It occurs to me that we have that tendency to concentrate on the negative effects of brain disorders and how much they disrupt out daily lives. Let us take a moment to think in another direction. My son is the person that he is, because he has bipolar disorder. He is creative, imaginative, and brilliant in ways that he doesn't always understand, because his brain doesn't work the way that mine does. In many ways, his disease is also his gift. Imagine a world without Walt Whitman or Abraham Lincoln - Amadeus Mozart or Vincent van Gogh.
As I meet people with mental illness, I find I'm drawn to them. They are such gems! It's true the diamond is often in the rough - many of these people have deep emotional scars and so much pain. But beneath their confusion and frustration these are special people with much to offer. Through no fault of their own, they are different. In our world, those that are different have much to strive against - stigma, an inability to blend in, isolation. It doesn't make for a simple life. But Buzz Aldrin was different and it got him to the moon. Viva la difference!
See a list of famous individuals with bipolar disorder here.
No comments:
Post a Comment