONES (Signs of Growth)

I always encourage others to celebrate the small victories in their daily lives. For example... just getting out of bed... mustering up the energy to exercise, showering, going to a doctor's appointment – basically anything that challenges us or our Bipolar Disorder.

It's easy to get so caught up in the daily challenges of living with mental illness that we can lose sight of how much we've grown. I resonate with that... I feel stagnant sometimes – where progress feels agonizingly slow. However, If I take a moment and look back 6 months... or six years, I've passed some huge milestones.

Today I'd like to explore 7 milestones that were turning points in my life. I know some of you are new to all of this, and some of you are veterans of the Bipolar journey. Maybe you have a loved one living in denial. Regardless of where you're at, I hope this video inspires and encourages you to keep moving forward... to keep growing. Things really can and do get better for a lot of us. It just takes time.

***NOTE: Polar Warriors is completely, 100% viewer-supported through a crowdfunding site called "Patreon." It's where you can support my work, contact me directly, and access a community of like-minded people. There's a link above in the video description. Please do consider supporting us.

HELPFUL LINKS & ADDITIONAL CONTENT:

[dougpettey]

If I make it to tomorrow night, I'll have three straight weeks of taking all my meds every day. Fingers crossed!

[agnotwot]

My wife stopped taking her meds or seeing her dr over the summer. She got into a fight with a girl that was staying with us. My wife is now sitting in county facing 2 to 30 and I'm alone with our 12, 10, and 3 year old sons. Please stay on your meds and therapy. Five lives are forever changed because my wife and I failed her.

[mrz]

Knowing im not the only person suffering virtually the same crappy experiences... to put it mildly, brings some comfort. Its so damn hard articulating what i feel to someone who doesn't know what its like. I feel like its describing a color to someone thats been completely blind since birth. Impossible. At 55 now and all I can say is this has beaten me down my whole life and im so tired, but I keep fighting. Never give up 🙏❤️❤️🙏

[eaglespirit]

Thirty years ago, a doctor said to me " you do not owe anyone an explanation for your choices", that stuck with me, and helped me a great deal. About 10 years ago, I learned how to say no, without guilt. It was one of my most significant milestones. I only finally got diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder 3 years ago, so I consider myself a "newbie". I really appreciate your videos, I always benefit from them. Thank you 🙂

[leahartlee]

Robert you are a Godsend, did you know that? My beautiful, sweet niece, who I love so much, suffers from Bipolar one, and I want to do everything that I can to help support her on her journey. You make it easier, thank you! My niece is only in her 20's, so I suspect things will get better and easier for her as she gets older. I notice she has hit some of these milestones already! Keep on doing what you are doing- you ROCK!

[Lindasromperroom]

Thank you for reminding me to celebrate small accomplishments. I’m so happy your channel has grown so much. I have been here since you started.🎉🎉🎉 I was misdiagnosed too. Put on Paxil for years.

[dylearium]

Robert, you and your channel are treasures. I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

I wasn't diagnosed until my 40s. I was self-medicating with alcohol and drug abuse for decades. I was diagnosed with bipolar ii and got sober in the same year.

A big milestone for me with Bipolar was when i stopped pathologizing all my emotions. Yes, I am prone to deep depressions. Yes, i experience hypomania. And identifying these extremes and communicating them has been crucial in my journey. But I also get to feel legimately sad. I can also experience love, excitement, frustration, and disappointment; and these can be MY feelings. It sounds simple, but coming to terms with that was huge for me. Not everything is a manifestation of the disorder. I get to have feelings, too.

[lolewat]

Hello 👋 thanks for sharing your story with us. I survived child sexual abuse and stay quiet for long time and then survived domestic violence from my ex boyfriends and same stay quiet. I want to tell everything to my therapist but it's little time. My mental illness is not going good but I remind myself that I am not perfect. We are surviving the situation and there's no one to blame, trust and just self love to build my self esteem.

[ADAJKINGANGEL]

I’ve now had 5 yrs without hospitalization after being in and out of hospitals for a couple of years. It took a while to find treatment that works. One of the worst things was the extreme weight gain.

[speezygirl]

The one that is only recently become a milestone for me is to communicate my limitations to others before I melt down from having my limitations stretched beyond coping distance. If only I had learned that sooner.

[WkUpPeople]

I was diagnosed the same way you were. I was depressed and had been diagnosed with depression for years. I went to my general practitioner for depression medication. I took it, it triggered a raging manic episode and I found myself hospitalized for a few days. Even though I hated being hospitalized, I was happy that my BPD was correctly diagnosed and I received the proper medication. I have guilt about things I've done in the past while manic or depressed and I can't rid of it or forgive myself. Even though it happened years ago. It's a heavy burden. I'm reluctant to open up to a therapist as well and don't currently have one. After listening to you, maybe I'll trying seeing one. Thanks!

[sarahayles]

Rob, you have made my journey with bipolar 100x easier and faster than if I tried to go about this on my own. Your videos has helped my husband learn why I am the way I am and how to better understand me. I'm just 5 years past my diagnosis. I know I wouldn't be where I am without your videos and support. Thank you.

[MaggieAAdams]

I'm reaching a milestone for myself in not missing a therapy session and taking my meds every day. It's so hard just to take my meds every day or go to therapy every week. But I've kept it up since my last episode and change of meds in August.

[debbiharshbarger]

I so appreciate what you said, and I read the comments also. I won't go into my personal stuff, but I want to truly thank you !

[KathBorup]

Rob I can't tell you how much this video means to me! I relate so much to your bipolar journey! Thank you for your introspection, wisdom and strength!

[SarahDale]

The biggest turning point for me was when I stopped eating carbohydrates 6 years ago. I am med-free and have never been more stable in my life. It's been a game changer and a life saver!

[Jessica]

This is by far the most informative channel with great content and examples that I’ve found! Thank you for taking part of your energy to help us on our journey to understand each other better. Watching this for my undiagnosed boyfriend (we both have ADHD) because there were things I couldn’t understand about him, I could see he didn’t vanish to harm me but he hates talking and I had to make sense of it. This was exactly what I needed but I also realise it fits myself and my own problem areas. What you do on this channel matters and helps more than you realise, again THANK YOU ❤

[steveandrade]

Thanks for the upload. This video is actualizing. I needed to see this. Thank you for the work you're doing.

[piccionisanchez]

I am in the process of letting things go and leaving the past in the it is very difficult to do. I glad you reached so many milestone. You will continue to have many more.

[Catlily]

What helped me a lot was dealing with my mental illness mostly in therapy, with my case manager and in groups with peers. I realized that my friends and family were getting overwhelmed with my illness. I still tell my close friends and family if I am having a hard time but I don't go into details. I save the details for professionals and when appropriate with peers.
This helps me maintain my relationships.