The disparaging statements made about Kanye West and his medical conditions have troubled me. I understand there may be reasons not to like what Kanye had to say, but this is about mental health.
Simply stated, I have bipolar disorder. Thankfully, the grace of God, doctors, medication, and activity management have enabled me to see good in life. No matter what my condition may bring, I will not cease to have relevant meaning. To discount anyone due to their condition, not taking into account their ideas is to deprive yourself of the potential benefits those ideas might bring. When you act in a way that diminishes another you injure yourself as well as society as a whole.
Every time there is a shooting, we hear the call for gun control and treatment for the mentally ill. Any real solution to the issue of mental illness must go beyond identification, medication, and medical treatment. The solution must include society seeing those with medical conditions as humans of import and not “wacko-crazy” to be avoided.
Individual bipolar disorder symptoms and degrees of severity vary. Here is a list of some common obstacles.
- Balancing Emotions – All emotions are heightened.
- Feeling Sad – Currently, I am feeling a bit sadder than I should. Seeing how society marginalizes people based on mental health feels oppressive to me. One of the most important human needs is belonging, the need to be part of greater society. That is no different for those with bipolar disorder, and may be even greater, since those with bipolar disorder can feel a bit on the outside to begin with.
- The value of people with bipolar disorder is diminished with a statement such as
- “I thought that was really sad. I think you had there a man who’s clearly not OK and a president who’s willing to exploit that.”
- “Life in the Twilight Zone continues, ft. #Kanye.”
- “Wacko Crazy,” “Institutionalize,” “Sanity: not all its cracked up to be.”
- Feeling Happy – Usually, my stronger emotions are not on the sad side but rather on the positive.
- Back and forth, up and down. I compare this change in emotion with bipolar disorder with the changes experienced in adolescence. You get all these new hormones and emotions. Your balance is thrown off until your system acclimates to the new normal. Acclimation varies depending on the amplification of the emotions and the psyche of the individual. Bipolar disorder causes more amplified emotion than does adolescence.
- Depression – Depression is not just sadness. There are several other factors that make up bipolar depression.
- Exhaustion – Consider how weak you feel after an excessive amount of physical exercise or after a harsh virus.
- Lethargy is related to exhaustion. Think about reading a book, one that you want to read, but you keep drifting off.
- Pain I associate with depression:
- Headaches
- Virus-like symptoms
- Back, muscle, Joint pain.
- Mania – Hysteria is not the only concern.
- Mania can feel like a very positive emotional state. Everything is exciting. Thoughts that come across the mind seem like breakthroughs and creative.
- You can see mania in rapid speech, heightened volume, interruptions, and failing to yield the conversation.
- You can see mania in some of those extremely active/creative people you know.
- Pain I associate with the manic side
- Adrenaline Storm – Imagine the adrenaline surge that prepares you for an athletic event or another kind of high stress event . OK now imagine that build-up of adrenaline not being released. Now imagine a few days with no break.
- Deep pain in muscles/tendons – Imagine the burn of a deep stretch and how nice it feels to release the stretch. Again imagine there is no release. Now imagine no release for a few days.
- Peripheral Neuropathy
- I hate the term hysteria but many times the word mania does not seem strong enough. Being in a state in which reason is not in control is not something I want. Thankfully this does not happen to most when their condition is managed.
- Mania can feel like a very positive emotional state. Everything is exciting. Thoughts that come across the mind seem like breakthroughs and creative.
- Distraction – When I was young the term was hyper–active, and then ADHD. A few years ago I found that my racing thoughts are related to mania. Kind of like a like a kaleidoscope or clock, thoughts flow from one point to the next, returning again to focus.
- Sleep Disorder – Duration, quality, and time of day can really change.
- 12/12 Twelve hours asleep or in bed and 12 awake – livable but not optimal.
- 6 to 8 asleep and 16 to 18 awake. I think most of us like this. However, when night and day become reversed or shifted slightly, which happens frequently, it can be like daily adjusting jet lag. The 12/12 ratio can have the same shifting issue.
- For me the worst are cycles of 4 to 6 hours of sleep, followed by 20 to 24 hours of wakefulness, repeated for 3 or 4 cycles in a row
When I consider what life would be like if I had bipolar disorder without the grace of God, I shudder. But isn’t that the same for all of us, no matter the state of our mental health?
What helps and what exacerbates?