The Spiritual Life and Bipolar Disorder

If you are bipolar and have it reasonably under control with meds, exercise, diet, sleep, therapy, etc, you
can still have spiritual experiences that are quite healthy and are about service rather than how special
you think you are.

Many religious movements were founded by bipolar people like the Quakers, Shakers, Hasidic Judaism,
and St Theresa and St Francis of Assisi were almost surely bipolar too. Martin Luther was also. I think it is a condition that makes you more spiritual but the challenge is to channel it properly and to focus on making sure you are healthy first before going on and doing your part for the world.

I almost wonder if evolutionarily we are the people who deal with the spiritual world for the community like the people with ADD were perhaps the hunters and the people who prefer the night were the night watch
and so on . . . there's a place for everyone in this world, as long as you are kind to other living beings.

Bipolar Professor

I am bipolar,,,i used to have all of those symptoms in my beginning of this disease..i often wonder if it is caused by some kind of shot we recieved as a child..or by a virus that has been undetected yet..since it is such a popular and sudden problem...i hate to use the word modern as it's always been around..just not identified...now that it is identified..why must EVERYONE have it? Not all of us in the U.S. have it..It could be that, alot of us were raised on too much sugar rather than protien,vegetables and proper carbohydrates...i am one to believe that if we had a bad start in our lives with diet, That is the source of this desease,,or atleast plays a big part..the other is injuries that we have accumulated growing up, to the head..Kids fall often,,and bump their heads. Or there was abuse as children...I believe in trying to start where the problem began,,then go from there...to determine the proper treatment...some of us may just need a high protien diet and excersise...some may need medication or medications..God and the spirituality he brings into someones life is a PLUS!!!! And some of those BI-POLAR famous humans..brought us a wonderful change in this human race ..and for the future of our children...so i can't discount them...i myself have added to changes for US..in my own small way..without that energy that may have been GOD driven (and i wish i could be like that again because i had the ZEAL to make things happen!)i wouldn't have been able to do the most phenominal things that most humans never get the chance to do...So ,,i appreciate this subject coming to light...thanks for reading..Ramona

Dear Ramona| October 10, 2008 3:10 PM
I think I know where our disorders come from, at least from a Biblical point of view, they come from the sins of our parents, starting with Adam and Eve. Every time someone sins the punishment falls on them and on their children, and it gets worse if those children disobey Christ in their walk of faith and truth, but it can get better if they obey Christ. Now another point to make is that even if we were at our healthiest, and others were too, it would be as it is now, there would be a kind of spectrum or bell-curve of talents and endowments that everyone would have, and just as it's possible to envy others for their God given endowments today, it would be the same if we were perfectly healthy. But each of us is a member in the body of Christ, and not every member has the same function, but all the members must work together, for the entire body to function properly. So with that said, it's of great virtue for us to be able to embrace our weaknesses as well as our strengths as God's way of teaching us how to love him with our whole heart, minds and souls, and to love our neighbors as ourselves. The first neighbor we must learn to love is ourselves. If we cannot love who we are, how can we love others, we would certainly hate them just as we hated ourselves. Now loving oneself doesn't imply disobedience to God's righteousness, humility for example is one quality God favors in his children, and arrogance is a quality he hates. Nevertheless, we must love ourselves despite what others may say in a negative or positive way about our weaknesses and strengths, keeping in mind, that God made us exactly how he wanted us to be for his purpose. So we should have a balanced view, of our position in the body of Christ. If we have strengths we should use them to strengthen others who are weak in that area, and if we have weaknesses, we shouldn't hinder those who want to help us there. Here are a few Scriptures to go with this:

Exodus 20:5 KJV
Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;

Ephesians 4:14-32 GNB
Then we shall no longer be children, carried by the waves and blown about by every shifting wind of the teaching of deceitful people, who lead others into error by the tricks they invent. Instead, by speaking the truth in a spirit of love, we must grow up in every way to Christ, who is the head. Under his control all the different parts of the body fit together, and the whole body is held together by every joint with which it is provided. So when each separate part works as it should, the whole body grows and builds itself up through love. In the Lord's name, then, I warn you: do not continue to live like the heathen, whose thoughts are worthless and whose minds are in the dark. They have no part in the life that God gives, for they are completely ignorant and stubborn. They have lost all feeling of shame; they give themselves over to vice and do all sorts of indecent things without restraint. That was not what you learned about Christ! You certainly heard about him, and as his followers you were taught the truth that is in Jesus. So get rid of your old self, which made you live as you used to---the old self that was being destroyed by its deceitful desires. Your hearts and minds must be made completely new, and you must put on the new self, which is created in God's likeness and reveals itself in the true life that is upright and holy. No more lying, then! Each of you must tell the truth to the other believer, because we are all members together in the body of Christ. If you become angry, do not let your anger lead you into sin, and do not stay angry all day. Don't give the Devil a chance. If you used to rob, you must stop robbing and start working, in order to earn an honest living for yourself and to be able to help the poor. Do not use harmful words, but only helpful words, the kind that build up and provide what is needed, so that what you say will do good to those who hear you. And do not make God's Holy Spirit sad; for the Spirit is God's mark of ownership on you, a guarantee that the Day will come when God will set you free. Get rid of all bitterness, passion, and anger. No more shouting or insults, no more hateful feelings of any sort. Instead, be kind and tender-hearted to one another, and forgive one another, as God has forgiven you through Christ.

