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- whiskeyclone, on 04/18/2008, -0/+16[crazy_rant] This is almost as bad as those articles that make out that everyone with autism is a savant, when in reality "here are only about 100 recognized prodigious savants in the world" when estimates are at "1–2 per 1,000" suffering from some form of autism.
Bi-Polar disorder doesn't mean you are a genius, doesn't make you better at anything, doesn't make you a high achiever.
Likewise, it doesn't make you a suicidal nutjob, homicidal high-school shooting maniac, or anything else.
Bi-polar disorder pushes your mental state to extremes: if misery was 1/5 and elation is 5/5, most people hover around 2,3, or 4. Bi-polar suffers pretty much swing between 1 and 5, with a brief stop at 2 or 4 sometimes.
I've been suffering from bi-polar disorder for the best part of 8 years now - not I use the term suffering.
If anything my swings have held me back - sure I guess you'd class me as a fairly high achiever; good Bachelor degree, decent-job etc, but I have that in spite of my mental state, not because of it. I've tried medication but it just made me numb, and prolonged the swings when they happened. Tried counseling but it achieved nothing and just ate into my free time when I could be getting on with life.
Other people I know with what used to be called "Manic Depression" also hate it - calling it bi-polar disorder doesn't make it any better (sure it's a more accurate description because it notes the high as well as the low) but it's not something that people should envy or want. It's a ***** nightmare most of the time. On days that should be the happiest of your life, you can find yourself miserable - and times you should be hitting rock bottom (death of a close friend), you find yourself quite happy and wanting to go buy things. It sucks.
You get to feel things other people might not - extreme lows, and highs. But you also miss out on the regular human experience, and have your mood dictated by chemical activity, rather than letting your mood control the chemicals.
Also, pisses me off that more and more people are diagnosed as being bi-polar, especially at a young age. Seriously, the amount of people put on stabilizers when they are in their teens is absurd. Teens are means to throw hissy fits and act a bit pissy. This is what puberty does to you and your hormones. It just messes more people up by sticking them on meds when they don't need them, which then does mess with their brain chemistry. Same goes for diagnosing people with ADD, when all it really is a lot of the time is a lack of interest in school and simple short attention span (not a shock when you look at the state of most schools) - not to say that there are not people that do suffer from ADD, just think it's got to the same point as people being given Prozac and Seroxat - just because it sells more drugs to diagnose someone as having a vague disorder when really they are just human.
[/crazy_rant] - lekahe, on 04/18/2008, -1/+13Who thinks this man is a genius? Obviously only himself, when he is "high".
- grimward, on 04/18/2008, -0/+9I know this bipolar guy who also stopped taking his meds, and when he was up, he was pretty much the most incredible person to be around, but when he was down, he was THE douche bag in the world. He got meds, and became normal, but of course stopped taking his meds because he considered himself "superior" when he was on his highs, just like this guy does. The problem with these highs is that you as a person greatly overexaggerate your self worth and importance, thinking that you can pull anything off you put your mind too. And yes, in some instances, it does work having an energy boost and getting stuff done. But you're not a genious because of it.
So, to all bipolars out there, I just have to say, don't fall for the trap of thinking that everyone will put up with your ***** if you stop taking meds, because news flash, we "normals" get incredibly annoyed by your constant self-love and self-hate scenarios, and we don't have the ***** time to care. - BushIs12thCylon, on 04/18/2008, -0/+9Pretty sure I have unipolar disorder. I'm always set to awesome.
- felman87, on 04/18/2008, -4/+10DUDE, THIS ARTICLE IS AWESOME!!!......no wait, it sucks...
- neko, on 04/18/2008, -0/+5They say madness runs in our family. Some even called me mad.
And why? Because I dared to dream of my own race of atomic monsters, atomic supermen with octagonal shaped bodies that suck blood... - DangerCollie, on 04/18/2008, -0/+5Saying "bipolar" is like saying "mental illness". It's meaningless by itself. Bipolars can range from symptoms that are barely noticeable to full blown psychosis. Some can control their disease strictly through behavioral therapy, others are on some pretty heavy hitter medications. In between are the BP's who can control their symptoms as long as they stay medication compliant. Being dx'd bipolar is only the first step. From there they'll need to find out what kind and how bad. And it makes a difference if they're self-medicating with drugs and alcohol. It's not unusual for BP's to be co-diagnosed with some type of compulsive or addictive behavior. Drinking, gambling, shopping, sex...take your pick. One of the reasons I find visiting people in rehab so entertaining.
