142 replies to this topic

[Amy Jenna Harper]

Yeah..I have read about bepolar.

Hm maybe she was cause she had some of the symptoms I think.

It's horrible..

>From wikipedia:http://en.wikipedia....ipolar_disorder

[AMYstery]

Can you describe what bi-polar is like to have. i understand the depression side but what is the 10% side of the mania?

Watch this documentary with Stephen Fry "The Secret Life of the Manic Depressive", it's really fascinating :

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The part of Stephen explaining his manic shopping sprees and why he has 9 digital camera's while he never takes any pictures reminded me of the story that Mitch told in the interview with The Sun. Amy would go into Selfridges and buy £20,000 worth of dresses that she would never wear.So Mitch made a deal with Selfridges that he could return most of the dresses without Amy knowing it.

[pearljo]

Can you describe what bi-polar is like to have. i understand the depression side but what is the 10% side of the mania?

I was fully manic only once and it wasn't as 'romantic' as many stories you hear about bipolar or as freightening as psychotic mania.

I had a breakdown at work one day and had to leave immediately. I called my psychiatrist and was told to come in right away.
They gave me an antipsychotic to chill while waiting for the doc. We talked, she wrote a note to work that i needed 4 months! off work.
She said go home, rest, get 15 minutes of sunlight a day.
I had been very depressed so that was what the sunlight comment was meant to help.

I woke up the next morning and was energized like never before(I didn't know). I started doing yardwork on a very neglected yard. I was planting shrubs, bushes, a garden..doing landscaping with huge limestone rocks. I absolutely worked my ass off, not only on my yard but my neighbors and his neighbors. I'd never met either of them but when you're manic, people for the most part think you are a bright shining ray of sunlight. I live in a rental but all theplants, weedeaters and associated stuff, I paid for. I spend a small fortune compared to the money i had. lol

I was sleeping 2 hours a night for over a month and it absolutely did not register.

I was hitting on 2 neighbor girls that I'd never even thought of hitting on. You can be very hypersexual. I was also pleading with them if I could detail their cars.

I burnt up 3 weed eaters in a little over 30 days.

I talked a 100 miles per hours and ideas were flying through my brain fast and furious. I couldn't keep up.

My body changed, I was fit. I was working 12-16 hours a day.

If this doesn't seem remarkable, you must consider that one day before all this started and for years before, I was depressed, indoors, numb. For all that time I never thought about all these yards overgrown with weeds. I transformed everything because a switch tripped in my brain.

If you don't medicate bipolar, the episodes can come more often and more intense, possible psychosis. I take my meds.

One other bipolar story. My cousin has a friend in houston who's bipolar and stops taking his meds at random.
One day his friend got in his car to drive to his favorite restaurant. He took a seat on the bench outside. cool, except he was naked.
the cops were pissed and were about to take him to jail but my cousin showed up and said, no no, he's bipolar. they re-routed him to the psych ward.

My meds changed from mostly antidepressants, which can actually trigger mania in a bipolar, to lithium, seroquel, lamictal..basically all mood stabilizers, antipsychotics. I've had some hypomania since, a lesser form of mania, but I'm mostly ok.
Thanks for asking. I know this is a long answer but this is a huge part of my life that takes a good amount of work to live with.

2nd edit. I should add that I still have frequent problems with depression. Bipolar depression is worse than unipolar depression, generally speaking, and is the most challenging part of bp to treat.

As I mentioned earlier, bp has the highest suicide rate of all mental illnesses. Most suicides happen during 'mixed states' episodes. You manic and depressed at the same time. I've had one of those episodes and it very frightening.

Edited by pearljo, 27 September 2011 - 02:25 PM.

[LegendJJ]

Can you describe what bi-polar is like to have. i understand the depression side but what is the 10% side of the mania?

Manic or mania basically means zany or hyper. Remember in 2008 all those articles that talked about Michael Phelps and his adhd and how he had difficulty paying attention in school...even when prescribed ritalin?

Look how much "hyper focus" he has when swimming. That is the "manic" in manic depression. Although I think most people with manic depression have the depression side wayyyyyyy more than the manic.

This is an example of manic or mania

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Also I'm certain Hendrix had it...the manic side for him was his extreme knowledge/talent of the electric guitar

Edited by LegendJJ, 27 September 2011 - 02:47 PM.

