Is there any upsides to having bipolar compared to dysthymia?

Having any: Mental illness is challenging! i don't think there is a way to say one is better than another. The most important point is to take care of the illness rather than letting it take care of you.

Interesting question: Bipolar is a condition that, untreated, has a poor long-term outlook. It can wreak havoc in one's own life and in the lives of those you love. Dysthymia probably less so. Yet there is a correlation between mild mania and creativity; also between empathy and mild dysphoria.In the end it's not the illness-we all have something to bear--but the how we meet our challenge.

Not really: These are both debilitating mental disorders and one is both different, but just as bad as the other. I cannot think of an upside to either, as you put it.