to think it suddenly seems 'the in-thing' to suffer with bi-polar?

[Champersonice]

This is really getting to me. Perhaps these 'celebs' really are suffering with bi-polar but I remember the days when it was the biggest taboo. My mother suffers with this illness and it is just awful.

There have been so many and whilst I really believe some I really do not believe Kerry Katona and now Catherine Zeta-Jones. Apparantely, CZJ booked herself into a psychiatric hospital for becoming manic-depressive following her husband's cancer, and now, according to her publicist is "feeling great and looking forward to starting work this week on two upcoming films". Perhaps Ms Zeta-Jones should visit a real psychiatric hopsital (not a detox clinic) and see real life patients suffering with this terrible, terrible illness.

AIBU?

Sancti - Yes I agree that first hand testimonials do raise awareness.

Absolutely keepingup

Dh doesn;t have Bi Polar; he does have depression and it almost cost him his life- so fairly comparable in terms of effects and risk.

He doesn't have to keep quiet any more, he's now if a field where nobody can sack him (self employed) and where there's no pressure to fit a certain mould. He's even been offered free counselling.

Nobody should have to keep quiet becuase of fear of what ohters should say- they so many do is clearly ridiculous.

And otehr stuff lesley- vocal carers and the like, stuff about people on the news and TV.

Just well representative tuff, not daily mail shite.

My ex had very severe bipolar disorder. I knew, every time, because I knew the indicators/ soft signs. Nobody else did, though- until he went completely off the rails, often not until several weeks in, and only if manic. Depression hides a lot easier.
Also remember that there is 2 kinds of bipolar disorder- one kind does not get a lot of mania at all, and may go unnoticed/ undiagnosed for years.
Serious mania, though, will give itself away fairly quickly.

Sorry, Altinkum. How is she now? Hope she isn't hospitalised.

I absolutely sympathize with CZJ and anyone who has to manage with difficult mental health condition (or any health issue for that matter), whilst supporting a loved one through such a dark period. My hat it to all of them for keeping strong, giving love and support to others and not being afraid/ashamed to ask for help for themselves when the going gets really tough!

Altrinkum - sorry to hear that - just after you introduced your second born! And then no mum and no support during your vulnerable time with a baby.

I was told that people generally attempt or threaten suicide just as they're moving out of a depressed phase.

Is truer animation

At teh bottom stages the world is too much trouble, when you start to regain your energy but still feel awful is a risky time.

BUT people vary; it's important just to see people needing help as theya re, rather than try to assess it with facts. A person at risk is a person at risk.

KZJ has been bipolar for years, this is not news and i dont see why she shouldnt get the treatment she needs without all the fuss and nit picking, its an illness and bipolar doesnt care if you are rich or not.

Animation you say that the evidence is there for Michael Douglas's cancer but there are diagnostic criteria for bipolar and observable symptoms/changes in the brain.

i know someone who is bi polar who copes really well holds done a job family etc she has however spent time in hospital after such events a death of a parent and her husband being diagnosed with a brain tumor.
i have known her for 20 years and these hospital stay s have happened 3 times.
So YABVU bi polar effects people differently and you would have know my friend had it unless she chose to tell you.

YABVU you would not know

A very close friend of mine has Bipolar and no one else woudl know about it. She is very sociable, successful and has a good career. A lot of famous and successful people have bipolar proabably as it seems to often affect very clever people, who when in their manic phase can be brilliant and work very hard all day and night. When my friend is in her down phases she withdraws, stops working and socialising etc. But most people still wouldn't know that she has bipolar as she is always ill with virouses when she has her down time. Only I know what she has been through as I have visited here at the psychiatric hospitals when she has been sectioned etc. I am sure all sorts could go on in CZJ's life.

I haven't read the whole thread. I have BP2 and the last really serious episode I had was after nursing my mother with terminal cancer. It does not mix well with that kind of stress - that was the worst, fastest ultrarapid cycling I have ever experienced.

I think it's great that celebs talk about this stuff. I still keep it to myself - only my older friends know about it. It does not do well with most professions - I don't disclose it by choice, ever. Probably CZJ has had this for a while but the stress has tipped her over.

I think that CZJ being bipolar is actually doing a HUGE service to those with the mental illness even if she dosn't have a ''severe'' case. Ok; mabe she may be feeling ''better'' but that's probably bacause she's probably upped her medicatiuon, no?

And I'm speaking as someone whose mum and other immediate family suffer from it.

I think CZJ is a brilliant poster girl for someone with the illness (if that's the right term for it) and that if celebrities are open about their mental health it will help to de-stigmatise it.

Yabu. As you may know diagnosis takes on average ten years. One in one hundred people suffer from it.

Hairlights, where are you getting your statistics from and for which country are they?

I think anything that genuinely helps enlighten and inform people about any aspect of mental health is a good thing.
I did wonder whether CZJ broke the story herself before some lovely tabloid announced the details in a far more sensationalised manner. Oh and I do love the DM's headline online this morning- CZJ admitted to "mental clinic"! Geez.... really? Is that the best these "journalists" could come up with?

When I did my psychiatric stint for my student nursing we were told that manic-depression as it was called then, was a chronic psychotic disorder.

These so called Bi-Polar celebs are probably suffering from common or garden reactive depression, but just want something more interesting instead

The rest of us who have depression just have to pop our Citalopram and carry on regardless. We don't have trendy clinics to check into when life doesn't go as we'd like.

what hens said

champers they're ones that have stuck in my head from lots of research as my ex had bipolar.. I can try and find sources if you like.... I know for sure the average for diagnosis is 10 years, as that's how long it took for my ex to be diagnosed after lots of depressive episodes, and it rang true when I saw the stats. Many people with bipolar are diagnosed with 'anxiety' 'depression' etc at first, until the pattern is recognised.

That is exactly my point. I realise now that I didn't articulate myself well enough in my original post. It isn't that I am de-crying a 'celeb' that has bipolar, rather it seems that people are quick to jump on the bandwagon. It truly is a frightful illness for those who suffer.

Bipolar disorder has a lifetime prevalence of approximately 1.3% in adults

source