What’s The Life Expectancy For Bipolar Disorder & 3 More Common Questions

It’s natural to look for answers after being diagnosed with bipolar disorder. If it’s a friend or family member, you want to understand and offer comfort. If the diagnosis is yours, you want the fear of the unknown to dissipate so you can breathe again.

I know; I’ve been there, and I’m still searching myself. In this article, I’ll discuss four popular questions and how to interpret the answers by breaking them down into three groups.

Lies: These are the worst types of answers to the many questions surrounding a recent bipolar diagnosis. These usually come from stereotypes, movie portrayals, or even our own minds. Yes, I said it, even our own minds. It’s easy to back ourselves into a corner and tell ourselves we’re broken, we’ll never be the same again, and the list goes on.

Facts: Facts are facts. You want to understand and offer comfort if it’s a friend or family member, right? They shoot straight, propelled by scientific evidence, medical studies, and years of research. The problem is, most of these facts sound just as bad as lies when you’re hurting and confused.

Truth: How is truth any different than facts, you ask? To find the truth, you have to do a little work. Dig a little deeper.

First, you have to ignore the lies.

Second, you have to take the facts at face value. They are numbers and letters on your screen, nothing more, nothing less.

The truth, however, is how you choose to live your life despite the lies and the facts. Neither of these stumbling blocks can define you. Regardless of your diagnosis, only you can determine how to live your life, one day at a time. The truth is, you are here for a reason and created for a purpose!

1. What's the life expectancy for bipolar disorder?
2. Will I ever feel normal again?
3. Will I pass bipolar disorder down to my children?
4. Can I stop taking medication now if I feel fine?

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1. What’s The Life Expectancy For Bipolar Disorder?

• Lies: The lies tell us that between the erratic behavior portrayed in movies and long lists of medications with side effects, our days are numbered.
• Facts: According to PsychCentral, the average life expectancy is between 8 and 12 years shorter than the general population. Not something to get excited about, is it?
• Truth: No one knows how long they’ll live or what tomorrow holds, for that matter. All we have is today; what we do with it is up to us. Mathew 6:27 says, “Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?”

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2. Will I ever feel “normal” again?

• Lies: The lies tell us that we’ll never be “normal” again. We better keep our diagnosis to ourselves, or people will look at us differently.     It’s all downhill from here.
• Facts: Facts say that people with bipolar disorder are more likely to experience problems with alcohol use and illicit drugs to feel “normal”     again.
• Truth: The truth is, who decides what is normal and what isn’t anyway? We’re all beautifully created and unique right out of the gate. It takes time after a     diagnosis that hits out of nowhere to regain your footing. It gets better; hang in there!

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3. Will I pass bipolar disorder down to my children?

• Lies: The lies will try to keep you from wanting to have children out of fear of passing it on. If you're single, you’ll tell yourself I’ll never find a spouse anyway. Let alone have children.
• Facts: According to WebMD, children with one parent with the disorder have a 10%-25% chance of developing the disorder themselves.
• Truth: The truth is we can genetically pass lots of things down to our children. High cholesterol, high blood pressure, increased risk of this or that. What do those things have in common with bipolar disorder? You can live a long and healthy life with the proper medication, and so can your future children!

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4. Can I stop taking medication now if I feel fine?

• Lies: The little voice in your head might say you can. Or even that you should because it stunts creativity and productivity. Other people might say the same thing.
• Facts: Abruptly stopping medication on your own can be very dangerous. It can lead to the return of manic or depressive symptoms, send you into psychosis, or much much worse. Never stop taking meds without direct doctor supervision and orders.
• Truth: Most of the time, it’s hard to find the proper medication for each individual out of the gate. If something you’re on doesn’t feel right or causes unwanted symptoms, contact your doctor as soon as possible. Feeling better is just on the other side of giving up, so don’t. You can do it!

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The truth is, there is someone out there that only you can help because of where you’ve been and what you’ve been through. If you can find your truth, you’re strong enough to help others find theirs, and you just may save their life.

John 16:13 "But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come."

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