Bi-polar

[mitzigirl_123]

Can I ask a very controversial question without offending anyone?

With all the mental health issues now prevalent in modern society that affects a lot of people from all walks of life, I wonder if that disorder would be so prevalent if they lived in war torn country or environment where they had to live on their wits, hunt to survive or fight or flight?

Do you think the diagnosis of "bi-polar" would be so common?

Don't shoot me down, I am just curious?

[captainbovine]

could be more people don't mind being called bi polar, they mind being called schizophrenic though:|

[blackburn_stevie]

Mitzi .... There are folk, kids and adults, with medical problems along the same lines as the one that you mention. However, it is my opinion that there are also a lot of folk, kids and adults, out there who have been labelled as a sort of "convenience". By that, I don't mean to imply that they are swinging the lead, far from it. I just mean that the overworked doctors find it a lot easier to attach a label to a patient and so get the doctor/patient ratio up to the required specs. Again, I ain't knocking the doctors by saying that. I just think, personally, that junk food, additives, E numbers etc that go into convenience foods have a lot to answer for.

[mitzigirl_123]

My understanding of the term "Bi-polar" is a "label" given to people who cannot effectively manage their emotions when having to cope with every day life, its up and downs and general life experiences – they are either “up” or “down” and cannot find a balance between the two or find a happy medium and acceptance.  Is that what it is?

My understanding of a schizophrenic is somewhat different and I have only worked with two in my life and my observations, rightly or wrongly are/were, that they not only hold an unrealistic concept of reality but their perceived thoughts and interpretations of life were not dissimilar to that a fantasist and is a totally different kettle of fish to someone who is diagnosed as “bi-polar” struggling to come to terms with life's experiences and the acceptance of their experiences.

Yes?  No?

I have often wondered how a schizophrenic or someone who is diagnosed as “bi-polar” would react if placed in a different environment where they're lives were on the line as per my original question?  Would their first reaction be to commit “suicide” or would it be “flight” to survive?

[papko]

It could well be a symptom , of the sheer "pointlessness "of todays existence

 Everything is done for you , from the cradle to the grave , and because no effort is expnded , its not appreciated .

 You could also use the same statement to explain any amount of current human behaviour ,

 the whole gamit of mental health , then there is self destructive behaviour like drink , drug and gambling addictions , and not forgetting obesity .

Personally I think , if everyone had to kill a pig or a calf and butcher it themselves  , they would think differently of food . which does tie in with the rise of obesity and the rise of processed food , supermarkets , and the concept of "food " as anything but a nourishment .

 getting back to your point about war zones , I would say it would be a great thing if everyone , wen toff to one , we could have a permanent war zone in Asia (Afghanistan ? )

 and our folk could go out for definite time period , with a certianty that a % will not come back or or come back maimed .

 Would do wonders for our society , amke people appreciate their lives , though would attract a lot of "legal action and compenastion claims no doubt "

 Something will have to be in place , to make us exempt from prosecutiion    

[ilove2patch]

Years ago Bi Polar was called Manic Depression. It is a very real condition.

[barbara.1482]

Hi Mitzi 🙂 It's a good question and an interesting one too.

I've no idea about the schizophrenic, but I used to live near a Manic depressive who was frightening when she was having one of her episodes. I imagine it depends on how her brain   was working at the time, whether she would take action, if her life was put in danger.

My guess is she would! I'll be interested to see anymore replies on the subject. 🙂

[Anonymous]

hi all, well could I be classed as bi-polar? I go all mushy and cry loads at the mention or even to look at a photo of my lost angel bonnie.........even now typing this I have a heavy heart and I know that a dark cloud has descended over me just in thinking of precious memories of a love that is now lost, but could I also be schizoid because of those little voices I hear in my mind telling me to get a life she was only a dog..................but a dog who was so loved. so which am I ? as said I would say most celebs just go for the sympathy tag............oh look she's bi polar, ahh what a shame. each and every one of us has a personal problem, but most just get on with it.

[mitzigirl_123]

I understand that everyone has had life experiences good and bad and some will have experienced more than others but there is always someone somewhere who has had shared experiences although how it affects them is of course relative.  However, it still begs the question that those diagnosed as “manic depressives”, Schizophrenics or as “bi-polar”, would their symptoms and thinking behaviours have the same impetus if they were plucked out of their environment and placed in another less protected?  Would they still feel suicidal and helpless or would instinct take over where they swiftly adopt a mentality to survive.

I wonder how those diagnosed with any of the above, who frequently have suicidal tendancies would react in a real life and death situation if someone else was holding the gun?

