Raw Writing for the Real World of Bipolar

Dear Medical Industry,

My name is Chica. I'm 34 years old, I'm married and I have two children. I introduce myself here because I want you to see a face when you read the rest of my letter. I want to you to know that I'm a real person with real feelings. I want you to see my face when I tell you what you've done to me.

I'm a fighter. I've lived through a mental illness all of my adult life. My ups and downs have been much harder than most. I've been through countless doctors telling them of my ailments. It took them over twenty years to give me a diagnosis of bipolar. Twenty years. I suffered for twenty years because no one cared enough to look a little deeper. I had to diagnose myself and then take that to a doctor. Doctors have way more education than me. I only completed some college. They all completed eight years or more. Why then was I the one to diagnose myself?

Then once I diagnosed myself I lived through two agonizing years of waiting to find the exact right medication that would combat my illness only to find the one that did the job left me with crippling side effects. It's great to run around after two young children when I'm exhausted all day long. It doesn't make me want to be a great mom or a great wife. For that matter, it doesn't give me a great of quality of life. I want that zest, that oomph that makes one jump out of bed in the morning, ready to start my day. It doesn't completely take away the fluctuations in my mood either. I'm still manic or depressed and I find the frequency hasn't diminished.

Why am I writing this letter of complaint to you? I want you to know that there is a woman out there who, like many others, desperately needs your help. Many of my counterparts are in other countries where more medication is available to them. I realize that the FDA controls when prescriptions are released. It sure would be nice if they would be released when they are needed, not twenty years after the FDA is done with them.

And the doctors that we see? Let's be sure that they're fully qualified before you let them out the gate. They're not doing anybody any good if they don't know what they're doing. Do some personality tests on them before they attend school. Get to know them and to see if they're going to become a doctor to help someone or if they're just doing it for the money. Picture my face before you say no. No, in fact, picture your daughter's face. This could be her in twenty years.

Sincerely,





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1. Shiv at Shiv's Brain
   
2. Handsome B. Wonderful at Letters to the Sanitarium
   
3. Tery at Coming Out of the Dark
   
4. Jane at Insanity Personified