Ok, so now you’ve been told that you’ve got Bipolar Disorder. One of the first things you want to know is “What is it?” Bipolar Disorder is both a physical (biochemical) and a mental condition.

Physically, the disorder is a chemical imbalance of the brain. Compare it to diabetes, which is an insulin imbalance of the body. Like the diabetic who takes Insulin to control his condition; you, too, will take medication to control your chemical imbalance.

However, Bipolar Disorder is also a mood disorder, marked by extreme mood swings - there will be times when you will enter a depressive mood (extreme sadness), and other times when you will experience mania (extreme euphoria). These are called bipolar episodes.

Although you will continually go back and forth between these two extremes, in between episodes, you can go months (or even years) with normal moods. Most people only have 8-10 episodes in their entire lives. Some, however, may have more.

Then you may ask yourself, “How did I get this?” as if it were a common cold, something contagious that you caught by someone coughing on you - or from someone in your family passing it down to you. The latter is the more accurate. Bipolar Disorder does run in families; however, just because one person in the family has it does not guarantee that it will definitely be passed to the next person.

Someone with Bipolar Disorder said, “Bipolar is not contagious, but it does affect everyone involved with the person that has it.”

What you really want to know is, “Is this my fault (that I got Bipolar Disorder)? Is it something I did/didn’t do?” And the answer to that is a simple one. NO. It is NOT your fault. And there is absolutely nothing you could have done to prevent it. It just happens.

And now the big question. “Is there a cure?” Unfortunately, at this time, there is still no cure for Bipolar Disorder. However, there is treatment. And with effective treatment, you can live a happy, healthy, productive, “normal” life.

Treatment consists of medication, therapy, diet, exercise, regular sleep, and a healthy lifestyle, making good decisions, etc. It will mean changing your lifestyle in a major way, but millions of people have done it before you and are living happy, healthy lives.

So what’s the catch? The catch is that you have to want to do it. YOU have to be willing to make the necessary changes, and you have to do all the work (although you will develop a support system to help you). And it will be work! Because this is a very dangerous disorder (it can even be fatal), and it will take hard work on your end to manage it. You start with education. Read everything you can get your hands on about the disorder. That’s the beginning -Knowledge is power, and will also help you accept the reality of the diagnosis.