Bipolar, Not Opposite Ends of the Earth

When most people hear the word, “Bipolar” they think of Eastenders. But,

as Kerry-Louise Barnaby is about to discover, it is much more than just a

soap story.

As a society we like to label people: Normal, mad, crazy, insane, schizo, weird. And that‟s

because it‟s ok, isn‟t it? Because, well, most of us are clearly, “Normal” aren‟t we? If you

agree, it might surprise you to know that actually this is not the case. It is far from it in fact;

it is a delusion. A delusion we have created to feel better about ourselves and isolate others.

Mental Health Staff nurse Faye Munro says: “One in three of us will develop a mental health

problem of some type during our lives, whether that is a short episode of depression or

lifelong schizophrenia.” That is a third of the UK who therefore, under our current definition,

cannot be described as, “Normal”.

According to a recent study, it is believed that this figure may soon change. It will not

double; but triple! Researchers believe that soon almost everyone will be classed as having

some type of disorder. Professor Til Wykes from Kings College London told the Daily Mail:

'It's leaking into normality. It is shrinking the pool of what is normal to a puddle.'

Bipolar sufferer Marie Claire Prettyman, 31, knows all too well about acting normal: “I

sometimes think life would be easier if it was just me, myself and I because then I wouldn‟t

be a burden on other people and I wouldn‟t have to try and act normal all the time. It‟s

funny, but I find that it‟s at times when people don‟t know, that I am actually a little

madder!”

Bipolar Aware approximates 650,000 people in the UK suffer from Bipolar disorder, which

equates to 1 in every 100 people. For sufferers of Bipolar, often the things that we consider

the most “normal” or mundane task can be the most daunting. Marie Claire continued to say:

“One of the things I absolutely dreaded was the school run, with all the other mothers who

are „Normal‟, and will want to talk about, „Normal‟ stuff. I completely freaked out”.

Recently it would seem that there has been an explosion in the media coverage of mental

health disorders, particularly Bipolar disorder. Not only have celebrities started jumping on

the bandwagon but it seems that television writers have too! Everywhere we look it seems

that someone else has been diagnosed or yet another character on a soap-opera has suddenly

been dubbed and labelled! Could it really be that Bipolar is becoming, dare I say it, Trendy?!

While it could be seen as a positive that the media is becoming more aware of this disorder,

one can‟t help but wonder if it being portrayed accurately or if it is dampening the true

importance and extremes of the Bipolar curse.

It is not surprising that soap-opera‟s have decided to introduce this disease into the mix when

so much emphasis has been placed on it in recent times. Unfortunately, to a true sufferer of

the disease, the portrayal of it on television and in magazines does not ring true, meaning that

to the untrained eye, Bipolar comes across as either; a complete joke, or something to be

terrified of. While Marie Claire believes, “They just throw it out with depression nowadays

and just hand labels out to anybody for just about anything. People just won‟t believe that it

is a REAL condition.” Garry Mulloy, 42, a fellow sufferer of Bipolar believes that the media

creates fear in the minds of the “normal” folk when, in fact, “There is nothing wrong with it.

It is not that bad. If I broke my leg I wouldn‟t hide so why should I hide just because I suffer

from Bipolar?”

Two extremes to one extreme condition, for, even though it is not something to be ashamed

of or feared, it is also not a throwaway condition that means nothing and is overrated. Just

like any illness, it shouldn‟t be under or overestimated. It should simply be, understood.

Bipolar is believed to be caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain and is closely linked to

both Depression and Schizophrenia. Sufferers will have to endure episodes of both severe

depression and mania. While some may believe it to be just people overreacting to mood-

swings, it is a lot more than that.

In short Bipolar is, “a condition in which emotions gain too much power over behaviour”

reported by PsychEducation.org. However there is a lot more to this disorder.

There are four types of Bipolar diagnosed today: Types 1, 2, 3 and Cyclothymic (or rapid

cycling). Type 1 being the most extreme and getting less extreme down to Cyclothymic. If a

sufferer has type 1,2 or 3 they will suffer from highs and lows for very long periods of time,

whereas if you are Cyclothymic you will go up and down very quickly and suddenly. The

mood swings that a person will suffer are very extreme, from the point where you think you

are, “Invincible...without a care in the world...like you can do anything – even fly!”, to the

point where you can‟t get out of bed and have such low self-worth that you will often

experience suicidal thoughts. In fact Mentalhealth.com reports that, if bipolar is left

untreated it has a 15% risk of suicide and it is the, “third leading cause of death among people

aged 15-24 years”.

The most important symptom to remember, however, is that the behaviour is always

extremely destructive.

Despite all that however, if medicated, it is believed to carry some positives. Although there

is little scientific evidence, studies have often found that bipolar sufferers are often very

talented and clever and are generally extremely driven and high-flying. It is believed that

there is a certain type of personality associated with many sufferers, meaning that these

things that can cause destruction can also help drive you to achieve very successfully. Maybe

this is why so many celebrities have recently reported that they suffer from the disorder,

because it was the Bipolar that was driving them in the first place?

