Last evening at DBSA support group, one member shared that their provider recommended that they remove their bipolar symptoms and “hold them outside themselves.” This is a mechanism I’ve heard before from my past providers, with the idea that if the peer can separate the diseases from the person, then bipolar cannot become part of the peer’s identity.

There is a whole wonderful world of argument to counter this therapeutic nonsense, for if I had the ability to “hold bipolar symptoms outside myself” and only deal them when it is convenient, I most definitely would have employed this professional nonsense already… in conjunction with “try just smiling” or “aren’t you done feeling sorry for yourself”?

That this similar vomited rainbow was part of the conversation last evening lends even more veracity and validity to the idea of “peers.”