[York]

Honestly tell you when I first saw Amy at the Grammy ceremony, I was very sorry for her, a beautiful young girl with a beautiful angelic voice, and a little crazy, to be honest it was immediately one could see in her eyes, her movements and tattooing.
I'm not a psychologist but he could see everything at once, what is there is nothing to be ashamed, many brilliant people suffer psychological disorders, we can say is regularity, unnecessarily unusual mind of people think on another, so they often achieve professional success.
I think apart from acquired problems she had a lot of congenital anomaly, here played a role heredity through the maternal line.
But this is my personal opinion, I apologize for if someone touched my posts and asking in advance, my apologies!

[Miss Mermaid]

I was fully manic only once and it wasn't as 'romantic' as many stories you hear about bipolar or as freightening as psychotic mania.

I had a breakdown at work one day and had to leave immediately. I called my psychiatrist and was told to come in right away.
They gave me an antipsychotic to chill while waiting for the doc. We talked, she wrote a note to work that i needed 4 months! off work.
She said go home, rest, get 15 minutes of sunlight a day.
I had been very depressed so that was what the sunlight comment was meant to help.

I woke up the next morning and was energized like never before(I didn't know). I started doing yardwork on a very neglected yard. I was planting shrubs, bushes, a garden..doing landscaping with huge limestone rocks. I absolutely worked my ass off, not only on my yard but my neighbors and his neighbors. I'd never met either of them but when you're manic, people for the most part think you are a bright shining ray of sunlight. I live in a rental but all theplants, weedeaters and associated stuff, I paid for. I spend a small fortune compared to the money i had. lol

I was sleeping 2 hours a night for over a month and it absolutely did not register.

I was hitting on 2 neighbor girls that I'd never even thought of hitting on. You can be very hypersexual. I was also pleading with them if I could detail their cars.

I burnt up 3 weed eaters in a little over 30 days.

I talked a 100 miles per hours and ideas were flying through my brain fast and furious. I couldn't keep up.

My body changed, I was fit. I was working 12-16 hours a day.

If this doesn't seem remarkable, you must consider that one day before all this started and for years before, I was depressed, indoors, numb. For all that time I never thought about all these yards overgrown with weeds. I transformed everything because a switch tripped in my brain.

If you don't medicate bipolar, the episodes can come more often and more intense, possible psychosis. I take my meds.

One other bipolar story. My cousin has a friend in houston who's bipolar and stops taking his meds at random.
One day his friend got in his car to drive to his favorite restaurant. He took a seat on the bench outside. cool, except he was naked.
the cops were pissed and were about to take him to jail but my cousin showed up and said, no no, he's bipolar. they re-routed him to the psych ward.

My meds changed from mostly antidepressants, which can actually trigger mania in a bipolar, to lithium, seroquel, lamictal..basically all mood stabilizers, antipsychotics. I've had some hypomania since, a lesser form of mania, but I'm mostly ok.
Thanks for asking. I know this is a long answer but this is a huge part of my life that takes a good amount of work to live with.

2nd edit. I should add that I still have frequent problems with depression. Bipolar depression is worse than unipolar depression, generally speaking, and is the most challenging part of bp to treat.

As I mentioned earlier, bp has the highest suicide rate of all mental illnesses. Most suicides happen during 'mixed states' episodes. You manic and depressed at the same time. I've had one of those episodes and it very frightening.

thanks for your honesty - i appreciate it.

what would happen if people with bi-polar didn't take their medication?

[pearljo]

Look how much "hyper focus" he has when swimming. That is the "manic" in manic depression. Although I think most people with manic depression have the depression side wayyyyyyy more than the manic.

This is an example of manic or mania

The ability to hyper focus at times is much more a trait of ADHD than bipolar.

[pearljo]

what would happen if people with bi-polar didn't take their medication?

Stephen Fry talks about it in one of the video's since, at least then, he refused medication.

Without meds, your life can be a roller coaster of extreme highs, which can get you in very serious trouble followed by debilitating lows where you have to have help taking care of yourself. You are so down, that even though you want to, you don't have the energy to kill yourself. The most serious time for suicide is when you start feeling a bit better. That's when people often pull the trigger.

