Today is the second Monday of the month and that means that is the also the day that I go to a random church in the middle of Toronto and meet with a group of other people who are also bipolar who all found each other on the internet through a meetup group. I never thought that I would seek out comfort, understanding and least of all friendship through a website entitled "Bipolar meetup". About 25 people come to each group and it has a very lose agenda. We spend about 10 minutes at the beginning introducing ourselves and saying what sort of things we are dealing with. Examples include if we are changing meds, starting work, going through a stresor etc. We then break up and have a chance to just "chat". This format has allowed me to make some friends with some of the other peoples in the group, but more importantly to delve into some deeper areas of the illness.
The last time I was there, I had a good conversation about one of the drugs that I take called Seroquel and all of the side effects that it has. Chatting with the other people in the group opened my eyes to the extensive weight gain, the sleepiness, the memory loss etc. from a first hand account. It also is a huge relief for me to see that other people dealing with "bipolar disorder" are normal everyday people, just like me. We look just like every one on the street. Lastly, it is really wonderful to be around people that I like, that understand what I'm going through, that don't look at me like I am "bat shit crazy" and that like me, just the way I am.
For more information on The Toronto Bipolar Disorder Meetup Group, please visit up at http://www.meetup.com/bipolar-8/
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