The news is now saying the man that did the Boston bombing hoax this year is bi-polar. He says he is an art student and it was all a performance. Why do people always have to blame idiotic behavior on bi-polar people? A teacher sleeps with a student, oh they are bi-polar. A mother kills her children, oh she is bi-polar. A man walks into a store and opens fire killing people, yep, he's bi-polar. What the hell, I'm bi-polar and I have no thoughts on doing any of this stuff, but because all these news reports I feel like a criminal or a leper every time I have to tell someone I'm bi-polar. Can't they find something different to say? Maybe that they were suffering from a disease that effected impulse control in a more severe way than a regular bi-polar person normally would?
Bi-polar disorder seems to be something people like to use as an excuse for awful behavior. Sometimes it seems like a good by-word to many people anyway. Acts of violence is something that very often happens when people are not in control of themselves, or under a very altered state of mind and that might be encouraged by bi-polar disorder, but I'm yet to see evidence that it's because of bi-polar disorder.
I agree with you there, but couldn't that also be almost a split personality? They become a person they normally aren't? That's the problem also with bi-polar. People don't understand it. People often think that bi-polar IS split personality and it isn't. A person with bi-polar is the same person and identify as so, but they just have different activity levels.
thats the media for you, these people may have been bi-polar but that isnt the reason they did what they did. Media folk are leeches, they latch on to popular/trending notions and run with it. I wouldnt pay any attention to it, anyone willing to judge you because you're bi-polar isnt really worth the time of day to be honest.
Yeah - to tell you the truth I was falsely diagnosed with bi-polar disorder a few years ago when I was in my early teens. It was instead extreme depression. So the subject isn't alien to me. It is certainly not split personality, it's mania and depression, it's the way your brain works rather than the way it functions, if you know what I mean. The media will often use key words to get information across to people in short spaces of time, and a lot of the time it's very shitly worded, unfortunately.
Same reason they blame introverted behavior or video games as the reason someone went on a spree. The media loves to drum up a specific, immediate blame for their audience. To them, it's much quicker and easier than saying, "they had a mental disorder that couldn't be treated for this or that reason, so we're going to discuss why." As Lae said, they feed on popular stereotypes. Why do you think there are movies that show people with mental disorders* as stark raving crazy, or introverts waiting for that extrovert in shining armor to come 'save' them from that unhealthy mentality of wanting to be alone for long periods of time. I know the feeling. As an introvert and a gamer, I get very pissed when they say games or introversion is what caused someone to do something heinous. It makes me feel like an outsider, like I should be ashamed of myself for choosing to spend time alone playing The Legend of Zelda or reading a book, rather than partying in some big clubhouse getting shitfaced off of liquor. Sorry, I don't find puking my guts out in a public restroom entertaining. I'll wrap myself up in a warm blanket, in my favorite cozy chair and do what I want thank you. * mental disorder in the movies being "the voices in my head telling me to do things" type, mind. Even that's annoying. Not all mental disorders have that. EDIT: Hell, it's not just the introverts and those with mental disorders that get the flak in medias. Another classic stereotype is the cancer/disabled kid that serves as an inspiring beacon for everyone who don't have cancer, who are not disabled. Apparently they're not allowed to once be bitter and complain, not once question if God/the Fates/the Universe was some sick bastard for making them have cancer/be disabled. They're supposed to be pure-hearted, sweet little angels who are stoic, who never get frustrated every now and then. No, they have to serve as a walking Beacon Of Inspiration(tm) and if there's a cancer/disabled kid that complains about it, they're singled out as doing the wrong thing. Another version is of the helpless cancer/disabled kid who literally can't do a damned thing until the non-cancer/disabled people intervene and "give them the courage". People love stereotypes, because it allows them to put a human being in this flat, one-dimensional category and say that this is all they are.
Funny how you mention the media pushing stereotypes when you indulge in one a few sentences later yourself From my understanding it's not just the media but all of us who apply quick labels to rationalise things. With unusual events it's even more convenient to slap a label that explains a problem or event away. That leaves you with a sense of satisfaction, that you've worked the problem out...The Columbine massacre comes to mind...When you can't explain something it can create a moral panic. A lot of the time there are answers out there to be found, reasons which explain, but I also believe that on occasion there are some things that don't lend themselves to rational analysis very well.
