I've spent a bit of time clicking around the blogosphere and I have easily found many blogs by people who have been diagnosed with a bipolar disorder. Some of them feel they have been successfully treated, some don't, and many are kind of in the middle.
There has been a dramatic increase in the use of that diagnosis over last ten years. This has been a part of the increased view of the biological basis of mind disorders. Some of it has to do with new medications that slow down the racing thoughts and temper the manic phase, and some if it has to do with more brain research.
Many more people who come to see me bring in this label with them, and what it means seems to be very varied. It covers people who have mood changes, who get irritable, who get very depressed. It gets put on people who spend $8000 shopping when they have $400 in their bank accounts. It covers CEOs who work 20 hours a day, buying and selling other companies.
My view of all this is that there certainly are differences in how people's brains function. I think that what is called bipolar disorder today will be called five or six different things if five to ten years. People brains vary over a range, but I think what we call bipolar covers different kinds of ranges. When the thinking is adaptive, such as when people are creative and have the energy to follow through on something that wouldn't seem like a realistic undertaking to someone who was more moderate, it can work in someone's favor. But often the thinking becomes rapid, tangential, skipping logical steps and ending up in a mess or personal disaster. Then things are bad, and it takes a long time to recover and sort it all out.
A real bipolar depression seems worse than just a depression. It seems more totally devoid of energy and hope. It is more dangerous because the thinking becomes not just bleak but unreasonable. Many people, who are just depressed are often more realistic.They can see how much the world sucks, and they have more difficulty than most overlooking it. A bipolar depression just seems to be like falling into an abyss.
So, to all of you who struggle with this, I can offer the encouragement that the more you can reflect on your own thought patterns, the better chance you will have to see when you are rolling a bit off track. It is often very difficult to know when the energetic feeling you get are going to be fun and helpful, or dangerous and destructive.
I think that is where a good therapist, who you can really trust, one who wants you to be happy, and not just under control, can be helpful.
I hope so.
4 comments:
I work with so many young children already slapped with this label. Early onset. I find it hard to believe that some of these children are truly bipolar. That is just my gut feeling.
It's one of those things that can be misdiagnosed very easily but unfortunately it exists.
I didn't believe in childhood BIP either, then I meet this kid...It takes one to know one, I guess.
Thank you for acknowledging how difficult it can be for those who have it.
I am bi-polar.You have described the depressions to a T. Its funny just about the time I start thinking you are a total ass you post something like this. I'm thinking probably my opinion of you varies with my mood which would make it my perceptions that assinine rather than you. HAHA See I have been practising not acting on my feelings until I know they are valid for years. People say "oh your feelings are always valid" No they arent, not when you are bi-polar. Thanks for posting this.
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