Or, possibly, the journey one must go through to get diagnosed has simply got easier! Both

Marie Claire and Garry Mulloy told, YOU, that they had a long and difficult struggle to get

diagnosed which was made even stranger by the fact that Bipolar is believed to be genetic

and they both had a family history of the disorder! Marie Claire told YOU, “When Bipolar

diagnosis used to be considered you had to have three recorded or hospitalised episodes of

Mania or depression. In my case it took ten years, involving hospitalised anorexia at 15

where I dropped to just below four stone, an extreme drug habit when I was 18 to 20 and

Perinatal depression when I was pregnant at 25.” She continued to say, “I was surprised it

took so long to diagnose me as Type 2 and Cyclothymic because I knew I was Bipolar

because my mother, sister and grandfather were all Bipolar and yet it took ten years and more

than one attempt at suicide.” While Garry went on to tell me a complete carbon copy of this

event, saying, “I don‟t think the NHS take Bipolar very seriously. It wasn‟t until I was 21

and studying computer science at university and I had a breakdown that they first suspected

it. I couldn‟t believe it took so long because my mother, uncle, cousins and grandfather were

all Bipolar. When they told me, I was Type One, I thought, „Well my nine year old niece

could have told you that!”

A few years ago the process was very different, and that must be, in part, due to the fact that

there is nothing physical to really test for. You struggle to see any abnormalities in the brain

through the traditional MRI scans or blood tests. Marie Claire believes that, “this is why the

process was so long-winded – there is nothing to test for. Just like depression!” It would

appear that there is a ray of light at the end of the diagnosis tunnel. For, according to

psycheducation.org “Although it has taken years to be certain, there is now fairly good

agreement that the frontal cortex (which is associated with decision-making and controlling

impulsive behaviour) shrinks in size when bipolar disorder is allowed to progress. This is

basically the same result which has been seen in severe forms of depression which remain

untreated.”

Hooray! Evidence that will finally let all non-believers know that this is a real condition!

The diagnosis procedure has also changed, although Faye Munro was appalled that in these

two cases no attempt seemed to have been made to check the family history, she said,

“Generally if you have a hospitalised or recorded episode of mania or depression and there is

a history of Bipolar disorder in your family then we can usually diagnose it then and there. If

not, you will be classed as having, „Bipolar affective disorder‟ and will be given a mood

stabilising drug.”

So, in one way, a wonderful revelation that now people do not have to suffer for years in

order to get a diagnosis but, have they now made it too easy? It seems it could, in fact, be the

case that actually some of these many celebrities are only, in reality, classed as having

Bipolar Affective Disorder. And this, in turn, could be the reason so many people now seem

to suffer from Bipolar.

It is like anything, if we had Christmas every day it would no longer be special or important,

and just like that, if everyone has Bipolar disorder it trivialises the disease, making it simply,

“attention seeking”.

Faye Munro had a lot to say about the media‟s hand in this: “I think the media only report on

something if there is an extreme reason for it. If a celebrity says they have Bipolar it is big

news and if a sufferer robs a bank it is newsworthy. They forget to remind people that these

are extremes and not the case for most sufferers. I don‟t think people‟s opinions of mental

health have changed much since the old asylums.” So too did Garry Mulloy “I think people‟s

perceptions are too prehistoric.” It is true that in the last century our approach towards

mental health has advanced. Gone are the days we used to believe it was something in the

blood and that we could simply cure it by draining enough or putting patients in torturous

situations for days. We now seem to understand that it is a brain defect and while we may

not be able to cure it, it can be managed. Marie Claire says: “You wouldn‟t send a

schizophrenic out into the world without medication, and you shouldn‟t send a bipolar

sufferer out without it either”.

Unfortunately, the main problem seems to be that nowadays, we like to think that we

understand this disease, when in fact, we don‟t. It truly seems that we believe that if we met

a bipolar sufferer in the street we would either think that they were just attention seeking or

that they were about to kill us and that they should be locked up and the key thrown away. Is

that really how we believe other people should be treated? Instead of thinking that we

understand something maybe we need to take the time to truly understand it so we can treat

people how they truly deserve to be treated.

We still have a long way to go to understand all the wonders of the human mind. But if the

latest mental health, “Bible” is to be believed, and we are all going to be labelled as mad,

crazy, insane, schizo, weird, then isn‟t about time we learnt all we could about these diseases

so that we know not to fear, be ashamed or trivialise them? If schizophrenia has been classed

as the cancer of the mind, then maybe the best way to understand mental health is to compare

them to more general illnesses that we all seem to have a better understanding of.

Remember, you may think that you are comfortably, “normal” right now, but most disorders

show themselves when they are triggered. Tomorrow you might suddenly be thrown up in

the air and labelled as something completely different. If you are, “normal” one day you are

no less, “normal” the next. Maybe all of us are normal, or maybe we are all a little crazy.

That doesn‟t have to be a bad thing! Don‟t be ashamed and don‟t do what so many others

have done and try and remove yourself from the disease. You are who you are, and as Marie

Claire said: “You can‟t try and define where one thing ends and the other begins. I have

sometimes questioned my sanity, but I now know that it is who I am.”