Bipolar Disorder In Popular Culture

Contributing Columnist: +Maria Y 

Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence - Image: The Weinstein Company

“I’m so up and down, I must be bipolar!” “Being manic sounds fun, you’re happy all the time!” “Oh yeah, doesn’t (random celebrity) supposedly have Bipolar?” “Doesn’t he/she take a lot of drugs because of Bipolar?” “Aren’t most creative people Bipolar?” “Isn’t Bipolar in vogue now?” “I wouldn’t give up being Bipolar for anything as I’ve felt like I’ve walked with angels when I’m up." Only that last quote was said by a bipolar person, in the documentary The Secret Life Of The Manic Depressive. The other quotes make you wonder, do these people have any idea what they’re saying? Is this the version of Bipolar Disorder most people think of? Is it being portrayed as “glamorous and creative” in the media? It’s not at all glamorous, nor is the “Hollywood version” of it we often hear about realisticly.


 
One example is the movie Silver Linings Playbook. Overall, the film made some great strides towards portraying mental illness in a positive way and portraying people who deal with it as rich, well-rounded characters with lives outside of their illnesses. Yet, unfortunately its ending was not very realistic. The two main characters, who are both Bipolar, fall in love, and the film seems to give the message that all you need to live with Bipolar Disorder is love, not meds, not much therapy, not anything else--which considering most Bipolar people either use some combination of one or both, is not the best message to send.

There’s an emphasis on how much “fun” manias and hypomanias can be popular culture. Unfortunately this isn’t only restricted to those who don’t deal with mental illness. “Hypomania sounds fun, you’re happy all the time” was what I frequently heard from someone who suffered from Depression. This person thought that even after seeing my “black hypomanias” and/or “mixed states. There is the “life of the party” stereotype of mania/hypomania, but not the angry, racing, sometimes even psychotic side. While it can inspire creativity (a good example being Leonardo DiVinci), full mania, which often starts out feeling good, can quickly escalate out of control. Hypomania is harder to catch; it often comes off as someone just being hyper productive, and usually doesn’t involve loosing touch with reality. But it can still get one in trouble (spending sprees, promiscuity, fights, little sleep, talking fast, substance abuse, and more).

The popular version of Bipolar also encompasses only part of the symptoms of one type of the disorder on the Bipolar spectrum, completely ignoring the other types. It’s also become the “diagnosis” for any bad behavior from celebrities. Got drunk and made a bigoted remark? Maybe you are Bipolar. Suffer from substance abuse problems? You must be Bipolar (Robert Downey Jr. has repeatedly said his past substance abuse had nothing to do with Bipolar, which he doesn’t have, but still rumors persist). Britney Spears and Lindsey Lohan behaving badly? They must be Bipolar. While of course there is a correlation between creative actors and Bipolar Disorder (Stephen Fry, Catherine Zeta Jones, Robin Williams, and many others), every celebrity who misbehaves is not Bipolar; not only does this trivialize the disorder, it associates it with bad behavior and violence; giving rise to more stereotypes.

While some progress has been made, we have a long way to go challenging the “mainstream” definition of Bipolar Disorder, and mental illness in general. It’s good that society is talking about it; but the conversation needs to be realistic. One way to contribute is to counter statements like the ones in the first paragraph when we hear them. It may only make a small difference at the time, but a long journey always begins with a single step.

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Stepping Into the World of Mental Illness

Contributing Columnist: +Maria Y 

Stepping Into the World of Mental Illness

My article title is ironic, because without realizing it, I stepped into the mental health world a long time ago and have rarely stepped out. I was a moody child, and growing up I noticed mood swings in my father. I later found that both he and his father (who died before I was born) struggled with Cyclothymia (a softer version of Bipolar Type I).

When I was 14 years old, I started having mood swings that were more pronounced. They were not the full ups and downs of Bipolar I, but they did make my life and my relationships difficult. I also developed hormonal problems and what I later found out was Polycystic Ovary Syndrome PCOS (which has been to found to have a correlation with Bipolar in women).  I heard about actress Patti Duke’s Bipolar Disorder. I wondered, since my swings were not as extreme as hers, could I even be Bipolar?  I asked my dad if someone could be “a little Bipolar;” he said, “he thought that he and my grandfather were, and that I might be too.”  He said, “he’d managed it without treatment, so I figured I should too.” I didn’t even think there was a name to describe it.

In college things escalated; I was treated for insomnia with antidepressants which gave me a worse hypomania [less severe mania], and then I went way down into the lowest depression ever for me.  I got therapy and it helped me manage it; I was totally against taking meds again. I still had the smaller mood swings I’d had before alternating with normalcy, then every few months I would get a worse hypomania (but never reaching full mania) and depression.  Being a Psychology major, I started doing research, and found that there was a name for what I had called Cyclothymia.  I also found out about Bipolar II disorder, which has hypomanias and lower depressions. I hadn’t heard of either, and I didn’t know that you could have Bipolar II with intermittent Cyclothymia, which is what my diagnosis turned out to be.  If I had known that diagnoses such as mine existed, maybe I would have gotten treatment earlier.

I learned to get all my schoolwork done during my high periods so I could rest during my lower ones. I went on to earn a Master’s Degree in Psychology and to work as a mental health counselor for three years; I seemed to be a natural born counselor and loved my job. I learned to hide my issues from everyone but closest friends. Having mental health issues is frowned on for those who work in the mental health industry. Hiding it wasn’t easy, but I managed enough and lived life based on cycles.

In 2005, I got very sick with Lyme disease, and almost died. This caused horrible physical effects and a psych symptom I’d never had before; severe anxiety. I went to a “highly recommended” psychiatrist that didn’t agree I was Bipolar (I had finally admitted it), and kept trying to put me on meds that made me fully manic. I stopped seeing her and got the Lyme disease treated, which got rid of the severe anxiety.  I’m now in remission, but I live with the chronic psychical after affects every day, and I had to go on disability and stop doing the work that I love.

After that, I finally decided to get my Bipolar treated. I found both a good psychiatrist and a good therapist, and got lucky.  Since I have my own knowledge of mental health, I was able to advocate for myself and do research.  My doctor was willing to work with me and let me try small doses of meds first.  I reacted very well to Lamictal; it literally changed my life. I’d forgotten what it was like to live without constant mood swings; it felt foreign at first, but I quickly grew to like it. It also enabled me to learn to set better boundaries with people; when you’re a counselor sometimes everyone wants you to fix their problems.

Presently, when not writing, I spend my time involved in activism and causes, mental health being at the forefront. I plan to write about the mental health system, treatments, diagnoses, counseling, education, mental health news in pop culture, and of course the spectrum of Bipolar Disorder.  The mental health system is in many ways broken, but helpful in others; experience varies widely depending on several factors. It’s time to try and make the world of mental health a better place.

 *****

Maria Yaworsky lives in the Washington DC Area. She graduated with a Master’s in Psychology and worked as a mental health counselor, while living with undiagnosed Cyclothymia/Bipolar II. In 2005 she developed a chronic physical illness, and eventually got her BP successfully treated, and is now involved in activism for various causes, Mental Health being at the forefront.

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