There just has to be a way to explain things better than to put a certain group of people in a box. Why not call it homicidal rage, homicidal delusion, or something like that, than placing a label on it that will later effect other innocent people so negatively?
Well, it just goes to show you how wrong lumping people together is. I'm an introvert. I don't want to be saved, nor do I want to be looked at as weird or odd. I certainly don't want people to think I'm crazy just because I want to be by myself rather than party all the time. Just like I'm sure the extroverts who party don't want to be seen as dimwitted idiots who puke in public toilets. It's funny how they push for the introverts to be 'saved', while we don't see the introverts doing that to the extroverts. But I agree with you, Mackers. People want to find a quick, easy solution so let's blame all the introverts or the countless, countless mental disorders that aren't all the same. It's much quicker than trying to find the actual root cause, which can take a long, long time to find.
People who are bi-polar can become violent or do things that cause major problems. I have a very good friend who's well known to the local cops and has been in and out of the hospital because of the violent behavior caused by her episodes. Once they're under control, she's a lovely person. The problem comes in when it's not the illness causing the behavior but, as said, the media latches on to that. And, btw, there's no such thing as "split personality". There are a couple of disorders which include personality shifts, fugue states, etc, but "split personality" is another of those things that Hollywood has grabbed and hung on to like Super Glue.
It sounds like your friend has intermittent explosive disorder that may be in combination with her bi-polar then. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intermittent_explosive_disorder Let me add, most bi-polar people when going through a manic phase are happy and outgoing, not violent.
I have a random question for people: If I walked into the doctors and told a load of lies about all sorts of depressive thoughts I was having, saying I was suicidal and stuff, and then talked about incidents of mania and hyperactivity (say my mind often raced etc) could I be diagnosed with bi-polar?
No they would talk to you a few times to make sure that you are being consistent. If you said you were suicidal they would lock you up on a 72 hour hold for treatment and to be protected from hurting yourself.
Lew it's sad but you're always going to get that type of crap with the media. They're going to opt for the sensationalism over a complicated understanding any day
Say I was determined to hoodwink them? What I'm trying to get at here is, is the diagnosis completely dependent on what I say personally?
You have to take test that are designed to spot lies, the truth would come out at some point. People attempting what you describe are the ones who prevent metal illnesses to be taken seriously, and people with real problems get labeled as lazy slobs. I'd rather be considered a violent murder that "just lazy."
@Mackers - Well, I imagine they would check your medical history to see if you had any prior episodes that match what you're describing, but yeah, they would probably act according to procedures because it would be unethical to turn you away. After all, how do they know that you're not having a sudden mental breakdown and are in need of immediate medical care?
Sometimes if you have family close they will ask them questions about your behavior as well. They will also ask you questions about work habits, grooming, school, etc. It gets pretty in depth. They will even ask you questions about any family history of mental illness. These people are trained to know who is telling a lie and who is sick. You might be able to fool them, but it isn't going to be easy. That's the thing about psychology where some don't consider it a science, there is no physical proof some times, though some scientist think that mental illness can be determined through CAT scan of the brain and seeing what areas of the brain are more active than others. What I tell people is, why would I WANT to fake having a mental illness? Unless I get disability which doesn't pay much, there are a lot of jobs out there I can no longer get, AND I lose my second amendment right to purchase a fire arm. Why would I lie and lose so much?
Sounds about right. They'll investigate into the matter because if anything else, they have to take this seriously. If someone says they have a mental disorder, then these folks need to be there to offer any aid they can.
It's possible - but most of her outbursts occur when she's "exuberant" to the point of recklessness, then someone calls the cops (disturbing the peace, speeding, etc), and when they show up, the anger pops up because they "don't understand having fun". She just basically has no control of her emotions in any direction.
