Labeling: A Short Story

I really hope that this assignment is confidential, because I'm going to explain a real situation in my life. But it's not one I want shared with other people. Labeling is something I battle on a constant basis. I think my hold life my family has thought I was devious, because of my mental illness. I was diagnosed with Bipolar
II disorder about 25 something years ago. I was originally diagnosed with depression and anxiety. For some reason that was okay. But Bipolar???? That meant I was
"crazy"! Everybody gets depressed and anxious sometimes, but the label Bipolar really struck me... Which is the first problem with labeling, people put stigma around mental illness, and in particular around bipolar disorder. Not everyone with bipolar

I had gone to a party with my friends (just like my older siblings before me).
We had been drinking at the party and our ride left us. There was about five of us and we had got stopped by some police officers. Because we are underage drinkers took us down to the station and called our parents. All of the other parents picked up the other kids and put them on restriction. Not, my parents they blamed it all on my mental illness. They told the authorities because of my mental illness I was always acting like a juvenile delinquent. Which in fact I had gotten less trouble than my brothers. I believe now that I’m older my behavior was just normal adolescent behavior. But because of the labeling that comes with bipolar and my Dad was fond of it in describing me growing up. I’ve been called CRAZY for my actions, attitude and state of mind. Also because of the labeling society tends to treat you differently when they find out you have the disorder. And this because of the labeling associated with the disorder from different medical groups, law enforcement, teachers and individuals who get in too trouble blame everything on the mental illness. These people do horrendous acts