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Many love to call a person with bipolar inspiring, especially if the person is publicly successful or famous. They say it when we keep going, when we tell the truth about our illness, and sometimes when we simply exist in public without falling apart, where others can see it. But too often, what they are really doing is turning our pain into something that makes them feel good. They are not seeing us as full human beings with serious mental illness. They are seeing us as a lesson, a symbol, a moving story they can consume from a safe distance.
That is the problem with inspiration porn. The lives of people with bipolar disorder are not here to motivate other people, warm their hearts, or remind them to be grateful for their…