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?

I always thought that the bf/ff debates were about bum farting and fanny farting.

Insomnia, only two people?? Here is a list of people I have heard of:
Adam Ant
Axl Rose
Ben Stiller
Bill Oddie
Britney Spears
Carrie Fisher
Catherine Zeta-Jones
Connie Francis
DMX
Ernest Hemingway
Florence Nightingale
Frank Bruno
Gail Porter
Jean-Claude Van Damme
Kerry Katona
Kristen Hersh
Kurt Cobain
Linda Hamilton
Macy Gray
Mel Gibson
Patty Duke
Paul Gascoigne
Phil Spector
Margot Kidder
Nina Simone
Ozzie Osbourne
Ray Davies
Richard Dreyfuss
Ruby Wax
Russell Brand
Sinead O?Connor
Sophie Anderton
Spike Milligan
Stephen Fry
Sting
Tony Slattery
Virginia Woolf
Vivien Leigh

And before I get a tirade of abuse, these are only people that, 1. I am familiar with, and 2. have been reported as having bi-polar.

I think the OPs should ignore the OP as she's full of BS.

Personally I think the chief problem with this thread is the OP - the one by the OP on the OP. The OPs, by all the OPs on all the OPs***, are less problematic.

original post
**original poster
opening page
other posts
**other posters
*other pages

Hahah, didn't take bold coding into account!

Someones been on Wikipedia

If you listed all the people you have heard of OP (original poster) then that long looking list would be a very insignificant portion of a percent.

I always thought that the bf/ff debates were about bum farting and fanny farting.

Bahahahaha!

If you announce PUBLICALLY that you are ill with a diagnosis then you ARE inviting opinion - it could be a broken leg or mental illness.

I look sideways because it doesn't add up. CZJ has been nursing a seriously poorly husband with CA - I imagine she is exhausted and depressed after that - and also grieving a bit. But where has Bi-Pola come from? First off that would be some late onset getting that Disorder suddenly at 40 years old...very unusual.

It raises a few eyebrows ...

Molly, I agree about diagnosis and a psychiatrist once told me that out of all the mental illnesses, bipolar is one of the hardest to medicate for.

But I am upset by the labelling in the media or self-diagnosis.

love the way you alphabetised all those :)

steps thats why I always reply - some women bf, some women ff and some women do both and it's all good

YABVU - and offensive. How is it that a celebrity should be immune from suffering from mental illnesses?? It is still a hugely stigmatised illness - I have it too. I think far more people have it than is diagnosed.

Yes - I looked it up! but only listed the ones I know of and who I have heard previously as being ill! I know there are a lot more famous beings out there with this illness then KK, CZJ and BS etc.

Noooo electra...I have never said a celebrity is immune. Where do people get their ideas from??

Nullis, glad you like it too - I thought it was a nice touch

From bipolar to bf to ff to all three - wow - this thread moves fast!

Animation she hasn't said that she has been recently diagnosed she has just gone public about seeking help. The most likely scenario imo is that it has got worse recently triggered by stress.
Did Michael Douglas invite opinion as to whether or not he had cancer?

Organisation is great, tidy mind and all that!!

And steps, give it a rest. So champers didnt learn evry MN acronym of by heart back to back before posting.

She made a mistake. Big deal. Move on

My Dad was diagnosed with bipolar at 48. It's not outside the realms of possibility. I'm sure he had been symptomatic for at least 15 years but continually diagnosed with clinical depression. It took some very desperate and traumatic events for an actual diagnosis to be forthcoming and a major life event (his Dad dying) triggered the psychosis that resulted in his hospitalisation. He is medicated for life (and it's only just controlled tbh, you never actually stop the moods, just stabilise them to a degree).

I frankly don't care about whether any slebs do or don't have bipolar disorder. Well I do care about their health, not about the media interpretation of it. I will care about that the day it negatively affects the public perception of the illness. Maybe that day is today if accusations of faddiness are being flung about.

I bet my Dad wishes he weren't so fashionable.

Who's to say CZJ hasn't been on medication for bi-polar for years? They lived in Bermuda for years and stayed out of the public eye except for work related things so entirely plausible that this isn't new. She's been under an enormous amount of stress recently.

I think there's probably some little argument to suggest that you might find a higher pool of people with mental health issues such as bipolar in the public eye because the symptoms of the highs (mania, intense creativity, seeking thrills/adoration etc), channel quite well into the pursuit of fame and creativity.

Yes show I believe there is a link.

This is really interesting to read all these posts and I seriously did not think it would generate such interest when I first posted. For the ones that do and don't agree, I can understand a lot. So I thank you for your input and perhaps I was too quick to have a go at poor old CZJ.

As for opening opinion on other topics such as Michael's cancer, I started this as I get a bit put out by bipolar being so freely labelled. I don't suspect cancer is so freely labelled NOR self-diagnosed. Saying that, some people do make out they have an illness/disease/etc for attention. I think that is called munchausen syndrome and/or munchausen syndrome by proxy.

Button - so she could have been diagnosed in her youth you say. She's looked pretty good on it then and functioned pretty well. Is it a true picture of the illness though. I don't so.

Yes, Michael Douglas had cancer - that's more straightfowrard - the evidence is there.

Bipolar disorder can begin during pregnancy or after the birth of a baby. Her kids are what? Under 10?

I would imagine this is a bit of a mix?

it's not teh first disorder to go through this, I remember when it was autism, and a lot of that was down to greater awareness (so many audlts read about it and self refer to a professional) and better diagnosis.

Whereas we can never say there's nobody, ever, claiming it: in tehis case I woudln't begin to suggest either way, not having access to a medical file.

She's looked pretty good on it then and functioned pretty well. Is it a true picture of the illness though. I don't so.

Many sufferers are perfectly capable of keeping it very well hidden.