Thanks for the image from MrsBipolarity.com!
My friend Karen just read a memoir of a woman with bipolar disorder- and the author used the term ‘bipolarity’ throughout the book!
Has anyone heard of this term? I have been writing bipolar management books for over ten years and bipolarity is new to me! I know that there are different names used for the illness:
Manic depression (of course- this changed to bipolar disorder in the 90s)
Bipolar affective disorder ( used a lot in England)
Bipolar illness (my coauthor Dr. John Preston uses this term)
A crappy illness (that is my own haha)
What do you call bipolar disorder? Julie
PS:
A NOTE TO ALL! I just received this email from Ms. Bipolarity herself!
**
Hi Julie, I love your blog (and love that you’ve picked up on this term). Obviously, seeing as how I am Mrs Bipolarity, you must know I love the word. It’s verbiage that just happened. It just “fit” and it is part of my vocabulary! I’d request that you credit back to my blog though if you are going to use my banner! Thanks! 
Laura SQ aka Mrs Bipolarity
MrsBipolarity.com
**
I am so glad Laura wrote. I am very careful about the images I use on my blogs. I missed this one- I should have researched it further and looked for a link! I have written Laura and asked her to be a guest blogger. If you know her- please say hi. I will keep you posted on the guest blog! And thanks to Laura for her patience. All of us in the bipolar community have to stick together.
Please visit Laura’s MrsBipolarity.com site and let her know you read about her on the bipolarhappens.com blog!
I still prefer to call it “Manic Depressive Disorder”…that seems to describe it well for me….the media and society has made the term “bipolar” a joke or something to make fun of…so I don’t use bipolar for that reason. This is a serious illness and there is nothing funny about it…except some of the crazy things I do while manic…:>)
Hi Rebecca,
I agree that we can do some pretty odd things when manic. I will never forgot a story a man told me at a DBSA conference a few years ago. He said, “One night when I was really manic, before I finally went to the hospital, I decided that I needed to expand my bedroom, so I went in and took a sledge hammer to the wall and busted out the wall!”
Wow, When I get manic I clean my whole house. That’s one positive benefit. I think that many people without manic depression can understand the depression, but there is no way they will ever understand the odd behavior that comes from mania!
Thanks for writing. Julie
I purchased a book called “Break the Bipolar Cycle” by Elizabeth Brondolo, Ph.D. and Xavier Amador, Ph.D. and they use the term Bipolar Spectrum Disorders (BSD) as an umbrella term that includes all types of Bipolar Disorders. That was the first I’d heard that term before.
Sandra
Hi Sandra,
I posted my reply on the blog. Thanks for the info! You can serch for the topic under the title Bipolar Spectrum Disorder.
Thanks as always for your insightful comments. Julie
I used the the word bipolarity as a joke when I was talking to my bipolar sister, and suddenly it is how we talk about our symptoms. We will say something, and then, ‘never mind, that is just my bipolarity…’ We get a kick out of it. As sisters we have a lot of history, nice to have a ‘shorthand’ for some things.
Maybe the word bipolarity works because it has a lighter feeling to it. It sounds like some kind of electrical term and we know the electric impulses are certainly off kilter in the bipolar brain! Thanks for writing Lynn.
Julie
The professional community currently refers to this affliction as Bipolar Disorder. I’ve noticed in my readings on the internet that some have a huge problem with it being referred to as Bipolar Disease for some reason. I find this very upsetting. The definition of an illness is a disease so by definition isn’t every illness a disease. So, why would the professional community have a problem with using the terms interchangeably. It feels like a slap in the face to me. On a related note, the most obvious prejudice concerning my disease that I’ve experienced has come from my doctors and my other health care professionals. I’ve gotten subpar care and respect covering multiple departments because my illness and prescriptions is plastered all over my medical history. Do you think that I should at least get my scripts taken off? That is the only thing that I believe I can control. Or is there a way to stricken my illness from wherever it is published on my open medical records? & note to everyone reading this… confidential is definitely not confidential by my definition!!!
Hi Julie, I love your blog (and love that you’ve picked up on this term). Obviously, seeing as how I am Mrs Bipolarity, you must know I love the word. It’s verbiage that just happened. It just “fit” and it is part of my vocabulary! I’d request that you credit back to my blog though if you are going to use my banner! Thanks! 🙂
Laura SQ aka Mrs Bipolarity
MrsBipolarity.com
hi Laura! I sent you an email. My mistake with the banner! Of course I will credit you- and I would love to have you as a guest blogger. Hopefully you received my email- I will write again. I love your work! Julie
I emailed you back! Excited to work together! 🙂