90 Bipolar Quotes About Living With This Challenging Mental Illness
Writer, Ph.D Candidate and Inspirational quote curator
Published September 20, 2022
These Bipolar quotes shed light on what it feels like to live with this illness.
What exactly is Bipolar Disorder?
Well, it is a mental illness associated with episodes of mood swings ranging from depressive lows to manic highs.
Each of these episodes can last anywhere from weeks to months.
Bipolar Disorder is one of the more puzzling mental illnesses because the cause of the illness is still shrouded in mystery.
Most researchers and mental health professionals agree that genetics, environment, and altered brain structure and chemistry may play a role in developing Bipolar Disorder.
There are people who wonder whether being a genius is a sign of Bipolar Disorder, as several brilliant minds were diagnosed as Bipolar.
The list of famous people includes writers, artists, and movie stars who are often regarded as the best of the best in their respective fields.
Writers Edgar Allan Poe, Ernest Hemingway, and Jack London created some of their most notable works amidst a Bipolar episode.
The same can be said for artists like Vincent Van Gogh and Edvard Munch.
Ben Stiller, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and the beloved comedic genius Robin Williams also have Bipolar Disorder.
Keep reading these Bipolar quotes to learn more about this difficult and curious mental illness.
Don’t forget to also check out these anxiety quotes to help relax your mind and ease fears.
If you enjoy this article, check out our most popular quote article, a list of short inspirational quotes for daily motivation.
If you want more motivational quotes, check out our motivational quotes category page.
Funny Bipolar Disorder quotes from people who use humor to cope
1. “I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder when I was barely out of my teens. Like our olive skin tone and caterpillar eyebrows, I guess it just runs in the family.” ― AJ Lee
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2. “I just have basically too much personality for one person, and not quite enough for two.” ― Carrie Fisher, Wishful Drinking
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3. “I’m bipolar, but I’m not crazy, and I never was. I’m stark raving sane.” ― Emilie Autumn
4. “I wrote a show. Just as a joke, actually, and called it ‘Bipolar, Bath, & Beyond,’ just to bring some humor to it. I wasn’t saying to myself that I’ll ‘come out’ with it. I didn’t think there was anything to ‘come out’ with. I was just writing another one-woman show about my life.” ― Jenifer Lewis
5. “I had been a hurricane all my life. And that was, of course, because I was bipolar and did not know it. And I was – you know, the mania took control. When you’re on stage and when you’re performing, you’re heightened, and it’s an extreme.” ― Jenifer Lewis
6. “If you give a bipolar man a mic, I don’t know what you expect.” ― Damon Dash
Poignant Bipolar quotes about what living with the illness feels like
7. “I live with being bipolar, but it doesn’t define me anymore.” ― Margaret Trudeau
8. “Sometimes when you have bipolar you have days you are grumpy and not feeling yourself.” ― Frank Bruno
9. “Bipolar robs you of that which is you. It can take from you the very core of your being and replace it with something that is completely opposite of who and what you truly are.” ― Alyssa Reyans, Letters from a Bipolar Mother
10. “Compared to bipolar’s magic, reality seems a raw deal. It’s not just the boredom that makes recovery so difficult, it’s the slow dawning pain that comes with sanity – the realization of illness, the humiliating scenes, the blown money and friendships, and confidence. Depression seems almost inevitable.” ― David Lovelace
11. “Except you cannot outrun insanity, anymore than you can outrun your own shadow.” ― Alyssa Reyans, Letters from a Bipolar Mother
12. “Suddenly I wanted to get better. Mania wasn’t fun anymore. It wasn’t creative or visionary. It was mean parody at best, a cheap chemical trick. I needed to stop and get better. I’d take whatever they gave me, I pledged silently. I’d take Trilafon or Thorazine or whatever. I just wanted to sleep.” ― David Lovelace, Scattershot: My Bipolar Family