* Gives a quick wave to Barbara*

[aernethril]

Firstly, bi-polar can be a very disabling condition to have to live with and is far from not being able to manage ups and downs.  I have a neighbour who, if he doesn't take his meds, is very likely to (and has) move into a phase where he is out of control, utterly irrational and likely to act in a way that puts himself in danger, cause his condition to worsen and ultimately be hospitalised for months.

Different people have different levels and experiences just as they do with the 'common cold' or being in a car accident and suffering shock - there are common symptoms and there are wide differences in how a person can cope at any time.  The bid difference is that there is no actual cure as with almost all mental health conditions - they are life long and can be managed but not cured.

To answer your question about how people would handle their condition if in a third world country or in a war zone, well it's harsh and it can be inhumane as has recently been highlighted in the news about those who suffer in countries in many Asian countries and Afghanistan, and in some African societies, they may face death if their neighbours believe they are being driven by devils.

Whilst having a structured life and positive things to think about and get on with may help some people in developed countries as part of a  care programme, for many even that is not an option and many of those who are unable to cope in third world countries just starve if their families cannot look after them.

In 'war torn' countries they are those who are face being the most likely to be used by whatever faction 'recruits' people as expendable troops and some have been exterminated as a matter of 'expediency' by whatever regime wields power.

[cee-dee]

I think your question goes way beyond the RT.

My own opinion (for what it's worth) is that the current enviroment of sufferers exacerbates a predisposition to the disorder.

On that basis, I'd say that yes, a change would help BUT "damage" will already have been done so a change may only prove to be marginally effective.

[duck_a_lorange]

It very definitely runs in families.

So genes plus possibly a trigger (environmental or maybe a virus).

Mental illness 'caused by chemistry':

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-22565276

Building a biological model of mental illness:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-22566508

Flu in pregnancy 'may raise bipolar risk for baby' :

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-22447160

Five psychiatric disorders 'linked':

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-21613924

In a third-world country they'd be chained up, just like they used to be here.

[**bustysinclaire**]

Both illnesses are very complex and complicated ones to understand at the best of times and not always down to how a person does or doesn't cope with life.

They are both afflictions that chemical imbalances in the body is what causes many of the symptoms of them both.

From my own experiences with family members and close friends suffering with one or the other, they do seem to be linked on occasions.

They are both terrible illnesses to suffer from, both very very dibilitating, but both can be treated quite effectively with the right medications, love and patience.

So to answer mitzi, I really don't think your question could be answered, each individual can suffer in completley different ways, I don't think even the medical profession could answer that one.

One thing I will say is, you cannot blame the sufferer at all for their condition they are both illnesses and servere ones.

I will also add too, that all the sufferings of the life we know now are a sign of the times. We are in the last days of this system of things, the bible describes them as ctritical times hard to deal with so you can understand why so many do suffer with terrible depressions. The fact we (mankind) is so far removed from God and perfection is one reason why there is so much illness and so many afflictions.

[fashionable*ways]

Thinking back to Maggie Thatcher’s iniquitous “Care in the Community”, a nightmare which still continues today, is surely as far as anyone requires to go, to look at people, from all walks of life, finding themselves in a war torn country, which used to be the streets of their home village, town or city.

Untreated people with bi-polar / manic depression / or schizophrenia, are living the best way that they know how, many using alcohol and /or street drugs to try to control their symptoms, or at least ‘escape’ them for a little while.     

Living in their own mental war-zones, living off what little wits they have, to steal, beg, drag “prizes” out of litter bins, mug people more vulnerable than they are, living on the streets, in back alleys, in doorways, with so little provision being made by way of Hostels, or their degree of mental illness or alcoholism, or other drug addiction masking their original, untreated mental illness, meaning they’re totally unacceptable residents anywhere. 

Many in their own War Zones end up in Hospital, where they’re treated for their physical wounds, yet again diagnosed with whatever their ‘mental illness’ is, cleaned up, medicated, and sent back into their War Zone territory with a bottle of pills, or, they just up and leave Hospital, as their need for alcohol or other drugs is so strong. 

Of course there are ‘functioning’ sufferers of bi-polar / manic depression / or schizophrenia, but that’s not what your question was specifically about? 

I think there are more than enough bi-polar / manic depressives / or schizophrenia sufferers to serve to answer the question you posed, already populating every village, town and city, to answer the question, living in their own hell of War Zones, who ‘hunt’ the only way they know how, trying to live on their malfunctioning wits, and there will always be those who will fight and kill, as in violence exacerbated by their illness and the only way of life which they see open to them, over which they have little or no choice, and there are those who cannot fight, and for who ‘flight’ isn’t even an option).

