My father told me that mental illness was just an excuse people used to act the way they wanted to act. Therefore, I had to learn how to cope with my illness long before I had the ability to manage it.
Coping with your mental illness are the thoughts and behaviors you conduct to help deal with your illness. Management is the wholistic approach that includes medication, therapy, and coping mechanisms. In my opinion, many mental illnesses go undiagnosed because people have gotten so good at coping with their illness that they think it’s just part of life. I got so good at coping that I didn’t see a doctor until I was 25, when I thought I had post-partum depression. I was instead diagnosed with Bipolar.
I was lucky to have learned so many coping mechanisms because medical management and therapy isn’t usually enough to fully manage your symptoms. Therapy can help you learn coping mechanisms, and medicine can help lower the frequency and intensity of symptoms, but coping mechanisms are what help you get through the day to day.
Do you just cope or do you manage your illness?
My Bipolar and Me 