No joking matter

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/02/diagnoses-health-problems-stop-saying_n_4469035.html

I'm not one to typically support Huffington Post.  They are way too liberal for me normally (I am an independent thinker, but tend to be kinda conservative).  A friend of mine posted this link on Facebook yesterday.  Once I read the article, I knew I had to blog it.

The disorders, illnesses, syndromes that this article talks about are very real.  I deal with several of the issues personally: bipolar disorder; chronic depression; anxiety and migraines.  I've dealt with them all of my adult life.  None of them are anything to make light of.

Folks that casually throw these terms around tend to send me up a wall.

Being bipolar is not regretting an impromptu decision.  Being depressed is not just being down about having to do something you don't care to do.  Having issues with anxiety is not just being nervous about something.  Migraines DEFINITELY are not just a bad headache.

I could keep going, maybe write about how each of these issues affect my life.  I won't now, but I think I will devote some future posts to how each one has affected and changed my existence.

Trust me...if you were ever to be on the receiving end of one of my hyper manic aggressive tirades, you would not be so quick to throw out the word 'bipolar' because you decided you didn't like your new hair color after all.  Wanting to sleep in a little is nothing like having no will to get out of bed because of chronic depression.  And migraines are pure agony for anyone who has suffered from them as I do.  I have family and friends who suffer through them also.  They are no joke, in any way.

If you are one of the people that abuses these terms - STOP IT!!  STOP IT NOW!!  It's okay to kid, or joke, but keep in mind that there are real sufferers of these disorders.   There are people whose lives are unalterably affected because they or a loved one must survive these problems daily.  Use your head for something more than a hat rack.  Think about what you are going to say, write, post or tweet before you do it.  Just casually using one of these terms can feel like a suplex from the top rope to someone who must live with these issues.

Okay, I'll climb down from my soapbox for now.