By Nancy Virden (c)2023

I learned a new word- anosognosia. This is a condition in which the person with a serious mental illness like Bipolar Disorder or Schizophrenia cannot recognize that they are ill.

Cannot.

I see this in a woman with bipolar disorder who blames everyone else for their rejection of her yet does not understand how poorly she is treating them. On the surface, her behavior looks self-centered and unwilling to be wrong. If anosognosia is in play, she truly does not comprehend that her rudeness and name-calling are unhealthy and harmful. I am not a diagnostician and wouldn’t dare guess what is at play.

She reminds me of decades ago (before receiving medication and therapy) when I felt my anger was always justified, and some behaviors had to have seemed weird or inappropriate. A tendency to argue and feel superior was a sad reflection of inner turmoil. My reactions seemed normal to me! Eventually, due to a growing sense of teachability, messages got through the anosognosia and I was able to adjust.

I credit the Holy Spirit to whom I prayed regularly for clarification. People who were willing to be painfully honest were rare and brave, yet I heard them. A lengthening list of epiphanies and patterns failed to support my rationalizations. Finally, a major mental health crisis forced the issue and I hung up my ego.

I’m grateful for the late-in-life diagnosis of bipolar disorder because a light is shining on a darker past. That helps me today and grants me the opportunity to make right what I can.

Don’t be afraid of the truth.

-COMMENTS WELCOME

Today’s Helpful Word

Luke 11: 34-36

 “Your eye is like a lamp that provides light for your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is filled with light. But when it is unhealthy, your body is filled with darkness. Make sure that the light you think you have is not actually darkness.  If you are filled with light, with no dark corners, then your whole life will be radiant, as though a floodlight were filling you with light.”

If you are feeling suicidal, or concerned about someone who is, in the U.S. call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988, or for a list of international suicide hotlines, go here.

If you are suicidal with a plan, immediately call 911 in the U.S. or go to your nearest emergency room. In the EU call 112. (For other international emergency numbers, go here ). Hope and help are yours!

Always the Fight Ministries (ATFM) has been displaying compassion for those fighting mental illness, addiction, or abuse since 2012. Nancy is the founder and voice of ATFM and openly shares her emotional resurrection from despair. NOTE: Nancy is not a doctor or a mental health professional, and speaks only from personal experience and observations. In no way is this website intended to substitute for professional mental or behavioral health care.

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