I was too ready to blame everyone else around me. I over-analyzed every thought in my head, and found some way for it to relate to a situation in my life. I had known for a long time that Carmen had very definite mood swings that seemed to come and go suddenly, but I never thought of them as a symptom of mental illness. What I now know is that hypomania was such a frequent state for her that it had come to seem perfectly normal. And even though I now know what her hypomania can become when unchecked, I would never want to take this away from her.
Happiness is socially acceptable.
Sure, it's true that when I'm happy it can be a bit overwhelming, but after the sadness I'd felt, any form of good feelings was welcome. In a weird way, having bipolar disorder is almost like having two personalities. Wonderful things can be accomplished in this mindset. However, no matter how fantastic it seems, there are always down sides. For one, you have no idea why you feel this way, which can ultimately suppress any of the positive aspects, and two, it doesn't last forever.