The Secret Life of the Manic Depressive ( Archived) (98)

how i admire Stephen Fry for his very brave and honest insight inot the illness that has caused him and thousands of other pain and suffering...all praise to the man who is helping us to understand this little mentioned problem.........more folk than we realise are affected, the famous actors such as richard dryfuess to name but one, are also suffers who are sharing their stories in an attempt to foster understanding of this "unspeakable" illness...not shame on those who suffer but shame on us us do little to understand or tolerate those with mental health problems...

Very true, I suffer from bi polar(a mood disorder) and when i open up to people about that they stop speaking to me because they think im crazy and that isnt true at all.

bi polar is the new name for manic depression, some one i love and care for is also a sufferer, if she had a brken leg then she would get lots of sympthay and understanding but when her illness is hidden people are afraid and react very badly..she is the mostbeautiful delightful intelligent person when she is well but when she becomes ill again she becomes an object of fear......so sad

yes that is very sad, we people that suffer are human beings too, we have feelings and its very hurtful when people act like that toward us

like i said shame on us who do not take the time to understand

I've been having bi-polar symptoms lately. In fact, at one point I was on Wellbutrin for it.

I believe that if I had a partner I wouldn't be bothered by this. My sister who works with people who have this disorder agrees that your environment and situation can indeed have an effect on this condition. After all, its ultimate cause is an imbalance of chemicals in the brain and having companionship and someone to share your feelings with can indeed affect your emotions which can ultimately affect your brain chemistry.

Of course, there are people who have seriously physical problems that cause their brain chemistry to get out of whack too. Changing their environment or social situation isn't going to do anything for them because their mental (or emotional) instability is actually due to physical problems.

I don't believe that my mood swings and depression is caused by physical problems. I believe it's just the result of living with loneliness for so long and not having anyone around to help balance me out. Not to imply that I would lean on a partner for this. Hopefully I would help to balance her out as well. It would be a mutual thing.

When I do feel deeply depressed I merely feel suicidal. By that, I mean that I don't feel angry or anything like that. I simply feel like I'd like to just turn life off. No hostility is involved. Just make it all go away.

On the other hand when I'm at the other extreme I'm also not dangerous in any way. I'll just simply get way over-ambition and want to do things, or start projects that I can't realistically deal with. I think if a person is in a professional situation that can be disastrous because they actually make promises and appoints when they are at the high-end that they simply aren't going to be able to keep or live up to. Then when they go back to the depths of depression again they even feel so much worse about not having lived up to all the things they said they were going to do. And that just adds to the depression and even invokes feelings of worthlessness or shame.

When I get depressed and feel suicidal I don't feel worthless or ashamed. I just simply want out. Just make the world go away. No judgments involved at all. I just don't want to do this anymore. The Wellbutrin helps too keep my from hitting that rock-bottom and feeling that way. Although I haven't been taking it lately. Shame on me!

I tell my sister that I need a partner to make me take my Wellbutrin. She says that if I had a partner I probably wouldn't need the Wellbutrin. I think she's right.

My oldest daughter is 20 and suffers from it.
She's tried to commit suicide twice and almost died two years ago. If I hadn't found her when I did, she would be.

Our relationship is strained since she doesn't take her medication and it causes her to get very anxious, upset, angry, or sleeps for days on her lows.

She lost her boyfriend a month before when he did hang himself. He suffered from it as well.

My heart is with those who suffer, and those who need to be there unconditionally for those who do.

That's a real shame about your daughter's boyfriend.

The sleeping for days is also kind of self-perpetuating. The more a person feels like they've just wasted valuable time the more depressed they get. I really try to force myself to do at least some simple thing everyday and I keep convincing myself that this was good. I give myself pats on the back for anything at all that I do that is positive and try to ignore all the time I wasted because of depression.

The competitive nature of our society is not good for people with this condition because society just goes along with the guilt trip and reinforces it by telling these people that they are just lazy etc. Being made to feel responsible for it just make the depressed person all that much more depressed.

I hope your daughter finds a way out of her predicament. The two worst things for her would be to mention her past "failures" or to imply in any way that she needs to change her "habits" which again implies that she has a negative past to feel guilty about. I think that psychologically speaking the best thing for a depressed person is to be around people who look only forward (or in the moment) and never even mention yesterday(s). Unless it's to make a positive reference on something.

Also, I personally found the movie "A Beautiful Mind" to be inspirational. It's not about depression, it's about schizophrenia, but the main point driven home in that movie is to keep moving forward against all odds. I find it inspirational in that sense, and I actually watch it every once in a while just for the inspirational affect it has on me. They should make a similar movie about someone who successfully conquered manic depression. Or perhaps they already have. I'm not a movie buff so I wouldn't know.

I disagree with you Abra on your point about people with serious physical problems. I have MS and also suffer from severe depression. The doctors have diagnosed me as Manic Depressive with PTSD. I also have anxiety attacks. I take medications for all of these. When I am feeling well physically, I am of course happiest with myself and my surroundings. I feel a sense of euphoria and as you say 'get way over-ambitious and want to do things'. But I do know my limitations.
On the other hand, when I am feeling poorly, it is very easy for me to slip into a deep depression and do nothing but sleep for days on end. It sometimes takes the encouragement of my family to get me up out of bed, shower and get dressed for the day. And if nothing else, at least spend time out in my livingroom talking with them, watching a funny movie, or playing board games. This simple change of 'social situation' can make the difference between me shutting down for several days, which means not eating, not taking my meds, doing absolutely nothing, or doing something.....anything to help me through a rough time. So to say 'Of course, there are people who have seriously physical problems that cause their brain chemistry to get out of whack too. Changing their environment or social situation isn't going to do anything for them because their mental (or emotional) instability is actually due to physical problems' is not a fair statement in my opinion.