Background:

Bipolar disorder is a chronic lifelong disease, which often occurs early in life. This disease contains diverse periods of depression, mania, hypomania, psychosis and mixed state. The symptoms of this disease can develop suicidal tendency. The bipolar disease provides experiences of instability, limitations in life and feelings of hopelessness. This leads to a difficulty of the acceptance of the illness. It is important, in caring for individuals with bipolar disorder, to communicate with respect, empathy and responsiveness.

Aim:

The aim of this study is to highlight people’s experiences of living with bipolar disorder.

Method:

This study is based on four autobiographies, and analyzed with a qualitative approach.

Results:

Four themes and twelve subthemes were created, based on the contents of the analyzed data. The four themes chosen were shades of bipolar disorder, to live or to die, to be "crazy" and mentally ill in the community.

Conclusion:

The result of this study reveals that many and varied experiences in conjunction with different disease periods occur, like joy and sorrow. Nurses need to be aware of these different experiences to be able to provide good care