13. “Bipolar disorder is something that is mine. And it is very difficult to talk about it.” ― Mariette Hartley
14. “People who are bipolar, they kind of latch onto things that are fanatical sometimes.” ― Brad Garrett
15. “Part of the frustration of being bipolar is people don’t understand what it feels like.” ― Alice Ripley
16. “Telling someone who is manic that she’s manic is like telling a dictator that he’s a dick. Neither is going to admit it, and both are willing to torture you to prove their points.” ― Melody Moezzi, Haldol and Hyacinths: A Bipolar Life
17. “It wasn’t uncommon. Treated, bipolar disorder could be managed quite well in most cases. Two of my med school professors had talked openly about having it. But for some people, the medication made them feel flat. Gray. The mood swings and mania were the price they paid for a life full of color.” ― Kristan Higgins
18. “Yes I’m Bipolar but I’m as normal as you except the times when my mind thinks like two.” ― Stanley Victor Paskavich
19. “One of the things that baffles me (and there are quite a few) is how there can be so much lingering stigma with regards to mental illness, specifically bipolar disorder. In my opinion, living with manic depression takes a tremendous amount of balls. Not unlike a tour of Afghanistan (though the bombs and bullets, in this case, come from the inside). At times, being bipolar can be an all-consuming challenge, requiring a lot of stamina and even more courage, so if you’re living with this illness and functioning at all, it’s something to be proud of, not ashamed of.
They should issue medals along with the steady stream of medication.” ― Carrie Fisher
20. “Bipolar disorder is so swept under the rug as a nation and, I think especially, by black people. It’s not our culture to go get therapy. ‘Give them medicine for what?’ We put people in court, put them in court again, versus really paying attention to what it is they are going through.” ― Trai Byers
21. “Even when I’m in a really great, steady, and stable place… I’m clinically bipolar so that always exists―a darkness always exists.” ― Mary Lambert
Bipolar quotes that offer perspectives about other mental illnesses and treatment
22. “Been under treatment for PTSD and bipolar since 1992. I’m not ashamed of my illness. I’ve been shunned by many and I feel for those shunned, too.” ― Stanley Victor Paskavich
23. “I haven’t beat my mental illness I’ve quit letting it beat me.” ― Stanley Victor Paskavich
24. “I never found out until I went into treatment that I was bipolar.” ― Demi Lovato
25. “I didn’t t realize I actually had post-traumatic stress disorder at the time, but why would I think I had that? Anyway, how would I know which was post-traumatic stress, which is addiction, which is bipolar, which is Libra?” ― Carrie Fisher, Wishful Drinking
26. “Until we come up with an unequivocal blood test or the equivalent, we’re all blowing smoke and don’t know if what we call schizophrenia and bipolar disorder are one disorder or a dozen.” ― Mark Vonnegut
27. “It turns out that up to 35 percent of people with bipolar disorder also have ADHD.” ― Julie A. Fast
28. “Pain, torture or trauma cause bipolar and PTSD and once you have it’s hard to get free.” ― Stanley Victor Paskavich
29. “Bipolar is an illness not a hopeless destination it can be maintained with proper medication.” ― Stanley Victor Paskavich
30. “I’m Bipolar with PTSD without medication my mind wouldn’t be free… Medication works for me but not for everyone.” ― Stanley Victor Paskavich
31. “I don’t find anything upsetting or gross or degrading about fighting with a mental illness: Bipolar or Schizophrenia.” ― Kangana Ranaut
Bipolar quotes about being gifted and special
32. “If you think there is something wrong with Bipolar People, you might want to Google the Famous Bipolar List. Everyone on it had something wrong with them but obviously for all the right reasons.” ― Stanley Victor Paskavich
33. “When it comes to most true bipolars, consider this thought: Genius by birth, bipolar by design.” ― Stanley Victor Paskavich
34. “I admit I’m bipolar but if you think I’m stupid, you’re crazy.” ― Stanley Victor Paskavich
35. “Emotions, moods, impulses, ebb and flow with the tide of my life. Tidal waves, at times, in a bipolar mind.” ― H.G.
