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Outdated? My eye.

If you look at your opening thread you will note that everything was printed
in broad red letters; if that's not emotional, I don't know what is.

I readily admit that cognition problems are characteristic of some with affective disorder, but they are not the whole story. Have you never heard of people who describe themselves in a "fog"? That's what disordered cognition is like, and it's very much part of the mood swings in bipolar illness. And have you never heard people speak of the "fog lifting"? That's the cognition problems they are talking about. If it's with you constantly, I'm very sorry for that, but in every instance in my life when cognition was distorted it was because of stress that acted as a kind of "fog" that affected emotions.

That's the major thing to get under control in bipolar illness: the emotions, mood, whatever you want to call it, cognition distortion, or mania or depression. They are not the intelligence; they are emotions and that's what bipolar illness is. One of the best bits of advice given to me (and there have been many efforts over the years) is that every thought should be turned to a prayer. It works, but it is extremely difficult to do when emotions are in the way. (It's so helpful to be reared in a home in which emotions are subdued so that intelligence functions at high levels.)

I've lived too long with this not to know about as much as most people do who have had the illness for years. Unmedicated, I can see that cognitive failures would abound and even distort intellectual thinking over a period of many years. Properly medicated, and with reduced stress, intelligence levels should not be affected. People feel and people think; they are two totally different things. Enter emotional coloring and everything is cognitively distorted, unless the emotions are healthy--and they may not be in bipolar illness, probably in some more so than in others, frankly.

Someone on this same thread mentioned that he was threatened with loss of scholarships because of distorted cognition due to improper medications. With proper medications, there's really no reason that a bipolar patient cannot function as well as (and probably better than) many members of the general population.

I just cannot abide the implication that bipolar patients have little intelligence as a result
of the illness. That's just not true, and it gives the general public the wrong idea about
mental illness from the word go. There are just too many conditions that cause illness
that have nothing to do with intelligence, but can distort cognitive functioning when one
is in an episode or the victim of ADD or ADHD or major depression, or schizophrenia or
any other mental condition.

It's no wonder that the general population (among some) feel awkward in the presence
of someone in an episode; they have no idea what lies beneath the volcanic feelings; it
just might be a highly creative intelligent artist working quietly. And that's not stupid,
nor is it outdated, nor is it a wrong impression. It's a fact of bipolar illness and bipolar
creativity and contributions to society.