Relapse and Mental Health Advocacy

Being a ‘mental health advocate’ is weird.

Sometimes it can feel like I’m not doing it right. When I have been well, I have felt almost fraudulent. How can I talk so frequently and openly about mental illness when it’s not currently having much of an impact on my life? I feel like I am treading on peoples toes, and infiltrating a space that is made for those who are currently struggling. Bipolar disorder is a funny illness, in that for me anyway, it tends to be that either I am well or I’m not. And when I am well, I am very well. It barely enters my periphery that it’s something I could relapse from at any moment, which is probably one of the most dangerous things about it. But, with that said, during those times of wellness I am able to work, have an active social life, exercise…