If this guy can control his symptoms with therapy, he's a light weight. Not everyone with bipolar is some kind of genius, they're just people and come in all flavors. Likewise there are many really intelligent people who don't have a mental illness. It is true that manic people can churn through a lot of work during their "up" times. I'd argue that anyone can cultivate productivity and creativity with discipline. You don't have to be mental to be creative, but it can give some people and interesting perspective. - saxreturns, on 04/18/2008, -0/+3Anyone interested in this should check out Stephen Fry's documentary on bi-polar disorder. I myself want to watch it again now; however I can't seem to remember what it was called or if it's available on the internet. Can anyone help me out here?
- Halotosis, on 04/18/2008, -0/+3I stopped bothering trying to explain biploar disorder... most people think it means your batshiat crazy. It does not. A lot of people with bipolar disorder live completely normal seeming lives, on the outside. On the inside, it's a freaking rollercoaster rider from hell. And the truth is, bipolar disorder usually manifests itself in episodes... you can go years being pretty much normal and then wham, due to stress or who knows what, you can flip out.
I had my first (and only, hopefully) major bipolar episode when I was 21-22. I was busy working two jobs, going to school, barely making it through each month when my life got thrown a curve ball... my car was stolen, involved in a high speed police chase and destroyed. I couldn't afford to replace it and my insurance wouldn't cover it. Overnight pretty much everything I had worked so hard for came unglued, including myself. I would spend days and days not sleeping followed by days and days of not being able to get out of bed, no matter how much I tried, I just couldn't function normally. It was the most awful and horrible experience of my life... however, I think it was also the most creative time of my life.
Eventually, I got the help I needed and got medicated. The medication probably saved my life (combined with the love and support of a great woman), I was on the verge of ending it myself when I sought help. However, I hope I never, ever have to see another shrink... they ***** my head up worse than it already was. I needed help to remove the excessive stresses in my life, get back on track, but all they wanted to do was poke around in my head and not help me solve my real life problems.
After I got my life back under my control, fixed the financial problems and all the other stupid problems I caused during my crazy period I pretty much returned to stability. I no longer take medications, they have their place, but they limit what I now know is the source of all my best work (I can get into the "zone" and spend three-four days obsessively working with little-to-no sleep, my mind is racing the whole time, it's an awesome feeling). I use meditation, exercise, healthy food choices, keep my life as simple as possible and I no longer drink or smoke... and hopefully, I will never have another major episode. - ralewis, on 04/18/2008, -0/+3*****
- inactive, on 04/18/2008, -1/+3Heroin gives you the same effect too. One minute you're flying through candy mountain on your titty copter, the next you're in an alley sucking off Johnny Rocketfingers for your next hit.
- nojingoist, on 04/18/2008, -1/+3The line:
If you are a genius *and* you can function by yourself, take care of yourself, and you do not harm others, then you are not mad. - DeathJux, on 04/18/2008, -2/+4"The difference between insanity and genius is measured only by success"
Also, I'll take madness with dash of genius plz. - saxreturns, on 04/18/2008, -0/+2Ok, I've found out it's called 'The Secret Life of the Manic Depressive'... still no video sources though.
- jerryn, on 04/18/2008, -0/+2Hey. If you are bipolar or have other afflictions that affect your mood, drugs are not the answer for most of us. Self discipline works for a lot of people. I think the simple article is on to something because there are a lot of people who are bipolar that complain that the drugs kill their creative edge. I believe that can be true. It takes a lot of self discipline to deal with the lows though, and sometimes the lows can be so bad that it can lead to self destruction. My estranged biological father is bipolar, this lead to an early divorce from my mom. He can do just about anything when he puts his mind to it, I wouldn't be surprised if he's tinkering with a car right now to achieve high mpg. When he's on the bottom end of the bipolar cycle, let's just say psycho and stalker are the first things that come to mind. I haven't spoken to him for at least 6 years now. I'm glad I didn't inherit that gene, maybe it's learned, or maybe I learned self discipline. I don't know. I don't want to know. I do know I have cycles of creativity and also cycles that I have a short fuse. I learned how to deal with it. It's called self discipline. If I didn't have it I wouldn't still be married to the same woman. I've never been officially diagnosed, I never wanted a diagnosis, and I don't want to pursue it. I'm pretty sure I'm in 100% control if I am, it's been a LONG time since I chucked something.
- slyzxx, on 05/20/2009, -0/+1My girlfriend is bi-polar the only medication she says works for her is weed. She is not allowed to smoke it due to the fact it is illegal. Lithium has some nasty side effects to her.
- bitcloud, on 04/19/2008, -0/+1greatly over exaggerating your self worth is a pretty good way to achieve "impossible" tasks...
but yeah.. wearing a "disorder" like a badge of honour is pretty flakey - rizla420, on 04/18/2008, -0/+1Another BiPolar diagnosed individual here. I'm 27, got diagnosed at 19. That was the high of the manic stage for me and the high is incredible, but I didnt really experience the debilitating lows. Eventually my parents and friends realized something about me changed and i got sent to the hospital for eval. They slapped the BP tag on me and gave me meds. The meds worked in the sense that it flattened me out. Actually gave me some more clarity, but the feeling of euphoria was gone. The racing thoughts were gone. The rapid speech when explaining my "extrodianary" ideas were gone.