I (personally) don’t believe people can be ‘cured’ by introduction to a hostile environment, when the cause of most of those suffering from bi-polar / manic depression / or schizophrenia illnesses have a chemical imbalance in their brain, and there are many who have also suffered unbearable traumas which they’ve either not been able to overcome, or can’t find the right help to overcome.

There are some sufferers for who the medications seem to be either acceptable, despite some none too pleasant side effects, but even that doesn’t guarantee a home, a job, and income, and those who can’t tolerate the medications at all, and even those who rebel against the medications as there are some aspects of their illness which they seem to have an addiction to, for example the ‘highs’, but who are cut-throat-suicidal in their ‘lows’.   

Medications can help manage the illnesses but aren’t a cure.

[**bustysinclaire**]

#13

Great post.

But there will soon be a cure for all ills.:-x

[geographically*challenged]

My sister is bi polar.

She's on drugs to keep her level but sometimes she thinks shes ok and stops taking her drugs.

After a while she goes very religeous beling herself to be the mother of Jesus as she says her name is Mary.

Well it isnt. Mary is her middle name.

When she starts to go bi polar she is impossible and she gets sectioned until she is back to normal.

Sorry. Back to normal is the wrong name but while she's so religeous nobody can get round her till she's on different drugs to get her back.

Years and years ago while on one of these does she jumped from a motorway bridge and disabled herself never to walk again.

She constantly tells the psyciatrist who she is but he didnt listen really till my brothers told him exactly what she was like.

He said 'No' you dont know. She is doing this and doing that'.

They said if he was so good then just mention Jesus to her.

Fortunately h did and she really started at him saying she was the moyther of Jesus and that he was coming again and he would take her to be at his right hand side. She also says there are a few christian song writers who write her lines in the hymns and they were about her.

After  while he came back to my brothers and sad they were correct and theycould see it better than he could as he only saw her when she was on a downer.

Fortunately I believe at the moment she is ok and on a level but she's at a secial home where the peope who run it are under srict instructions that if she takes a turn then theyv got to tell them and they will tell the psyciatristso he gts er in (but it takes a while before she will willingly go).

[10phizz]

My beloved son in law was bi-polar, probably inherited from his father who left a well paid job when he got God and gave it all up to become a preacher............nothing wrong in that you might say?...........except he had a large family and money was never plentiful.

My SiL was much better when he was being selfless........painted orphanages in Europe back when they were terrible places with children treated as animals.

But his demons could never be conquered...........and eventually he took his own life and left us bereft.

His legacy ?...........his son, my beloved grandson is also bi-polar. I fear for his future, if he has one.

[10phizz]

Busty...........I agree , there is a cure for all ills.

its called death................ and lasts for all eternity

[bankhaunter]

It may well be that in a war zone, it would simply be less noticeable.

The difficulty of situations such as long lasting conflict is that the abnormal becomes the norm.

Thinking back to Maggie Thatcher’s iniquitous “Care in the Community”, a nightmare which still continues today,

The move towards care in the community started in the 1950s and 1960s, it was intended to remove the stigma of mental illness, to bring sufferers into the mainstream of society giving them back their civil rights instead of locking them away in special institutions.

Unfortunately there are not many votes in mental illness.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/229517.stm

[al**bear]

I would say loads of the most fearsome warriors were Bi-Polar

Blair 'Paddy' Mayne, being a perfect example, the craziest nutter ever in the British Army and the most  decorated. Loads of bravery Awards and Medals incl

DSO + 3 Bars

Legion D'Honneur

Croix De Guerre with Palm

3 REAL fighting senior Officers a Brigadier and 2 Generals,put him up for a VC, only for stuffed shirted orcs, who'd never left The War Office, refused it, "He wasn't the right kind of chap  for a VC"

 a near Mirror image in the States, although they did use their one as a major recruiting and Publicity asset later, whereas we flung Paddy on the scrap heap after the War.

Audie Murphy,

their most decorated Soldier also with major depression problems , loads now say it was PTSD, but People who knew Him say his problems started long before his War exploits. he was a loner with an absent Dad and then lost his Mum at 16.

----------------------

People who fought along side them said they only   really came alive in the heat of battle , the rest of the time, they were surely and on a knife edge of either violence, or utter despair

'Paddy' used alcohol and Murphy used sleeping pills to dull the hurt

-------------

I see loads of Idiots asking on Twitter, what has Stephen Fry got to be depressed about -Idiots