Author: TeeJay

Posted: Wed Nov 07, 2012 5:23 am

Awww shucks … thanks orange doll. Part of me was hoping this thread would fade away unnoticed. I should be so lucky. Maybe that night I had some cold feet over my clucky partner. I kinda woke up the next day regretting this thread.

Anyway boxer I hear what you’re saying about bipolar. It definitely is a label that’s thrown around carelessly. The condition itself, when properly diagnosed, is actually pretty serious. It is the most fatal mental health diagnosis around. However, unlike schizophrenia which is quite polarising – once you become psychotic it’s pretty obvious there’s a problem – conditions like bipolar 2 seem to have more of a spectrum going on. Bipolar 1 (my diagnosis) is the classical form, and is only diagnosed when there’s symptoms of psychosis, delusions / hallucinations etc in the form of mania. And when that happens, it’s pretty obvious you’re sick. Some people with bipolar one end up getting labelled with schizophrenia, simply because the doctor doesn’t can’t notice the difference between a manic psychosis and a schizophreniform psychosis.

Something that does annoy me is when celebrities get labelled bipolar to get some kinda "get outta jail free" card. Where I’m from, this guy Matthew Newton who’s just a spoilt asshole seems to get outta trouble by pulling out the bipolar card. "I hit the concierge because I’m bipolar" etc. All of the sudden people conclude that people with bipolar are "dangerous", or that it’s some bullshit diagnosis that doesn’t mean anything that people use to get outta trouble. Then the next time he goes to court over something, he claims it was the "bipolar medicine" that messed with his head, and now he’s feeling so much better after rehab got him off his medications. WTF? A violent asshole is a violent asshole, whether or not they have bipolar.

Anyway…