Here's the catch. I stopped taking the meds after about 3 months because I saw it as a crutch. If I had/have a mental disorder, the way to fix it is not to give me a cane and say you're a cripple for the rest of your life. I decided on my own accord (while in a level mood) to consciously "fix" myself. I said if it happened to me naturally, i can balance myself out naturally. I havent taken the meds since. At that time I had dropped out of college (related to the BP) and started doing a lot of soul searching and reading. Read a ton of psych books, religious text (a lot of Kabbalah, before it was "cool"), and philosophy. I wanted to straighten out my house upstairs and get at that meaning (still havent found if btw).
There are two problems I see now with the bipolar epidemic. One is that its heavily tied to the drug companies. So doctors I think over diagnose people with bipolar, who might just be depressed. Second is that people are too pussyish to realize that depression is your mind/body's way of saying something is out of wack. Your body's illnesses are a feedback mechanism that alert you somethings wrong. What do you do? take some drugs to trick it that its normal? That works, but its a patch over a gaping ravine.
People in general need to do the hard stuff to fix themselves. If you've ever broken a bone and then had to do physical therapy. Its painful because of all the atrophy. That pain is the process of rebuilding your damanged limb. The same occurs in the mind. At least in my opinion.
I strongly believe that there is a direct correlation between the mind and the body. Mental ailments tend to manifest themselves externally.
Bipolar folks, i know it can be awesome and rough at the same time, but you can still maintain your creativity but keep it on the level. It requires effort and with that comes pain and struggle. I'm not a doctor, so if your ***** is major, go with what the (wo)men in white say.
Oh well, rant off. - inactive, on 04/18/2008, -0/+1Konichiwa, neko!
- bitcloud, on 04/19/2008, -0/+1who's mad now huh?? WHO'S MAD NOW?!
well yeah.. sure it's still you... - jerryn, on 04/18/2008, -0/+1I can relate to the mind racing but focusing obsessively, especially when I am working on a design or troubleshooting a problem. Also sometimes I'm stuck dreaming about the issue and resolving it in my sleep. Is this part of the disorder?
- Albion01, on 04/18/2008, -0/+1He'll be ok. Until the day he gets so depressed that he takes a gun to his head or even worse, someone else's.
- bitcloud, on 04/19/2008, -0/+1I think they call that homopolar disorder... just sayin.
- rizla420, on 04/18/2008, -0/+1That actually sounds alot like my estranged father, same guy maybe? j/k mines more of a philosopher musician, not handy inclined. You know what movie you might enjoy becuase I saw parallels of my father in the main character. King of California, with Michael Douglas.. i think. Check it out, good flick either way. Sort of Royal Tenenbaumish.
- dawngordon, on 09/10/2009, -0/+1reminds me of that movie beautiful mind, he was a genius apparently...
- rizla420, on 04/18/2008, -0/+1I've had similar experiences, I felt after a good sleep answers would come out. Theres something to be said about the unconscious mind at work.
- brokenex, on 04/19/2008, -0/+1Bi-polar disorder at the moment is a real gray area in psychology and psychiatry. It has become something of a catch all for emotional disorders. It's over diagnosed and misunderstood by too many physicians and psychiatrists. The symptoms and effects of bipolar also cover a vast spectrum of possibilities. Bipolar in the future I believe will be the crux of many debates in psychology and that define how we view human emotions and behavior.
- h0llywoodwh0re, on 09/15/2009, -0/+1Great article. A great deal of famous genius could be also considered crazy, such as Freud. Too many people who suffer from mental illnesses have man made chemicals forced down their throat. It's sad. I have been diagnosed and I am not shame of that mental illness due to it being linked to a past with 20 years of emotional, mental, and sexual abuse. I refuse to medicate myself because I believe that medication is only an easy way out for doctors. Doctors simply do not want to deal with those who may need intense therapy and to provide this they are loosing some money, so their solution is to shove man made chemicals down their throats and hope for the best. Medications can do horrid things to the person and to the body, which is why I refuse this and will never be medicated for mental illness with other options I have. Regardless of diagnosed mental illness I graduated high school with honors, I graduated college with honors, I have two degrees, and also before terminal illness was accepted into a fully paid medical school scholarship. My life changed drasticly with the diagnoses of terminal illness, sadly. However I would never go as far to say I'm a genius, I'm by no means not but just normal of myself and average. -- Someone earlier mentioned medical marijuana and I am highly in agreement and thankfully it is legal in the area which I live, works perfectly for my mental illness and terminal illness (so win win). -- My question is who actually defines what 'normal' is, is there really a normal?
