You are so right, not many hear or see about the depressive side of bipolar(manic-depression) media,news,hollywood,etc. just play up the mania part. Plus they fail to inform people bipolar disorder comes in many colours, other than "black or white", grrrrrrrrrrrr!
Okay, in the art world "black and white" are not considered, colours. But y'all get the idea, right?
So sad when celebrities,news,hollywood, make money off of people with disorders, and really have no clue what it is all about.
DJ, it's fine, get on your soapbox anytime, I think most of us here, at this forum have the same or similar views.
Though not common, people with bipolar disorder can "hear voices" and all the things most commonly heard about those suffering with schizophrenia, but again both disorders have so many levels of severities,variants,overlapping behaviours, etc. Also, many can have more than one disorder, which can add to complications, even misdiagnoses.
I often personally feel, that when one looks at all the various traits/behaviours of so many of these disorders, one can see, even those considered "normal" can very easily fit the criteria of DSM-IV (sp?) and I guess the new updated version, I am not yet familiar with.
Just, Roe, adding her 2 cents on this, "Dr.Phil" topic and the limited,narrow,biased,etc. portrayal of what bipolar disorder is.
Now, I'll step off "my soapbox", ha!ha!

Love to y'all here,
Roe