Not taking meds, especially, can quickly lead to suicide. It amazes me that people refuse meds or get drunk while on meds, when the consequence of their behavior may be death. Anyone with a depressive mental illness should NOT drink and they should NOT have a gun in their house. Guns are too easy, too impulsive. If I wouldn't have given my guns to a friend 15 years ago, I don't think I'd be here.

One of the interviews above featured a guy who wrote Electroboy. It's an AMAZING story. Highly recommended.

[LegendJJ]

The ability to hyper focus at times is much more a trait of ADHD than bipolar.

Yeah I know I was just using his hyper focus as an example to explain the definition of mania or manic.

[Mutterkorn1]

Thanks alot for this Reportage !

[pearljo]

what would happen if people with bi-polar didn't take their medication?

Stephen Fry talks about it in one of the video's since, at least then, he refused medication.

Without meds, your life can be a roller coaster of extreme highs, which can get you in very serious trouble followed by debilitating lows where you have to have help taking care of yourself.

Not taking meds, especially, can quickly lead to suicide. It amazes me that people refuse meds or get drunk while on meds, when the consequence of their behavior may be death. Anyone with a depressive mental illness should NOT drink and they should NOT have a gun in their house. Guns are too easy, too impulsive. If I wouldn't have given my guns to a friend 15 years ago, I don't think I'd be here.

One of the interviews above featured a guy who wrote Electroboy. It's an AMAZING story. Highly recommended.

Oh, there are many more consequences. Making bad investments, spending every penny you have, divorce, losing your home. The carnage is never ending.

[Birdieava]

not uncommon. I refused meds for years and I wasn’t even famous and didn’t care about a mental health stigma. I just didn't want to live all doped up with anti-psychotic meds. Numb. Worthless. No emotions = no more lows (depression), but of course no more highs! You just can't feel happy b/c you are so numb with meds. I still went under treatment for 5 years b/c my husband basically forced me to. Someone as stubborn as Amy would NEVER EVER willingly put these awful pills in her mouth. She wanted to feel. XO

[Nigel Jam]

Stephen Fry talks about it in one of the video's since, at least then, he refused medication.

Without meds, your life can be a roller coaster of extreme highs, which can get you in very serious trouble followed by debilitating lows where you have to have help taking care of yourself.

Not taking meds, especially, can quickly lead to suicide. It amazes me that people refuse meds or get drunk while on meds, when the consequence of their behavior may be death. Anyone with a depressive mental illness should NOT drink and they should NOT have a gun in their house. Guns are too easy, too impulsive. If I wouldn't have given my guns to a friend 15 years ago, I don't think I'd be here.

One of the interviews above featured a guy who wrote Electroboy. It's an AMAZING story. Highly recommended.

Oh, there are many more consequences. Making bad investments, spending every penny you have, divorce, losing your home. The carnage is never ending.

I recently heard that Steven Fry is not really bi-polar he was pretending - it was in a news paper or on the news I forget exactly where - he said he didn't have all the symptoms. Robbie Williams also said he had it but didn't really! It was trendy at one time to say "I'm bi-polar!" Perhaps this is why Amy said it? :-S

[pearljo]

One more thing and we can get back to our regular programming and, most of all, I can stfu.

When you tell people you are bipolar it's kind of a vauge acceptable term. I tell people that I have manic depression. It tells people that I not only suffer from depression but I also have bouts of mania. Many people don't know what bipolar even means.

Also, when first diagnosed, I told an old friend about it. She was dismissive and said, oh, I have a cousin with that shit, whatever. My point is that many people, at some time in their lives, receive a diagnosis of bipolar. Take it seriously.

If you have a friend that struggles with bipolar, try to help them recognize when they are becoming manic or depressed because they don't always see it. I have to ask people how I seem to be doing sometimes. And, from the sheer amount of writing I've done here on this subject tells me I'm a bit manic right now. See?

[pearljo]

I highly doubt that Stephen Fry was pretending. Bipolar may be a trendy diagnosis but the fact is is that it's vastly under diagnosed.

As far as being numb or not feeling on psych meds that can sometimes be true and they may be awful to some. Fact is, millions of successful people do just great on them. I think the problems people have lies more with their treatment, the ability of their psychiatrist to prescibe, in other words. It takes complicated polypharmacy to tame the beast while minimizing side effects

Would life be better if I didn't need any pills? Of course. But I do need pills, and I want to be alive to see tomorrow because I'm happy and I feel it.