Before I begin, and upset all those out there who have been diagnosed with bipolar, I want to say that mood swings are awful and there’s a need to sort them out, especially when, for some, the swing is to manic depression. I think, for the sake of the wellness and safety of those diagnosed with manic depressive mood swings, and linked to something they call bipolar, I’d better say up front that I’m not a doctor nor qualified to engage in the level of intervention needed to treat extreme mood swings that go beyond the moderate level of bipolar.

But, for the vast majority of diagnosis for milder forms, it’s just an excuse and a myth.

All human beings, born to this planet are bipolar. If we weren’t we would have no emotion, feelings, stories, choices, preferences, likes, dislikes, intuitions, instincts and sex. Bipolar is a one sided view of something that actually has two.

Take ice cream as an over simplistic example: Ice cream is good to eat and bad for you. When we all buy it, we skip one side of that math, and we indulge. If we are super aware of both sides we indulge with guilt. But we indulge all the same. Some people eat ice cream seemingly oblivious to the fact that their belly is growing faster than their height, this is really bipolar thinking because it screens out an opposing view.

Therefore all theatre is about bipolar experience. Telling you happy or sad or romantic stories about villains and heroes and heroins – one sided people. Marketing is bipolar, it sells goods based on benefit, when in reality, no such half truth exists.

The only difference between one person and another in this world is how bipolar they are.

Let me explain:

The pendulum swings too and fro, representing the human mind seeking pleasure, half stories and attraction. This is called emotion. Sometimes these emotions are extreme, like heartbreak, disappointment, frustration, anger, fear, and jealousy. Called low emotions because they are extremely one sided and trigger massive chemistry in the body. In fact, in my work with body mind awareness, extreme emotions cause extreme cellular breakdown, cancer. It would be interesting to study extreme bipolar and cancer and see if the incidence is greater in that population.

You can see that at the top of the pendulum the distance between one side and the next is small. At the bottom where the ball is, the distance is huge. This, in business would be the difference between leader and follower, leader would be at the smaller swing end and follower at the bottom.

An elite athlete, a musician, a performer would know how to go to the top of the pendulum in performance but may, emotionally at least, drop to the bottom and experience high’s and lows in “off stage” life (relationships, mental health etc)

In spirituality we say that people can rise in the moment to be inspired if they focus and are in intense situations but drop into complete unconsciousness in their normal life. Unconsciousness, bipolar are the same thing.

The cone opposite represents the human mind. Not, of course from a biological view but from a consciousness view. Every human being on earth, from Pope to Sinner, has the same scale of options in their brain. At GOT TO, adrenalin, lust, addiction, violence, attraction, repulsion, elation and depression find their home. So, in Body Mind awareness and when opening a heart, I don’t see people with illness or mental health problems, I just see people who have the lower levels of their brain activated and strengthened which prevents them seeing and feeling things at a more balanced place.

All of us rise to love to. We get taken their by nature. We see or hear something and feel awe. This might be in a meditation or theatre, but we can’t sustain it and the more we try to be “meditative” the more we polarise to the extremes of GOT TO.

Nature is bipolar. Storms one day, sunshine the next. But not all tides are king tides and not all storms are hurricanes. Even nature has a broad spectrum of levels.

The point here is that we are all bipolar. We can all make excuses for extreme mood swings by blaming bipolar when really, it’s no excuse, just unconscious thinking. It may be wise not to credit bipolar for all the misery a person suffers but more, that they love seeking highs and hate their opposite.

The solution is to exercise the brain muscles that see balance. Once they strengthen, by balancing their view, the lower levels loose their grip and life returns to a range of emotions.

For those wanting more technical information I copied this from the web

What is bipolar disorder?

Bipolar disorder is the name used to describe a set of ‘mood swing’ conditions, the most severe form of which used to be called ‘manic depression’.

Bipolar disorder I is the more severe disorder in terms of symptoms- with individuals being more likely to experience mania, have longer ‘highs’, be more likely to have psychotic experiences and be more likely to be hospitalised.

Bipolar disorder II is diagnosed when a person experiences the symptoms of a high but with no psychotic experiences. These hypomanic episodes tending to last a few hours or a few days, but longitudinal studies suggest impairment is often as severe as in bipolar I disorder.

The high moods are called mania or hypomania and the low mood is called depression.

However, it is important to note that everyone has mood swings from time to time. It is only when these moods become extreme and interfere with personal and professional life that bipolar disorder may be present and a psychiatric assessment may be warranted.

Other key points about bipolar disorder

• Occasionally people can experience a mixture of both highs and lows at the same time, or switch during the day, giving a mixed picture.
• Some people may only have one episode of mania once a decade, while others may have daily mood swings. For each individual the pattern is quite distinct.
• People with bipolar disorder can experience normal moods in between their swings but the majority experience some low level symptoms between episodes..
• Women and men develop bipolar I disorder at equal rates while the rate of bipolar II is somewhat higher in females.
• Bipolar disorder can commence in childhood, but onset is commoner in the teens or early 20s. Some people develop their first episode in mid-to-late adulthood. Many people can go for years before it is accurately diagnosed or treated (see How to tell if you have bipolar disorder)
• Women with bipolar disorder have a very high chance of a significant mood disturbance both during pregnancy and in the post-partum period – most commonly in the first four weeks. (Most will have a depressive episode, a significant proportion will have highs, and 10% will have mixed highs and lows.)
• With the right treatment, the vast majority of people with bipolar disorder are able to live normal and productive lives.
• Some people with bipolar disorder can become suicidal. It is very important that talk of suicide be taken seriously and for such people to be treated immediately by a mental health professional or other appropriate person. See Getting Help and Emergency Help.