1 Corinthians 12:4-31 GNB
There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit gives them. There are different ways of serving, but the same Lord is served. There are different abilities to perform service, but the same God gives ability to all for their particular service. The Spirit's presence is shown in some way in each person for the good of all. The Spirit gives one person a message full of wisdom, while to another person the same Spirit gives a message full of knowledge. One and the same Spirit gives faith to one person, while to another person he gives the power to heal. The Spirit gives one person the power to work miracles; to another, the gift of speaking God's message; and to yet another, the ability to tell the difference between gifts that come from the Spirit and those that do not. To one person he gives the ability to speak in strange tongues, and to another he gives the ability to explain what is said. But it is one and the same Spirit who does all this; as he wishes, he gives a different gift to each person. Christ is like a single body, which has many parts; it is still one body, even though it is made up of different parts. In the same way, all of us, whether Jews or Gentiles, whether slaves or free, have been baptized into the one body by the same Spirit, and we have all been given the one Spirit to drink. For the body itself is not made up of only one part, but of many parts. If the foot were to say, "Because I am not a hand, I don't belong to the body," that would not keep it from being a part of the body. And if the ear were to say, "Because I am not an eye, I don't belong to the body," that would not keep it from being a part of the body. If the whole body were just an eye, how could it hear? And if it were only an ear, how could it smell? As it is, however, God put every different part in the body just as he wanted it to be. There would not be a body if it were all only one part! As it is, there are many parts but one body. So then, the eye cannot say to the hand, "I don't need you!" Nor can the head say to the feet, "Well, I don't need you!" On the contrary, we cannot do without the parts of the body that seem to be weaker; and those parts that we think aren't worth very much are the ones which we treat with greater care; while the parts of the body which don't look very nice are treated with special modesty, which the more beautiful parts do not need. God himself has put the body together in such a way as to give greater honor to those parts that need it. And so there is no division in the body, but all its different parts have the same concern for one another. If one part of the body suffers, all the other parts suffer with it; if one part is praised, all the other parts share its happiness. All of you are Christ's body, and each one is a part of it. In the church God has put all in place: in the first place apostles, in the second place prophets, and in the third place teachers; then those who perform miracles, followed by those who are given the power to heal or to help others or to direct them or to speak in strange tongues. They are not all apostles or prophets or teachers. Not everyone has the power to work miracles or to heal diseases or to speak in strange tongues or to explain what is said. Set your hearts, then, on the more important gifts. Best of all, however, is the following way.

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Of course the next chapter talks about LOVE & CHARITY, 1 Cor 13

Those who do not or never have sufferred with bipolar disease and/or severe deprssion are hard put to realize just how bipolar and/or depression suffer. I have tried to explain to some of my loved ones how my post traumatic stress syndrome works and what things trigger an episode. I also have severe depression that often taxes my strength heavily and causes me to withdraw from everyone and everything. Even though I can recognize what is happening to me I very often do not seem to have any control at all over controlling my reactions in any way. I very often hear remarks that are well meant but are really hurtful to me. Things like "get over it", "move on" or "are you whining about that again."

I am encouraged greatly be one fat though , there really has been a lot of improvement in how I handle the PTSD ad the depression. I used to get really frightened and did not feel safe anywhere except in my car, drivung with the windows rolled up and the doors locked. I often would just get in my car and drive sometimes 300-400 miles and turn around and come back. Then I would go to my sn's home and literally hide for 2-3 weeks at a time, not answering the door, the phone and stay in one room with the door locked most of the time. Yet in some way I do not understand God has brought me a long way from those days. Today I just get paranoid about having the doors locked ad windows locked when at home. When i have to go out during the "anniversary" periods of time I am suspicious of everthing and everyone around me and am hypervigilent. It is hard for me to just relax ad feel safe anywhere but at least I am able to control the urge to run and hide and can actually enjoy some activities for short periods of time. You see the Lord is the only one who really knows what effect these ailments have on me both physically, emotionally, and spiritually. It seems that as far as spiritually I have been put into a circumstance where the only way to get through the episodes from PTSD and depression are to trust in the Lord to get me through it. In some strange way these disorders seem to be a blessing because if all you have to get through is to trust God to take care of you and comfort you keeps you on your knees and that is a perfect place to get yourself out of the way and allow the Lord to show His Love for you.

After reading these comments I can only say WOW - I'm so glad that my bipolar wife is an Atheist !

This note is to inform members that comments attributed to Ms Gloria J. Cross were not submitted by her.

Thank you,

Beliefnet_Tiger
Community Monitor
Beliefnet.com