Bipolar Disorder in our Culture
Much of the stigma of bipolar disorder is based on fear of the different. Unfortunately, people with bipolar disorder contribute to this stigma by unjustified embarrassment over their illness.
Why do people feel uncomfortable about bipolar disorder?
The very existence of bipolar disorder is a reminder to everyone else that they have their own mental and emotional problems. Chronic illnesses and injuries are not so threatening when patients have visible signs of illness such as consumption, bandages, or scars. It is easy to distance oneself from these poor wretches, but bipolar individuals are often attractive, intelligent, and successful. It can be terrifying to others to admit that they, too, could be vulnerable to illness.
What are the popular misconceptions about bipolar disorder?
Television and films usually depict persons with bipolar disorder as violent beasts with strange ideas and immoral behavior. Alternatively, bipolar individuals are sometimes characterized as mystics with special psychic powers or as special messengers from God or the devil.
How can we get rid of the stigma?
Stigma is fueled by ignorance and fear. When the population is more aware of the true nature of bipolar disease, stigma will ebb.
Does our culture value bipolar attributes?
Definitely. While many people malign those with bipolar disorder, our culture almost worships manic symptoms like boundless energy, magnetic charisma, workaholia, the ability to go without sleep, hyperverbosity, and insatiable sexual appetite. If you think about it, you will see that these attributes fit most of the heroes and heroines that appear on our film and video screens. In real life, however, this pattern of attributes is caused by bipolar illness, and it damages people's lives rather than enhancing them.
I read in a book that bipolar disorder makes you smarter and more creative. Haven't famous people been bipolar?
I think that gestalt, a viewpoint that strives to see everything at the same time, and parallel thinking, and ability to process similar thoughts at the same time, are often well developed in people with bipolar disorder. These talents can enhance problem solving and increase creativity, but the illness conspires to keep the bipolar individual from using their talents. There have long been unproven speculations that geniuses like Dostoyevsky, Van Gogh, Orson Welles, and many others suffered from bipolar disorder. Although they became prominent historical figures, their lives were often filled with tragedy.
An internet site said that world leaders like Julius Caesar, Henry VIII, and Mussolini were bipolars. How could you tell?
Try looking throughout history for charismatic, magnetic leaders with boundless energy, little need for sleep, wordiness, and an unquenchable sexual desire, who deteriorated as they aged. Were they bipolar? You can make up your own mind.
What is the cost of bipolar disorder to our society?
Bipolar disorder is among the top ten causes of disability all over the world. Millions of public dollars are spent for hospitalization and medical care that would never have been necessary if people's bipolar illness had been recognized and treated early. Homes are split, loves lost, fortunes squandered, and children made to suffer. There is no end to the toll that untreated bipolar disorder takes on all peoples of the world.
Do you think that the economy exploits people with bipolar disorder?
Absolutely. Knowingly or unknowingly, many businesses prey on bipolar individuals. For example, home shopping channels, thrive on the bipolar tendency toward impulsive spending sprees. Liquor manufacturer's advertisements stressing power, wealth, fame, and sex appeal particularly to bipolars who are at increased risk for developing alcohol problems. Casinos' mixture of grandiosity, free alcohol, and late hours prey on the manic tendency toward gambling and sexual addiction. Corrupt online casinos take advantage of bipolar obsessiveness and willingness to trust others. Pornographic internet sites take advantage of bipolars impulsitity, hypersexuality, and the need for high stimulus levels and immediate gratification. "Too-good-to-be-true" offers of free loans, weight-loss schemes, and exotic cures prey on bipolar fantasies of perfection and hopes for a quick fix. Exploitation of bipolar illness is a gravy train for marally and ethically barren businesses and schemes.
What can I do to help other people with bipolar disorder?
When their bipolar disorder is under control, many people with bipolar illness feel that they have some responsibility to help others. Join national associations that advocate for bipolar individuals in the Congress and in state legislatures. Read bipolar newsletters and magazines published by national organizations and become familiar with the medical and social issues affecting bipolar individuals. Write letters to legistators, doctors', and therapist' organizations, and pharmaceutical companies. Go to bipolar meetings and speak out in support groups. Go to Internet chat and support sites, and tell others what you have learned that works for you. Your brothers and sisters with bipolar disorder need you.