36. “Bipolars are the apples that dropped apart the tree.” ― Kostas Gkionakis
37. “Bipolars are made to make love to their destiny.” ― Kostas Gkionakis
38. “Several politicians and wives of politicians have been public about their experiences with depression or bipolar illness, including Lawton Chiles, Patrick Kennedy, Tipper Gore, and Kitty Dukakis. Each made a tremendous difference by doing so.” ― Kay Redfield Jamison
39. “Where would the memoir be without bipolar writers? I mean, that’s what – that whole over sharing thing is really a very clear symptom of bipolar disorder. And I’m not saying that every, you know, I’m not accusing every memoirist of being bipolar. But I think in a way it’s kind of a gift.” ― Ayelet Waldman
40. “When I harnessed its seemingly uncontrollable might, I realized bipolar disorder’s powers could be used for good. My diagnosis didn’t have to be an affliction. It could simply be the gift of extraordinary emotions.” ― AJ Lee
41. “I want to show people my successful side, but I want to show you my bipolar side, too.” ― Big Narstie
Bipolar quotes from Marya Hornbacher’s Madness: A Bipolar Life
42. “When you are mad, mad like this, you don’t know it. Reality is what you see. When what you see shifts, departing from anyone else’s reality, it’s still reality to you.” ― Marya Hornbacher, Madness: A Bipolar Life
43. “I grew into it. It grew into me. It and I blurred at the edges, became one amorphous, seeping, crawling thing.” ― Marya Hornbacher, Madness: A Bipolar Life
44. “Madness strips you of memory and leaves you scrabbling around on the floor of your brain for the snatches and snippets of what happened, what was said, and when.” ― Marya Hornbacher, Madness: A Bipolar Life
45. “For me, the first sign of oncoming madness is that I’m unable to write.” ― Marya Hornbacher, Madness: A Bipolar Life
46. “My brain sometimes departs from the agreed-upon reality, and my private reality is a very lonely place. But in the end, I’m not sure I wish I’d never gone there.” ― Marya Hornbacher, Madness: A Bipolar Life
47. “I’m sick. It’s true. It isn’t going to go away. All my life, I’ve thought that if I just worked hard enough, it would. I’ve always thought that if I just pulled myself together, I’d be a good person, a calm person, a person like everyone else.” ― Marya Hornbacher, Madness: A Bipolar Life
48. “Here’s the hell of it: madness doesn’t announce itself. There isn’t time to prepare for its coming. It shows up without calling and sits in your kitchen, ashing in your plant. You ask how long it plans to stay; it shrugs its shoulders, gets up, and starts digging through the fridge.” ― Marya Hornbacher, Madness: A Bipolar Life
49. “Soon madness has worn you down. It’s easier to do what it says than argue. In this way, it takes over your mind. You no longer know where it ends and you begin. You believe anything it says. You do what it tells you, no matter how extreme or absurd. If it says you’re worthless, you agree. You plead for it to stop. You promise to behave. You are on your knees before it, and it laughs.” ― Marya Hornbacher, Madness: A Bipolar Life
50. “Madness will push you anywhere it wants. It never tells you where you’re going, or why. It tells you it doesn’t matter. It persuades you. It dangles something sparkly before you, shimmering like that water patch on the road up ahead. You will drive until you find it, the treasure, the thing you most desire.” ― Marya Hornbacher, Madness: A Bipolar Life
More Bipolar Quotes And Sayings On What It Feels To Live With The Mental Disorder
51. “When under the strain of bipolar’s strongest symptoms, we certainly can make selfish decisions, but that doesn’t make us selfish people. In fact, because we have struggled and known such depths of darkness, our compassion runs deeper.” — Lyss Trayers
52. “Creativity is closely associated with bipolar disorder” — Preeti Shenoy,
53. “I feel sorry for every Therapist, Psychologist, and Psychiatrist I’ve ever met. I know I’ve put thoughts in their mind they will never forget.” ― Stanley Victor Paskavich
55. “I have never seen battles quite as terrifyingly beautiful as the ones I fight when my mind splinters and races, to swallow me into my own madness, again.” ― Nicole Lyons
