Hello, I am new here and am incredibly happily to have stumbled onto this site :) I am diagnosed bipolar & adhd, and have been on medication now for a couple months. I am 25 years old, and completely alone here in FL. My illness has made it diffcult to maintian friends, and have a meaningful relationship. I am so desperate to find that one person to be my best friend/partner, but it appears hopeless. I am so tired to being told, "why can't you just be happy." It would be nice to meet someone who knows the truth behind this horrible illness.

Hi,

I'm so sorry that you are dealing with this. I'm sure it's really hard. I can't give you any firsthand advice, since I'm not bipolar or gay myself, but I can respond and tell you that it's never hopeless.

There are some ways that you can meet people who might be more accepting of your disability. A friend of mine was diagnosed bipolar, and she too, had trouble maintaining friendships with people due to her condition, so she decided to join a Support Group for Bipolar Adults. She has made some good friends who are there to support her and know what she is going through. I can't help you with meeting that special someone who you can share your life with, but usually when you have a support network in place, that perfect someone just comes along. It just seems to happen when you're busy with other things, and not looking so hard...

http://www.nami.org/Template.cfm?Section=Your_Local_NAMI&Template=/CustomSource/AffiliateFinder.cfm&State=FL

http://www.geocities.com/dbsaflorida/DBSAFlorida.html

I hope this makes you feel a little less hopeless. I feel that for each person in the world, others exist who are perfect matches as a friend or mate, and you just have to come accross them.

I know how hard it is to never be happy. I have trouble allowing people to touch me so my relationships don't last very long. And nobody understands this, so that is what makes it the hardest. I am ADHD and "something else." I was told to go and get Neurological testing, but I don't have the money for that, I barely had the money to get the ADHD testing. In all likelyhood, I probably have Asperger's Syndrome. I just graduated from college and I don't know where I am going from here. I live in Lubbock, Texas right now which was ranked by some magazine to be the second most conservative city in the US. I don't know what it is like to be gay, but a lot of my close friends are. Thus, I have become an outspoken critic of religion (I have a BS in biochemistry also). I would suggest joining some groups and meeting people like yourself. I love this forum. I just found out about it and it has already helped me a lot, so perhaps finding help group will help you even more than this forum has probably helped you. Take care and good luck.

I happen to be well nonetheless without labelling it exactly 'bisexual' and hyperactive at 26 years old and I can relate to bipolar only due to the side effects I get from SSRI's (which in some circles is a type of bipolar) and that makes me feel rather "different" than others. If I get depressed then I cannot tolerate a medicine for it without the "manic switch", I can't seem to get a date because although I live in Vermont, the "gay" community here is Nazi-like and bisexuals have no place in it. I am an outsider here but I still deserve love and the right person will come along eventually, not that I am a virgin or anything but it seems like I tend to not be taken seriously as someone who deserves love period all because of stereotypes. I carry the diagnosis (well quite a few) and they are just labels as well. I take nothing but dexedrine and am completely "stabilized" yet give me prozac and I am like the "King of the World" that would indicate bipolar disorder but all of the medications that treat that illness make me sleep for a few days and I am hyperactive again. Even as an adult with ADHD I go against the grain because most docs refer to my state as Hypo-Manic which actually goes away in people who are bipolar. I have a 158 IQ and cannot pay bills or manage time. I was on parole for aggravated assault at age 16 and was #7 in my high school class, was offered a full scholarship to Berklee College of Music, Voice Piano and Violin arent jazz musician's choice instruments but I could sing any style and learned things fast and wowed them, but violated parole and failed a drug test for THC which in my opinion is the least "addictive" of the illegal drugs and believe that the low addiction potential is part of the reason as to why it is illegal as well (economically thinking)... so it isn't the end of the world for me and I have decided to love myself regardless of whay the world thinks