In a recent Huffington Post article, bipolar disorder was referred to as the “disease of the decade.” However, the word bipolar has become part of the vernacular for all the wrong reasons. “Oh that’s just so bipolar” or “Oh he’s so bipolar” or “Oh, the weather is so bipolar” is a chorus we hear on a daily basis. People don’t understand.
But what does bipolar disorder being the disease of the decade mean? It sounds like some kind of award. Was AIDS the disease of the ‘90s? Was Alzheimer’s or Parkinsons the disease of the 2000s? Is this a badge of honor like winning Best Picture at the Oscars?
No, but we’ll take it. Anything to raise visibility for our disease and decrease the stigma is a good thing. Sure we bipolar individuals enjoy the extra exposure our affliction is getting. Whether it’s Catherine Zeta Jones coming out of the closet or Claire Danes’ character, Carrie the C.I.A. agent on “Homeland,” bipolar is getting huge exposure.
5.7 million Americans are diagnosed with bipolar disorder according to the National Institute on Mental Health.
But the stigma is still exceedingly high. Most of us are ashamed to come out of the closet and share our bipolar status like I did. And for good reason. We don’t want to be thought of as “crazy.” It’s not a death sentence. It’s not communicable. It harms no one in most cases.
What people don’t understand is that this is a medical disease that needs management – just like diabetes. Bipolar ≠ crazy. Many of us lead normal lives as long as we take our medications. The spikes in mood disappear and we feel like our pre-diagnosed selves.
Sure there are bad days. And many of us must deal with additional issues like anxiety, but for a person on a good medication regimen, life is dandy.
It seems to me that you can blame TV and the movies for the tag line, Disease of the Decade. Alzheimers disease and Parkinson’s it seems to me were not the subject of may movies or shows. There is also the celebrity angle. As you have pointed out many creative types are afflicted with the disorder, and quite a few are rock stars or prominent in other ways. Journalists like to write about them because they make good copy and magazine covers.
Aging stars suffering from Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s they just fade away and they do not generally commit suiicide. Suicides among bypolares as we know are high and especially visible with a Hoffman or a Winehouse. That makes good copy too.
Also, I want to commend you for this new refreshingly good site. You are certainly a good example of the creative nature of those like myself who have struggled and beaten back the demons and I look forward to many more posts. It is certainly great to see a journalist who is bipolar writing about it as opposed to a journalist who has no conception of what we go through taking up the topic. Keep cool.
As a wife of bipolar and the mother of bipolar it is indeed time society understood this disease. As a health professional, I have always spoken bluntly about this issue to family, patients, and friends. It is still a disease that both individuals and colleagues do not understand; hence, there is little to no desire to discuss the subject. The range of bipolar severity is broad. I firmly believe that the use of low sugar organic diet along with appropriate medicinal therapy will go a long way to reduce severity. But this is perceived as one professionals opinion. The more we discuss this disease the more we can get bipolar individuals and their families and friends to understand the there is a great deal we can do to reduce the symptoms that torment those who deal with this disease. Thank you all for stepping forward. I hope, soon, this disease will be as quickly diagnosed and treated as readily as are other diseases.
hidsertgrandma, thanks for commenting. I understand your sense of things. Please join our community here at the Bipolar Addict. Have you thought about finding a support group? I used to go to a Mood Disorders Support Group in New York City. They divided into two groups – one for the bipolar patients and one for the family members. Is there something like that in your area?
From my anecdotal experience this is a disease which disproportionately appears in hispanic women. They have the highest rate of repeated commitments for it. Perhaps their inherent hyperemotional genetic programming and susceptibility to religious brainwashing contribute. They also seem incapable of comprehending they can’t skip medication “because I don’t feel good after I take it” and then overdose with handfuls when the anxiety and hallucinations of impending evil swell up… but need to follow a simple steady regiment as prescribed.
Fritz: (Great name)
When people are depressed or going thru that “try this then that then another med” phase, I found that using a weekly med calander, where the meds are set up for each day, keeps me from taking too much or too little RX. So, if the doctor tells them taking handfull of RX will make things worse, it will be tougher to open all the lttle package versus dumping them out of a bottle.HERE’S THE GREAT THING: The pharmacy can do it for them.
You make a dangerous assumption re: “Hispanic Women” based on anecdotal information. Anything that’s “anecdotal” and used to generalize a larger segment of people is a recipe for hard feelings be engendered, not to mention a more dangerous outcome—i.e., the basis for creating another set of racial/ethnic biases(as if we don’t have enough already).
So spare us the misinformed anecdotal input.
Why don’t your troll somewhere else! It is ignorance like yours that continues to give this disease an awful stigma.