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Hi Everyone,
Someone pointed out in another thread that I can be impatient with some people who are just discovering and getting used to their diagnosis --this is a fair point and I apologize for this.
So, by way of clarifying what has been a point of contention (more specifically something I have possibly disagreed about with some others here) I wanted to write about what is termed returning to one's 'normal' state between episodes. I'm going to make some citations and give my opinions below, but I hope that others will chime in with their thoughts and opinions.
From Psych Central:
"In everyday life, people have a variety of moods and feelings. These feelings include frustration, joy and anger. Usually these moods last one day rather than several days. For people with bipolar disorder, however, moods usually swing from weeks of feeling overly “high” and irritable to weeks of feeling sad and hopeless with normal periods in between."
The closest I could find to a direct quote from the DSM, from Brown University on the DSM IV-TR criteria:
"Bipolar disorder is characterized by the occurrence of at least one manic or mixed-manic episode during the patient’s lifetime. Most patients also, at other times, have one or more depressive episodes. In the intervals between these episodes, most patients return to their normal state of well-being. Thus bipolar disorder is a “cyclic” or “periodic” illness"
I'm emphasizing the criteria that one return to essentially what is 'normal for them' between episodes. Now, what's 'normal' or baseline for one person of course can be completely different from another. Some people tend to be irritable, others tend to ruminate, others are comfortable socially, other not, some are very sensitive, some have difficulty in relationships, some are relatively content and well-adjusted, etc. In other words, how one is, what kind of person one is -between episodes- literally runs the gamut of the human experience and the many many different characteristics people can have.
(As a caveat, people of course can and do have additional diagnoses regarding other difficulties they may have, including outside of episodes).
What I'm saying is that, neither in the DSM, nor in any other authoritative description of this illness to the best of my knowledge, is it stated that people with Bipolar Disorder have certain personality characteristics in common (irritable, fun-loving, whatever). The symptoms of the illness apply only to episodes, when one is sick. This is in part why it's described as a 'cyclical' illness.
So according to the criteria, between episodes, you just are who you are. Obviously, some people with Bipolar Disorder will have things in common, but not necessarily any more than others in the general population (aside from the commonality and challenges associated with having the illness in the first place).
I'm not making this up, this is the criteria (and not the criteria) for the illness.
So when I see people writing about personality-type characteristics shared by those with bipolar (whether sensitivity, reactiveness, irritability, rumination, etc., etc.) I respond, because the criteria of this illness has nothing to do with personality characteristics in common, nor day to day (non-episodic) moods and behavior. I try to normalize these things because they are, in effect, 'normal' in the sense as not attributable to bipolar/illness. Again, if you read about it, this is what you'll find.
I also point it out, because I worry about people thinking badly of themselves, pathologizing so much of their thinking, emotions, behavior to an illness -and I think it can end up being limiting, consigning to illness what is, at the end of the day, just who you are, as a unique human being, quite apart from the illness you have.
Obviously, I have no beef with sharing difficulties (and triumphs) not related to bipolar here, what concerns me is when these are sometimes in a kind of automatic way, attributed to bipolar.
So these are my thoughts on the matter, what say you guys?
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