56. “My psychiatrist said “you’re BI Polar. I said “tell us something we don’t already know”.” ― Stanley Victor Paskavich
57. Mental pain is less dramatic than physical pain, but it is more common and also more hard to bear. The frequent attempt to conceal mental pain increases the burden: it is easier to say “My tooth is aching” than to say “My heart is broken.” — C.S. Lewis,
58. “If I ever get rid of my Bi Polar condition we’ll be so happy.” ― Stanley Victor Paskavich
59. “Most people can only sleep with a nice soft pillow I can only sleep with heavy anti psychotics” ― Stanley Victor Paskavich
60. “There is a dead space between most people and those afflicted with Mental Illness and it’s called Understanding” ― Stanley Victor Paskavich
Bipolar Quotes To Bring Hope To People Living With The Condition
61. “I could walk through fire if it meant making my dreams come true. That is the gift being bipolar gave me. It blessed me with a lofty imagination, an iron will, and an unbreakable belief in the impossible.” — AJ Mendez
62. “Living with bipolar disorder isn’t about trying to always be happy. It’s about looking up into the sky during your darkest nights and seeing the stars shining down on you. The darker your world becomes, the brighter they shine. They are the hope inside that guides you until the sun rises once more. It is then that you have stolen victory from certain defeat” — Bryce R. Hostetler
63. “To find the connections of these invisible threads that reach from past to present, I accept that no one perspective can make sense of it all. Being bipolar is being alive, just more, living in the moment. Too much more. But all of it – the mania, the energy, the agitation, the obsession, sadness, fear and hurt – are distortions or exaggerations of normal emotions. I’m still me in the end.” — Ahiddibah Tsinnie
64. “Before I die I’d love to see my name on the Famous Bi-Polar list I’m not ashamed of my Illness I believe most of my talent comes from it.” — Stanley Victor Paskavich
65.”Bipolar disorder can be a great teacher. It’s a challenge, but it can set you up to be able to do almost anything else in your life.” — Carrie Fisher
66. “For bipolar in adults, I think there’s pretty good agreement about what this looks like. For bipolar in children, there is some considerable debate about where are the boundaries. At the mild end, are these just kids who are active? Is this the class clown at the very severe – is this something other than a mood disorder?” — Thomas R. Insel
67. “I think one thing is that anybody who’s had to contend with mental illness – whether it’s depression, bipolar illness or severe anxiety, whatever – actually has a fair amount of resilience in the sense that they’ve had to deal with suffering already, personal suffering.” — Kay Redfield Jamison
68. “One of the things so bad about depression and bipolar disorder is that if you don’t have prior awareness, you don’t have any idea what hit you.” — Kay Redfield Jamison
69. “When I taught writing classes to psychiatric patients, I met people whose stories of manic highs and immobilizing lows appeared to be textbook descriptions of classic bipolar disorder. I met other patients who had been diagnosed with the myriad disorders. No doctor seemed to agree about what they actually suffered from.” — Siri Hustvedt
70. “Bipolar disorder, manic depression, depression, black dog, whatever you want to call it, is inherent in our society. It’s a product of stress and in my case over-work.” — Adam Ant
Bipolar Quotes To Encourage You About Recovery
71. “I have not been an easygoing guy. I think it’s called bipolar manic depression. I’ve got a rich history of that in my family.” — Ben Stiller
72. “I had developed manic depression [bipolar disorder] … and the main symptoms the constant voice in the head telling you to kill yourself.” — Sinead O’Connor
73. “I’m really quite bipolar, and the depressed times, when everything felt like night, sometimes you get to such a low point that you physically beat at it until it bleeds – as you would say – bleeds till sunshine.” — David Bowie
74. “I’m kind of effectively bipolar.” — Emily Blunt
75. “I have family members that are bipolar. One had a case recently that I witnessed, and it was very, very helpful.” — Trai Byers
