So, let me put forward this disclaimer now: this is not about making fun of people suffering from this mental disorder. It used to be called manic-depression, and believe me, this is not something to make fun of.
source: Wikimedia Commons
I have a nephew who suffers from severe bipolar disorder. It's not easy for me to write about this, for I have no idea about what it feels like to have this condition; I only observe the external signs, and we all try to deal with his extreme mood-swings as best as we can. He has made one attempt to take his own life during one of his depressed stages, and often slips into psychosis during the manic ones. And boy, can he be scary when he's hyper; he works out a lot and is an imposing figure, even when in the best of moods, standing almost two meters tall, dreadlocks tucked away under a rasta hat, and with muscles as hard as steel. Trust me: you do not want to stand in his way when he's psychotic, and his parents often had to pick him up from the local police station...
For years he has been committed to an asylum, where he got his mandatory prescription drugs, the "mood stabilizers" and anti-psychotics, but ultimately this was no success; I could see him getting fat and he just seemed to stop caring about anything at all. If these mood stabilizers are simply mood killers, if they have the same effect as a lobotomy where aren't cured, but just become extremely indifferent about their own suffering, I wonder what's worse, the disease or the cure?
I haven't spoken to him in years now, something I have to deal with shortly, but what I hear from my uncle and aunt is that he's doing relatively okay and that he even takes his medicine voluntarily now; "medicines have gotten much better now", my uncle assures me... I don't know about that and don't trust anything coming from the medical industrial complex as their primary aim is not to cure people, but to keep making money from sick people. Still, if my nephews life really improves and if he chooses to use them by himself, I'm all for it. Like I said: I'll have to go on that trip and visit him one of these days.
Almost 15 years ago, I was introduced to the Dutch writer Pieter Overduin; on his website you can read that he has suffered from bipolar disorder, but that he hasn't suffered from mood swings for almost a decade now. His manic depression was accompanied, as it often is, with a mild form of schizophrenia, again something we do not make fun about. But... Pieter IS allowed to make fun of himself, so he did. He wrote two books that have been translated into English also, dealing with this condition, both with brilliantly funny titles. His first book was called "I love myself... and the feeling is mutual" and "the sequel" he called "God is confused, He thinks he's Pieter". I would say these titles come from a brilliant mind, but that wouldn't be accurate: these titles came from at the very least two minds...
Bipolar disorder (depression & mania) - causes, symptoms, treatment & pathology
There I did it: I did make fun of the mentally ill... But in my defense, both Pieters enticed me to do it... I read the second book in which he describes how he thought himself to be Ghandi and then God, only to return to a state of deep depression. What's so good and helpful about this book is that it also contains the experiences of his family and friends; this gives us a sense of what it's like for the people in his direct environment. If you want an open, lighthearted and somewhat humorous introduction into the mind(s) and world of someone with bipolar disorder, I can recommend this book, and probably his first book is good too.
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