Is being bipolar related to awakening?

[Beeflamb]

I have some friends who were diagnosed bipolar. They often have grand visions about the world that are very similar to the ones I have had on psychedelics or when I am in an awakened state. I am not bipolar but are they just the same thing? 

[The0Self]

I’m my lightly held opinion, bipolar is a misdiagnosis and misunderstanding of spiritual cycling — the ego death / ego backlash cycle. Seriously.

[Rilles]

no.

[mandyjw]

The mind was never a fixed thing, so there can never be a perfect model of mind. All diagnosis of the mind is the mind looking back at itself, it's very biased self diagnosis in a way. Even when other expert minds are making the diagnosis, the illusion of separate minds calls the shots and believes it is an actuality that must be maintained. So while mental illness can be painful, debilitating, and seeking treatment can be the best decision, ultimately it's really a window into what is prior to mind. 

"There is a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in"

Edited November 18, 2020 by mandyjw

[Michal__]

I think so, after all spiritual highs & spiritual lows description is exactly as bipolar.

[Ananta]

No, its not.

[Ananta]

On 11/18/2020 at 0:29 PM, Michal__ said:

I think so, after all spiritual highs & spiritual lows description is exactly as bipolar.

Haha, no, it's not exactly as bipolar disorder. I love how so many think they are experts in Bipolar, most haven't a clue, not really. 

 

[Michal__]

13 hours ago, Ananta said:

Haha, no, it's not exactly as bipolar disorder. I love how so many think they are experts in Bipolar, most haven't a clue, not really. 

 

I speak from experience, "expert".

[tsuki]

Not related in the slightest.

Spreading misinformation about mental health is harmful and dangerous to people that are afraid to ask for help.

[mandyjw]

19 minutes ago, tsuki said:

Not related in the slightest.

Spreading misinformation about mental health is harmful and dangerous to people that are afraid to ask for help.

In my experience starting with the assumption that you're fundamentally flawed is what prevents people from getting help. 

[The0Self]

14 hours ago, Ananta said:

Haha, no, it's not exactly as bipolar disorder. I love how so many think they are experts in Bipolar, most haven't a clue, not really. 

 

While I agree, I think you may be underestimating just how punishing the ego death / ego backlash cycle, piti / dark night, or whatever-you-wanna-call-it cycles can be. Mania so intense that you become industrious beyond comprehension and go 7+ days without sleep, in a state of euphoria, followed by periods of depression and hopelessness where you can't even get out of bed and they probably would kill themselves, if only they had the motivation to do it. That describes bipolar almost exactly. Not saying they're the same thing, but idk how you can be so sure they're not.

[tsuki]

@mandyjw that assumption is also unhelpful and related to cultural judgement of mental illness.

Tuberculosis is not related to enlightenment and you are not fundamentally flawed fo having it.

[mandyjw]

@tsuki No but generally people identify with their minds, not their bodies, so that puts the stigma of mental illness on a whole new level of sticky. 

[Michal__]

1 hour ago, Ananta said:

Yeah, well, me too.

Then let's agree to disagree about the relation between bipolar & spirituality, otherwise it would be a lengthy debate.

[Nahm]

 

On 11/17/2020 at 8:54 PM, Beeflamb said:

I have some friends who were diagnosed bipolar. They often have grand visions about the world that are very similar to the ones I have had on psychedelics or when I am in an awakened state. I am not bipolar but are they just the same thing? 

It’s related in the sense the behaviors and actions are not indicative of the entity or actuality of ‘who’ they are. Awareness is aware of awareness, and awareness is one source. ‘Two polarities’ labels rather than looking under the hood so to speak. It might be that if (when) medical insurance companies cover what an insured is experiencing, doctors will no longer need to label them in terms of identity for them to use their insurance coverage. This can be misperceived as problematic, as it is difficult to justify that a company is an individual entity when it is recognized a person it insures is not. 

Feel the nuanced distinction in terms of compassion...’my friend is bipolar / diagnosed bipolar’...’I am not bipolar’...vs ‘is experiencing bipolarity’...therefore ‘I am experiencing bipolarity’.

[Loving Radiance]

@Keyhole