Messages By: rianant310

 I just read your post (I am a new user as of five minutes ago).  Please don't give up hope.  I was diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder seven  years ago after trying to kill myself. For nearly five year after that I was very depressed and really didn't want to live.  All I could think about was everything Bipolar Disorder had taken from me.  I was also very angry because no one--especially my family--seemed to care enough to educate themselves on Bipolar Disorder.  I finally decided, thanks to some special people in my life, that I would read everything possible on Bipolar Disorder and do everyting in MY power to help myself.  In these efforts, I have come across a poem written by a mother whose daughter is bipolar.  I would like to share that poem with you now:

It's a journey you've not chosen,
destination not know
but no matter where it takes you
I won't let you walk alone

No matter where the highs and lows
may take you to
I'll hold your hand, and take a stand
and be right there with you

Don't ever panic
and think you can't make it through
those thoughts are just the illness
and really are not true

When the deepest of depressions
come swirling in
I won't let you sink
I'll teach you how to swim!

When the mania peaks out
at an all-time high
I'll keep you grounded
until it passes by

When we see the delusions
come sneaking in like thieves
I won't let them steal your mind
and confuse all your beliefs

When you've had more than you can take
and you're thinking suicide
you're riding waves of destruction
that are welling up inside
I'll control the demon
and I'll turn back the tide

It's a journey you've not chosen
with pitfalls and dangerous ground
but bipolar is just an illness
that we will turn around

So take my hand and walk with me
and trust my every move
we'll ride out the journey
and I'll help you make it through!

Though it's a journey you've not chosen
our destination we have found
with medication and treatments
we have gotten to solid ground

As we move beyond the illness
lest we dare forget
Let's use our story to help those
we haven't met

And with our encouragement
help them find their way
and stand beside them
till we hear them say:

It was a journey not chosen
but our destination we have found
bipolar was just an illness
that we turned around

Then we will add them to our group
and still we won't forget
that it will always be our duty
to help those we haven't met.

This poems was written by Mary Worthen in her book:  Journey Not Chosen, Destination Not Known. 

While it's just a poem, it has given me hope that there are people out there who both care and work hard to understand bipolar disorder.  It has given me hope that, one day, I will find someone who will stand beside me and help the way she has helped her daughter.  But for now, my job is to just hang on. 

I, like Lorrie, am more than willing to exchange e-mails so we can help each other.  Please consider doing so.  And PLEASE, hang on!

Colleen

Matt (and his girlfriend) are suffering from the same mistake many people make--the choice in having a child is not whether you want to abort, adopt, or abandon.  The choice is whether you should have sex or not.  To put it in simple terms:  If you do not want to be a parent, don't have sex.  We all know there is no 100% method of contraception except abstinence.  I am not a religious fanatic; I am not a moralist; I am not a fundamentalist.  To me, the choice of parenthood comes down to one simple thing...when you decide to have sex, you are saying (implicitely) that you are both willing and able to deal with the consequences (whether the consequences are an STD or a baby).  SIMPLE. 

You know  one of the problems with this world is that everyone focuses on the apple with the worm and then decides the whole barrell must be thrown out because of that one apple.  YES!, there are women that do this! But not all women do! Nor do a majority of women do this!  Anyway...

The question here is about rights.

Every man and woman has the right to CHOOSE whether they are going to have sex or not.  If they CHOOSE to have sex, then they CHOOSE to deal with the consequences.  This is a zero-one issue:  yes or no.  A 'yes' to sex equals a 'yes' to parenthood on both parts. This is a simple, biological fact!

Furthermore, You cannot make the rules up after the fact. If you are man (or woman) enough to have sex, then you are man (or woman) enough to determine the ground rules before hand.  Those ground rules involve four things:

          1.  Have sex (protected or unprotected) and accept that a child may result and agree to take
               care of the child jointly.
          2. Have sex (protected or unprotected) and accept that a child may result and agree to give it
               up for adoption.
          3.  Have sex (protected or unprotected) and accept that a child may result and agree to abort
               it.
          4. DON'T HAVE SEX AND NO BABY WILL RESULT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I think it is obvious that numbers 2 and 3 are the choices of LUNATICS!