What's the deal with the community being against unmedicated BP?

I come from a long line of mental illness on all sides of my family. Father and (half)sister are both diagnosed bipolar (father self medicated, sister is working with psych and therapist and a lot of meds, but also has multiple other diagnosis besides bipolar) My father self-medicated me for my anxiety which in turn became a substance abuse issue down the line for me. I do my best to self manage and work with my therapist as I see how the medications affected my father when he did take them properly and how they affect my sister (they add a new one or up her doses to her daily mix every few months). Fear is not the only reason i choose to not be medicated for bipolar, just one of them. I acknowledge my problems and face them where needed and as needed. I have no intentions of having children as I will not let a child suffer the way I have in the past. Breaking that generational trauma & curse.

My line of things, I've been dealt a shitty deck of cards in life (literally, if I told you the things I've endured and been through, you'd be questioning how I am still here, it gets tiring to hear "you're so strong" when people find out my past), I've got enough trauma to last 100 lifetimes. I'm pretty open about what I've been through at this point, as speaking on my experiences with others has really helped me move on or slightly heal from them. I typically expect the worst, so when the best comes along, it's a lovely surprise and no expectations are crushed. Not the best way to think, but hey, saves me the heartaches lol.

/r/bipolar Thread Parent