Lack of impulse control and destructive behavior are the biggest things about manic behavior, but like I said people usually tend to stay happy and outgoing not get angry. I use to spend a ton of money at strip clubs, then a few years of that and I gained a sex addiction and slept around a lot. A few years later I became a bad gambler, before finally moving on to becoming addicted to playing World of Warcraft. It's very difficult to live with because you have to try to manage your addiction in a way that they are the least harmful as possible.
I tend to get extremely violent when things slip out of control. I never hurt the people I love because I am still conscious about them, but I punch holes through drywalls and doors. I also throw a lot of stuff.
Well, it really depends. On one hand, doctors are generally quite good at sussing out a faker, but only if a faker has relatively poor knowledge of psych symptomatology. We often see people who committed a crime, or are waiting for a court hearing, or have some other motivation when trying to fake psychosis or mania, and we generally figure them out straight away, because their symptoms and experiences, their speech most of all are inconsistent. Speech is for me the most diagnostic aspect of mental state examination, because it is exceedingly difficult to fake psychotic or manic or clinically depressed speech authentically. And even if they managed to fake it on admission, they'd have difficulty mimicking a clinical picture as it develops in response to therapy. Plus, the medications that are used for psychosis or mania and even for clinical depression, will give more severe side effects if a person doesn't need them, so whichever way they try to play it, something fishy will be apparent fairly soon. Obviously, it is very important to ascertain that a person is genuinely requiring psych treatment because so much of it can give long-term side effects and just like you wouldn't give insulin to a non-diabetic, you should be as vigilant as possible not to give Lithium or Clozepine or haloperidol to someone who isn't suffering with psychosis or mania. The only ones who genuinely fall through cracks, and that's still rare, are psychopaths, because they are expert manipulators and very skilled at mimicking. But this is most often in the forensic system anyway, so the considerations there are different from an ordinary psych ward. If you had someone who actually knows all the ins and outs of the disorder they are faking, then they could fool a psychiatrist at the admission stage. In fact, a long time ago, some doctors, I think in the US in the 70s conducted the experiment, they all chose mental illnesses they'll fake and they presented themselves to various emergency departments, and all of them managed to fool the psychiatrists so much so that a couple of them had trouble convincing them that they lied. Also, you have the phenomenon of different psychiatrists favouring certain diagnoses, so, while a symptom is universally recognised, it's interpretation in context might differ from a clinician to clinician. Still, a lot of psych treatment is step-wise, depending on the core symptom, there are medicines that are tried, and it's the matter of 'whatever works'. So much so that we even have a shizoaffective disorder diagnosis, that is quite difficult to treat, and anything from antipsychotics, antidepressants, mood stabilisers or sedatives may or may not be required.
That's the difficulty with some aspects of psychiatry, is the wide window of interpretation from clinician to clinician. Say a person is quite melodramatic, and they have a tendency to exaggerate certain things, you can see how it's possible they could play up to their local GP about symptoms of , say, depression for example. This in turn might lead to a prescription of anti-depressants and then their complaints turn into a kind of self-fulfilling prophecy. If a person is genuinely sad, but not depressed, I can imagine it would be difficult for a doctor to make the distinction, when much of what his opinion is based on is coming from what his patient tells him. When the diagnosis is dependent to some extent on patients' fluctuating personalities, for me it's easy to see how you can stray into grey areas. Like someone else mentioned earlier, it's those kinds of instances which give genuinely ill people a bad name. I suppose this post of mine relates more to depression (Particularly mild/moderate instances of depression) than some of the more serious conditions, because psychotic symptoms and suchlike are pretty much self-evident and aren't as amenable to differences in personalities
Some people might disagree with me on this, but if you have short periods of time that you feel a little sad, first try some stuff on your own with research on the internet and changing your lifestyle before you go as far as seeing someone. That is of course unless you are suicidal. Then you need to see someone right away or go to the ER of your closest hospital. St. John's Wart, A good B-complex vitamin, exercise, getting out in the sunlight, and sex or masturbation are all things that can help elevate mood. AS I said earlier, once you are labeled as mentally ill, especially in the U.S., you lose some of your rights that other people keep. So as the saying goes, "Be careful what you wish for."
