Severe depressive states, hypomania, manic crises… After two years, Marion discovered at 34 that she was suffering from bipolar disorder. Testimony.
On the occasion of the World Bipolar Disorder Day March 30, 2023, we met Marion, 51, suffering from bipolarity. Bipolar disorder is a chronic psychiatric illness characterized by recurring disorders
mood. After two and a half years of depression, it is on the occasion of a manic crisis that the diagnosis is made. “I was 34 years old, and we finally put a word on my suffering. I thought that depression was not really an illness but a state of weakness that you could get out of with willpower. I still took a long time to accept the diagnosis of bipolar disorder” recognizes the young woman with hindsight. At the time, she was directrice marketing. “My work fascinated me, it had a central role in my life. I had to stop it to manage the disease. It’s a real feeling of failure.“On a personal level, she experienced a separation shortly after diagnosis but recognizes how lucky she is to never have been isolated, “I can count on my friends and my family who are always by my side“.
Depression, euphoria and manic crisis.
Marion’s bipolarity is manifested by severe states of depressionlong periods of hypomania (euphoria) and manic states. “Hypomania is very pleasant, it is a state of good humor but which often follows acute phases of depression severe marked by a lack of interest in everything” she explains. The manic crisis is a phase of hyperarousal and risk taking “like the reckless financial expenditure“. “I have few memories of those times, like we lose control we forget a little what happened during the manic crisis” reports Marion. Bipolar disorders have also a negative impact on sleep which themselves promote manic crises. “From where the importance of having a good diet, exercising and sleep at regular times.”
Marion is now “stabilized”. She takes mood-regulating medications (thymorégulators) and antidepressants. “I am followed by a psychiatrist for several years it has been a real support in the most difficult times and she helped me to accept the fact that the disease is part of my life“. She is affiliated with one of the expert centers of the Fundamental Foundation, dedicated to the fight against mental illness. marion is also part of a psychoeducation group. “This is an opportunity to learn a lot about bipolar disorder in order to develop personal strategies for coping with and to exchange with other patients on our experiences“.
“My aunt also suffered from bipolarity”
Elle still suffers from seasonal depression but wishes to insist on the fact that the disease has changed his way of apprehending the world. “I evolved in a positive way, I was a hard person and far from his emotions. Today, I am more open and caring in particular thanks to the work of psychotherapy and mindfulness meditation“. However, she deplores the taboo that often reigns in society and even within families about psychiatric disorders. “I knew that my mother’s sister also suffered from bipolar disorder. As these disorders can have a hereditary aspect, it made it possible to make the connection between the case of my aunt and my episodes of depression“. She wishes to insist on the complexity of the diseaseoften reduced to mere mood swings. “It’s a disease that causes a lot of pain. Psychiatric illnesses and bipolar disorders are often stigmatized and we define the people affected by their disease. Yes I have bipolar disorder, but I’m not just that” regrets Marion who recalls that, well surrounded and under treatment, “life is pretty much normal“.
Thanks to Marion for her testimony.