Published on 12, July, 2020
Thought I'd share this meme I found. Very apt...
Imagine being autistic and bipolar.
Yes. Or autistic and BPD. I think the autism is the main condition with my behaviours. But I also exhibit most of the major symptoms of BPD, except self-harming.
I have a friend who is (non-autistic) BPD. She doesn't have a diagnosis yet but she has just been referred for one.
I think I was autistic before I was bipolar.
What is really strange and revealing is that I present totally differently as an autistic person depending on whether I am in a depressive or manic phase e.g. I don't have ADHD when I am in a depressive stage but I do when I am in a manic phase.
I’m the same and I couldn’t really put a percentage on the amount of time spent in each. The thing is, autism is a complex situation which can be understood from many angels and as the body and our lives, don’t exist independently of each other, we will be effected differently in different situations. But mostly, I’m blissfully happy. The only time I’m not is when I listen to my thoughts or when I believe them.
I am lucky. I only met her a couple of years ago through some volunteering we were doing but she is a friend. As you say all the others including my family are just acquaintances - I'm not working at the moment so I don't have any work colleagues.
What percentage / fraction of the time would you say you are depressed and what percentage / fraction of the time would you say you are fired up?
I do that all the time. I talk about 'friends', when the truth is I don't have any at all. I really mean acquaintances, or work colleagues (none of whom I'd want as a 'friend' in the traditional sense).
Perhaps it would be more accurate if I had said my friend rather than a friend. A friend implies to me that I have more than one friend.
That's interesting. I tend to be less focused when I'm depressed. But I can be intensely focused once I'm fired up and feeling positive.