76. “Because of my bipolar disorder, I tend to these mixed states, which are depressed but loud and agitated. So I can be terribly irritable. I go to cognitive behavioral therapy in order not to yell at my children.” — Ayelet Waldman
77. “Now, bipolar disorder, it goes on a spectrum. There’s very severe conditions of it and there are milder ones. I’m lucky enough that it’s reasonably mild in my case.” — Stephen Fry
78. “I was a violent, bipolar, compulsive liar. I was a real American.” — Ben Lerner
79. “Evidence is strongly suggesting Bipolar Disorder – previously known as Manic Depression – may be dramatically increasing in modern society.” — Gordon Parker
80. “If my revelation of having bipolar II has encouraged one person to seek help, then it is worth it. There is no need to suffer silently and there is no shame in seeking help.” — Catherine Zeta-Jones
Bipolar Quotes To Help You Manage The Condition
81. “So when I was 24, someone suggested to me that I was bipolar, and I thought that was ridiculous. I just thought he was trying to get out of treating me. But he was also responding to the chaotic nature of my life.” ― Carrie Fisher
82. “Living with bipolar, schizophrenia or any other mental condition takes a recognition that one has a chronic condition that needs managing.” ― Stephen Fry
83. “I think people don’t understand how intimately tied suicide is to mental illness, particularly to depressive illness and bipolar illness.” ― Kay Redfield Jamison
84. “There are times when I think being bipolar gives me the ability to see and want and write things that other people cannot and do not. One of those is writing.” ― Haroon Moghul
85. “Manic depression distorts moods and thoughts, incites dreadful behaviors, destroys the basis of rational thought, and too often erodes the desire and will to live.” ― Kay Redfield Jamison
86. “She could make her bipolar disorder both real and entertaining. Carrie deserves a lot of credit for giving voice to traumas that few people feel comfortable talking about.” ― Tony Taccone
87. “Bipolar disorder. I’m tired of everybody touching me and things being plugged into my head.” ― Britney Spears
88. “I’m fine, but I’m bipolar. I’m on seven medications, and I take medication three times a day. This constantly puts me in touch with the illness I have. I’m never quite allowed to be free of that for a day. It’s like being a diabetic.” ― Carrie Fisher
89. “It’s hard to be bipolar and bicoastal at the same time.” ― Ryan Adams
90. “Love is great and it does help a lot of people, but a lot of people do have things like depression or schizophrenia or bipolar disorder or other disorders, all of which will need to be addressed in order for people to stay in long-term recovery.” ― Maia Szalavitz
What did you learn from these Bipolar depression quotes?
It isn’t just creative people in the arts that struggle with Bipolar Disorder, although the illness itself is sometimes referred to as the “dark side of creativity.”
Winston Churchill, Florence Nightingale, and even Albert Einstein all experienced intensely productive and insightful periods followed by stretches of darkness and despair.
Those bursts of creativity and productiveness happen when some in experiencing mania.
That’s because manic episodes include symptoms such as soaring energy levels, less sleep, and loss of touch with reality.
However, those are followed by agonizing depressive episodes.
Depressive episodes are the polar opposite of their manic counterparts, resulting in low energy, loss of motivation, and not having an interest in daily activities.
Mania often causes people to engage in behaviors they regret, and then feel guilt for when they are in the depressive stage.
Self-loathing and suicidal thoughts are common during this period.
This incredibly difficult disease can be difficult for the person themselves, and their loved ones.
However, it is treatable with therapy and medication.
There is hope and remember, if you have Bipolar Disorder, that you are not alone.
There are people that love you, and there is help out there.
What’s your biggest takeaway from these Bipolar quotes and sayings?
Do you have any other favorite quotes to add?
Let us know in the comment section below.