- liah, on 04/18/2008, -0/+1Stephen Fry.
I don't need to say anymore regarding genius and bipolar disorder. - rizla420, on 04/18/2008, -0/+1ahah, thats funny, reminds me of the questsions I was asked. My whole eval was very interesting. One question i distincly remember was "does a rolling rock gather no moss". My answer was dont push the ***** rock. Later int he notes i was told that I had an "anger" issue.
My eval went something like this. I'm chillen at home bipolaring out, writing stuff or drawing diagrams of how consciousness works. Then my mom goes hey, you have a doctors appointment. I thought to myself "hmm.. odd for me to have an appointment without ever being told I had one scheduled"
We drive into a city not far from the town, which further tipped me off something wasn't right. We pull up to the emergency room and we're waiting and my mom fills out some paperwork. I then start questioning here why were at the hospital. Eventually i get called, i look at my mom and say "what the ***** did you just do". THey have me put on the gown. I get walked into a waiting room inside of a secure room. No padded walls.
My room happened to be adjacent to a security room. The guy kept his door open for some reason, i noticed some monitors and such. Eventually i go into my room, the door wasnt locked, so i could walk around if i wanted to. I noticed a sign on the outside that said "This room is NOT monitored". Struck me as odd. Eventually i'm waiting for the doctor to show up. i take a seat on the bed, its one of those hospital beds that can recline in crazy angles.
I decide to lay down and set it so that my feet were up in the air and my head was low to the ground. He comes in asks me how i'm feeling and such, then started all the mental battery tests. (i'm still in the inverted position) Which I answered with creative responses to mess with him. Eventually he writes up his diagnoses and i ask him a question. I said if you guys are so worried about people possibly commiting suicide or hurting themselves why did you let me in with my keys (i had one of those long straps you get from college). I noticed there were outlets along the wall and proceeded to tell him how if I wanted to do soemthing, it could have been done.
When i was leaving i talked to the security gaurd that was in the room and asked him why the sign said i wasnt being monitored if I was, he said "oh, someone must have forgotten to change it".... Riiiiight.
Oh well, that was then. I havent thought about that day in awhile. - Halotosis, on 04/18/2008, -0/+0I don't know... I know when I'm in a "manic" mode I tend to have "delusional" sleep... often revolving around what I have been focusing on. My sleep isn't so much sleep as my body shutting off for a while. My mind keeps racing, but not in a rational way. Hard to explain. I've experimented with lucid dreaming during these phases before... Attempting to take control over the process of dreaming, but I always just wind up waking myself up (sometimes that can be extremely disorienting and scary, you may not know what is real and what isn't for a few seconds). More than once though, I've woken suddenly (100% awake) with the answer to a problem right there in the forefront of my mind.
- inactive, on 04/18/2008, -1/+1hahahaha!
- Berkana, on 04/18/2008, -3/+3No, conservatives have proven them selves to be ***** evil; they turn a blind eye to the horrendous abuses of the right wing to fixate on stupid little abuses of anyone not in their fold. They "strain out the gnat but swallow the camel." Modern conservatism is very likely the worst thing that has ever happened to modern American politics. The only conservatives that deserve to be called geniuses are Ron Paul supporters. At least they get what's going on.
- MPFpresents, on 07/28/2008, -0/+0Im glad you describe it as such, I couldnt put it any better. I was diagnosed years ago and at times it is useful but most times its a burden. After taking many types of medication I decided that MY creative edge also took a dive so I quit taking pills and started learning coping skills to use it more as a tool than an excuse.Since Ive been this way so long I wouldnt change it if I could cause then who knows what kind of crap Id be dealing with...HA HA!!!!
MPFpresents.com - greenfrod, on 04/18/2008, -0/+0The answer to most either/or questions is both. It is like saying "can a dog bark or wag its tail?" Most either/or questions are like that and tend to trap you in the same assumptions are the questioner. One of the ways to manipulate others to think as you.
- zlatinb, on 04/19/2008, -0/+0That explains why my doc thinks I'm bipolar. The truth is I'm just a genius, not crazy in any way.
- PaisleyTeal, on 04/18/2008, -1/+1my ex's family consider me a saint for lasting 22 years in a marriage with their bi-polar son/brother. waited until the younger child was graduated and filed for a divorce. couldn't take the drama.
- JehovahGyrate, on 04/18/2008, -2/+1Dugg for "suck-it-and-see process."
- distrachi, on 04/18/2008, -3/+1The delicate line between a diggworthy article and crap. . . not sure how this gets on front page.
- revrundtrask, on 04/18/2008, -3/+1I think I suffer from polypolar disorder
- inactive, on 04/18/2008, -13/+2Conservatives are genius and liberals are mad.
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