Bipolar – Can You Tell?

Hi,

I was thinking about something today. I was thinking that I have several people who work for me who have bipolar disorder, and how I always brag on them, about how you would never know that they have the disorder, unless they told you.

They tell me, too, that when it comes to being around other people, that others would never know that they have bipolar disorder either unless they told them. It just doesn’t come up.

Of course, I live in New Jersey, and they live in other places, all over the map. But I was wondering about what they look like in person. I mean, not their looks, but whether in person, that you can or can’t tell that they have bipolar disorder.

So that made me think about you and your loved ones. If there’s over 6 million people with bipolar disorder, chances are that you know more than just your loved one with the disorder.

Can you tell or can you NOT tell just by looking, if someone has bipolar disorder or not? I mean, what does someone with bipolar disorder actually look like? Interesting question, don’t you think?

See, what made me think about it, too, was the many emails I’ve gotten from people like you, asking me about whether “it” is the bipolar or the loved one, and about whether they are “faking” it or not. That’s been a real big issue, according to the emails and calls that I’ve gotten.

So I give it to you. What do you think? What has been your experience? Can you tell just by looking, if your loved one has bipolar disorder or not? If so, what is it about their behavior that gives them away?

For those of you who can’t tell, what is it about your loved one’s behavior that is different, that
doesn’t give them away?

Sometimes, I talk about what makes a person high-functioning. This is what I think, at least by what the people who work for me are concerned, is what makes them different.

High-functioning behavior can make a person with bipolar disorder NOT stand out as someone with the disorder. Does that make sense?

Whereas, on the other hand, someone who has bipolar disorder, but is NOT high functioning, would be someone who you can tell DOES have bipolar disorder.

I have seen this firsthand – in the people who work for me, those I have interviewed for my courses, those who I have talked to at the support groups I attend, and others I have heard from via email and phone.

I’d like to say that everyone with bipolar disorder can be high-functioning. Unfortunately, not everyone can, but I believe that a majority of them can. They have to try really hard, though.

They have to take their medication religiously…Go to all their appointments with their doctors,
psychiatrists, and therapists…Eat a healthy diet…Exercise…Keep a good sleep schedule…
Stick to a good treatment plan…Have a good strong support system that they go to for help…
Be productive…And do all the other things they need to do to stay stable. And they need to do all these things for the long term.

Well, I have to go!

Your Friend,

Dave

 

  1. I know nothing, so I just think that someone with a history of creative productive highs can sometimes begin to long for that phase when living a level, seemingly humdrum, predictable state, if the routine goes on for the long haul, and the temptation arises to adjust medication just a bit to add a bit of variety and excitement to life, and risks reaching for more and more until a crash comes.

  2. A good treatment plan and productivity are surely the keys! I likened today’s advice to a healthy relationship that’s just starting to flourish.

    i was just thinking (that’s rare in my case! lol) but the best living arrangements and marriages are based on a healthy level of not “needing to know everything” about your partner. That’s something most happily married or happily paired people have told me. So true. It’s the mystery (nothing that can creep up and bite you in the rear later in life) but the sensual, sweet, pleasant discoveries one looks forward to make later in the relationship that makes it interesting.

    If you dig dig dig for the most unpleasant things day after day you will look more and more unattractive to others – Live a little, Trust the Universe with the mysteries that will surely unravel in your favor.

  3. David, you’ve been at this for many years now (I remember reading your posts during the 2007-2008 years, I just couldn’t afford the costs.) Thank you for employing so many bipolar folks.
    Our loved one is also an addict. We have very minimal financial means but need to save her nearly 10-year-old son (diagnosed with high-functioning autism)from so much heartache. If we can get help for her addiction, her bipolar episodes will be treatable. We are at our wits’ end. She is 49, my son is 47 (and enabling). I am a healthy 80; thanks be to God! If you can direct us onto a pathway that works, we’d be so grateful.

  4. Dave,
    You post a very good but also interesting question here. My guess is most people cannot tell I am bi polar unless I am in an episode (which I am in now ) and it is then they can see by observing my moods, isolation etc. It isn’t easy living with this nor is it easy a lot of days to try and hide. You might say I am ashamed of having this disease which I am sure isn’t the first or last time you have heard this.

  5. I am Bipolar, Schizophrenic, have a sleep disorder and have a host of other medical problems. I try very hard to conceal it and for the most part keep everything to myself. Don’t want to be a burden, y’know. But people can tell when I’m having an episode of any kind because I really go downhill. Over the last 20 years I’ve been in the hospital over 30 times. Mostly because I get so depressed and suicidal = or psychotic worse than the norm. But I am a Christian and believe in the power of prayer. Through lots of prayers from my loved ones I have always come out on top. I have lots of supporters and have learned to let my husband know when I FIRST start feeling off instead of waiting until it blows me out of the water. I have a great psych dr. who really cares too. And am faithful to take my meds. But if it weren’t for the power of God, I would have been dead long ago.

  6. What kind of work do you do? I’m bipolar 46 years old and my only skill is cleaning my house, I have no idea how to begin to figure out what I can do to make a difference in even just one persons life, a positive difference.I’m a compassionate person. I’m not sure if that’s good or bad.

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