Blog 12 Guest Blogger

Bipolar…What actually does it mean?

A few weeks back I was approached by a blogger who has a site purely dedicated to Bipolar disorder. He came to me asking if I would be interested in writing as a guest blogger on his page after I had written a blog about bullies.

This offer was too good to turn down and so here are my thoughts!

I have to admit to having not fully understood what being Bipolar actually means and how it manifests itself and effects the sufferer. I am not sure the word “sufferer” actually is the right term to use to describe someone who has the illness but from the research I have made it does seem like the most suitable term.

Firstly I think it’s important to explain what “Bipolar” actually is.

Bipolar disorder is an illness and NOT a disease. A disease is something you can catch and an illness is a condition that is genetic.

The illness may not manifest at all in your life or can be triggered by stress or any extreme situation. You may even have the genetic coding but never actually display or feel the extremes of emotion someone who is bipolar displays.

Bipolar disorder (which is also known as manic depression) is a mental illness involving episodes of serious mania and depression. These can be severe mood swings accompanied by changes in emotions, thoughts, behaviours, physical health and functioning. The mood swings are more extreme and more prolonged than the everyday ups and downs that everyone experiences. Emotions may vary from depression and hopelessness through to feeling overly elated or irritable. People usually go through periods of “normal” mood in between these times.

Here is a link to a site that better explains Bipolar disorder!

http://www.bipolaraware.co.uk/whatisit.html

Now, I have been trying to come up with my angle on the topic and have come to the conclusion that I am probably going to be getting some aspects of being bipolar very very wrong!

What I would like to discuss is how someone with Bipolar needs to feel “normal” and it’s the lack of this feeling that can create further and greater extremes of emotion. If it is understood that ALL people go through phases of emotion that can be high or low with little moments of “nothing” in between then it might aid someone who suffers from the Bipolar illness into realising they are not the freakish yeti creature that they might themselves feel they are!

I am not trying to smooth over this issue by chucking strange analogies into the blog but I am sure that, from my understanding of the topic it is vital to hit it head on. I cannot pretend to understand what emotion someone who is Bipolar feels or how it displays itself on a physical and mental level but I can try to understand what the process is and perhaps look at how it can be reduced or alleviated.

If you see someone walking down the street who is on crutches, or who is limping or who is obviously suffering from a physical disability we can all recognise and sympathise with them (even if as is common, they don’t want sympathy). With someone who is bipolar there is no way of knowing. We can’t exactly say “look at Jim, he is Bipolar”, in fact we may not even know that Jim (in this example) has been suffering from Bipolar disorder at all.

The only time we might find out is if we deem a reaction from “Jim” as a bit over the top compared to the situation he has faced. I am not talking about an overreaction in the “Fame” musical theatre way, I am talking about a cataclysmic flare up of emotion and an explosion of one mood or another. Remember, it goes both ways, extremes of emotion are highs AND lows.

“Jim” might react in a certain way and will be fully aware that his emotional response is very extreme. He will then feel very stupid for his behaviour and then (if it an extreme high) hit a major low due to an awareness and confidence hit to his system. If it a low point for him then he might become aware that people are looking at him with a quizzical eye and this will deepen the depression.

Bipolar is also known as “manic depression”. Some of the greatest comedians and entertainers have suffered from this due to a desire for acceptance and appreciation and so it goes that a lot of Bipolar sufferers are also extremely talented and arty people.

It is also worth noting that a lot of extremely talented mathematician’s were autistic. The like of Darwin and Einstein for example…For arguments sake, Hitler was also thought to be autistic, but that’s another story! The reason I state this is because how a brain works is a direct link to what one can achieve.

At this stage, perhaps I should list a few people who admit to being bipolar (in no particular order)
Robert Downey Junior
Edward Elgar
Paul Gascoigne
Edgar Allan Poe

What links all these people? artistic flair! Each and every one of the four people above (and there are hundreds of examples out there) have a flair for creation, be it sporting flair, musical flair or artistic flair (which comes under musical flair too!). Highs of emotion coupled with the extreme lows seem to follow these people around like a bad smell and yet it is this exact disorder that has enabled them to achieve so much greatness and has driven them on to such high levels of “success”.

I do not want to write of the illness that is “Bipolar” as an aid to success in artistic circles, it has a HUGE stigma attached to it and one that needs to be debated out loud and out proud as well.

I often feel that we are not honest as a species and not open enough with each other about how we feel and what we are going through and instead try to demonstrate a desired example of ourselves to those who we encounter. It is often the closest to us that know the reality and in most cases accept the reality.

I really had no idea where this blog was going to go and where it would end up when I started and I think it’s about time I summarise it all. 

Being bipolar may not be what anyone wants to labelled as but it’s also not something to hide away from. If everyone who suffered said “I am Bipolar” in an alcoholics anonymous kind of way then maybe, just maybe those sufferers out there wouldn’t feel so isolated and “strange”. If forums and blogs http://facebook.com/BipolarChatroom  http://twitter.com/BipolarChatroom  came to the forefront of society then we would all be able to act as councillors and friends to each other and slowly stub out the stigma of the illness.

To finish off then. I guess being Bipolar can be a pressure in itself. I have seen how a sufferer can go from one extreme to another first hand and it is very hard to deal with. It can make you question yourself and can lead to a confidence knock to ones own ego as well. This in turn leads to banging heads together (figuratively) as both want the issue to be gone and the “norm” to be restored.

There is help out there for anyone concerned and the illness is treatable with new methods constantly being researched and trials. Humans have evolved a great deal and personally I think we are emotionally and physically behind where the technology currently is. This leads to greater chasms in understanding and a greater feeling of disassociation to others around us. Facebook, Twitter and even this blogging world have given so many a platform to do good, but it also is a platform that can harm.

If we all pull together then anyone suffering any illness, no matter what will not feel like an outsider and will be able to blend in with those around them to a level that surely is “human”?

I hope this blog doesn’t offend anyone and I apologise if my terms and understanding are not correct.

Let me finish with this:

You are not alone out there…never forget that.

Thanks for reading…comments are always welcome:

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Bryn Lucas

www.brynlucas.com