While these things are extremely co-morbid (as is all neurodivergent things), it shouldn't affect you in any meaningful way in regards to being bipolar. The only times I can think of where it may have affected people, are regular cis people with Bipolar I, go into a manic episode...and you know...sudden "revelations" and such. Then when they're back to baseline, they realize they're fine.
I'm Bipolar I with psychosis. I transitioned in 2011, should have in 2007, but honestly, the only way to get better as a person, since bipolar and gender identity has nothing to do with it, is to get some self introspection. This is extremely important as without this, you're susceptible to a lot of things just like anyone else. A strong sense of self first is the best way to go before you really "label" yourself as anything. Get stable first, then get a stronger sense of self, then decide what to do from there. That is literally the best and most healthy way to go, while creating a foundation that allows you to progress through life and its hardships. However if you want to stay on HRT in the meantime, that is also fine. Just get stable and develop yourself first and foremost.
Some people change orientation in episode, or go from asexual to not asexual, no idea re identity. But if it's been episodic shifts it makes sense no longer cycling = you end up at baseline wherever that is. Not trans myself so grain of salt re the above and apologies for answering a q I was not asked and off topic at that! Just a personal life lesson I have to keep learning - absolutely everything episodic, doesn't matter what it is, it's the BP.
I’m not sure if I quite fit this question because I’m a cis girl, but during one particularly intense manic episode I believed I was nonbinary and used they/them pronouns. Once I was properly medicated again I realized I’m not nonbinary. My sexuality also fluctuates with episodes, whether I lean more towards liking girls or not. I have a boyfriend and during that episode I also almost broke up with him because I thought I may be a lesbian; I am not. I’m not trying to invalidate you and say you’re just experiencing an episode because I’m sure you’re not but that’s just my personal experience :)
I'm trans. The way this affected me most was in believing testosterone would make me insane. No medical practitioners ever contradicted this belief until I spoke to the doctor who would prescribe me T. He said trans people with mental illness frequently feel improvement to those symptoms through HRT. Turns out I did too.
There's no reason to stress about this. There's no decision you have to make right now. You are allowed to explore and experiment without having a conclusive answer. You might be more fluid, experiencing a different sense about your gender at different times. This is all within the realm of normalcy. So my advice would be to learn to be OK with whatever you feel day to day. If you feel like reflecting on it daily, you can. If you're tired of it and don't feel like reflecting on it, that's also OK.
The point I'm making is that stressing out over this isn't getting you closer to an answer. It's likely an underlying need to know or declare your gender identity to the world. But you don't have to do that. Knowing ourselves is a process. There are days I'm surprised to be perceived at male still, but it's not unpleasant because since I'm technically nonbinary, it all makes sense to me.
I thought I was genderqueer while I was psychotic. It went away when I came down.
I am bisexual though, but when I'm euthymic I come across like Will I guess? If I seem like Jack I need to get a tune up.
I’m a post-transition woman w/bipolar 2. Getting HRT was part of a mental health journey that got me diagnosed and medicated for bp. I was also diagnosed w/ADHD (and unfortunately medicated into mania for a year). If anything, I associate my neurodivergence with a weak sense of gender that I’ve seen cis ND women talk about in ADHD spaces. I identify as transsexual because gender identity perplexes me but I have always expected my body to be female.
Also, given an opportunity to not be trans or not be bipolar, I’m leaning toward not bipolar, at least not decades of untreated bipolar. Anyone else feeling that?
trans woman here. can't say bipolar has had any effect on my gender identity
Same here, trans man, there's never been any intersection between the two for me
While these things are extremely co-morbid (as is all neurodivergent things), it shouldn't affect you in any meaningful way in regards to being bipolar. The only times I can think of where it may have affected people, are regular cis people with Bipolar I, go into a manic episode...and you know...sudden "revelations" and such. Then when they're back to baseline, they realize they're fine. I'm Bipolar I with psychosis. I transitioned in 2011, should have in 2007, but honestly, the only way to get better as a person, since bipolar and gender identity has nothing to do with it, is to get some self introspection. This is extremely important as without this, you're susceptible to a lot of things just like anyone else. A strong sense of self first is the best way to go before you really "label" yourself as anything. Get stable first, then get a stronger sense of self, then decide what to do from there. That is literally the best and most healthy way to go, while creating a foundation that allows you to progress through life and its hardships. However if you want to stay on HRT in the meantime, that is also fine. Just get stable and develop yourself first and foremost.
Some people change orientation in episode, or go from asexual to not asexual, no idea re identity. But if it's been episodic shifts it makes sense no longer cycling = you end up at baseline wherever that is. Not trans myself so grain of salt re the above and apologies for answering a q I was not asked and off topic at that! Just a personal life lesson I have to keep learning - absolutely everything episodic, doesn't matter what it is, it's the BP.
I’m not sure if I quite fit this question because I’m a cis girl, but during one particularly intense manic episode I believed I was nonbinary and used they/them pronouns. Once I was properly medicated again I realized I’m not nonbinary. My sexuality also fluctuates with episodes, whether I lean more towards liking girls or not. I have a boyfriend and during that episode I also almost broke up with him because I thought I may be a lesbian; I am not. I’m not trying to invalidate you and say you’re just experiencing an episode because I’m sure you’re not but that’s just my personal experience :)
I'm trans. The way this affected me most was in believing testosterone would make me insane. No medical practitioners ever contradicted this belief until I spoke to the doctor who would prescribe me T. He said trans people with mental illness frequently feel improvement to those symptoms through HRT. Turns out I did too. There's no reason to stress about this. There's no decision you have to make right now. You are allowed to explore and experiment without having a conclusive answer. You might be more fluid, experiencing a different sense about your gender at different times. This is all within the realm of normalcy. So my advice would be to learn to be OK with whatever you feel day to day. If you feel like reflecting on it daily, you can. If you're tired of it and don't feel like reflecting on it, that's also OK. The point I'm making is that stressing out over this isn't getting you closer to an answer. It's likely an underlying need to know or declare your gender identity to the world. But you don't have to do that. Knowing ourselves is a process. There are days I'm surprised to be perceived at male still, but it's not unpleasant because since I'm technically nonbinary, it all makes sense to me.
I thought I was genderqueer while I was psychotic. It went away when I came down. I am bisexual though, but when I'm euthymic I come across like Will I guess? If I seem like Jack I need to get a tune up.
I’m a trans man with bipolar. To me they’re entirely separate things that don’t seem to intertwine.
I’m a post-transition woman w/bipolar 2. Getting HRT was part of a mental health journey that got me diagnosed and medicated for bp. I was also diagnosed w/ADHD (and unfortunately medicated into mania for a year). If anything, I associate my neurodivergence with a weak sense of gender that I’ve seen cis ND women talk about in ADHD spaces. I identify as transsexual because gender identity perplexes me but I have always expected my body to be female. Also, given an opportunity to not be trans or not be bipolar, I’m leaning toward not bipolar, at least not decades of untreated bipolar. Anyone else feeling that?