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For the people in the back that I might not have told, I have started training to become a peer specialist. I love learning and that was one of the things I miss most about college. Today I took a lesson on a person-centered approach. There was alot of stuff about how people are not their diagnosis which I wholeheartedly agree with. Along with my strong irritations about not using mental illness as an adjective (especially when you don’t even have it), I don’t like to be limited by my OCD or my bipolar disorder. It has limited me enough already, I’ll be damned if I’ll be stripped of my right to earn money, or travel (at least locally) or volunteer. I want to be self-sufficient even if that means adult responsibilities that I have been previously nervous to take on. One issue that came up was the fact that a person-centered approach believed in recovery. And that’s the question I’ve brought to you today: Do you ever really recover from a mental illness?

I know the answer will vary with various illnesses. For instance I went through trauma therapy, tailored by my psychiatrist to handle multiple cases of sexual assault and I think my PTSD has more or less been dealt with. I don’t startle as easily, I don’t have crying spells, I’m not depressed or afraid and I’m not bitterly angry like I was. I highly recommend trauma therapy for anyone who thinks they might need it. I also have noticed that as I get further along in my twenties my OCD, which was crippling when I was a teenager, has improved. It was still very much a reality when I started college. I actually did a “Tedtalk” on it for one of my classes. Then the bipolar disorder lost its damn mind and that became the focus of therapy and eventually hospitalizations, anything to keep me safe. I wouldn’t say my OCD was “cured” but I am amazed at how much stronger I am than it. Sure, it had me in it’s grasp when I was eleven but I would hazard a guess I have almost outgrown it. I am evicting it when I turn thirty.

Now they say bipolar you can’t cure you can only manage. It also seems like I will have to be on these medications for the rest of my life. However, many conditions are lifelong that people eventually adapt to. For example, I haven’t been in the hospital since 2023 (not to jinx it) and before that five years had gone by between hospitalizations. I think we can call that progress. I think we can call me “bipolar” but it’s so far down on the list of the other things I am: “an artist” “a writer” “a musician” “a friend” “a survivor”. Let’s be sure we label ourselves holistically. Otherwise we can’t expect others too.