Bipolar character on "The Young and the Restless"

I've been watching this show since I was a little kid, and now I watch the Canadian episode on YouTube because Canada is one day ahead of the USA.

Sharon Newman was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in today's (11/13/12) episode, which won't be shown until tomorrow (11/14/12) in the USA.

This character has been having some problems for a while and is now hiding out in a cottage on property owned by one of her ex-husbands. The weird thing about it is she is dressed cute and has her hair and makeup done each time they show her.

I don't know about you folks, but when I'm depressed I have no interest in or desire to put on makeup or do my hair.

If I happened to have makeup on the day before, the remnants of the makeup are still on me the next day, quite obvious by the smeared eyeliner and mascara making the skin around my eyes dark.

Otherwise, there is no makeup on my face and my hair is in a dirty ponytail.

You can usually tell if I'm feeling better because I have makeup on and I've done my hair.

As for how the show is dealing with bipolar, they have been pretty vague so far with how the character's behavior equals bipolar.

The psychiatrist brought her a bottle of pills today. Sharon said she didn't want to take them because they could take away everything that makes her Sharon.

The psychiatrist said something like, "Which is better? To be stabilized or continue suffering from such mood swings?" Sounds like what mine said to me when I told him I didn't like the way my meds made me feel.

They had her young daughter jump out of her arms and run to someone else when Sharon started talking really fast, asking her how she was doing. Seemed like over-acting to me, like they told her to talk really fast because that means you're bipolar, even though the character wasn't acting that way in the previous scene with the psychiatrist. Talk about rapid-cycling.

Oh, so they finally gave her a diagnosis? I wonder if that's going to excuse her recent arson - or how they will relate it to her kleptomania. I wonder what Phyllis' dx is

what's " the young and the restless"

not heard about it

the more depressed I am, the mor eself-conscious I am... so I hide beneath the make up. When I am happy, I can go to buy bread and such make up-less and hair in bun. Depressed? Full face make up. Often quite agressive one. Lots of spray in hair.



I wonder if pharma feeds this line to movies (simmilarly like US army pays american movies to portray 'em nice and well). It's in every damn movie and serie... this line or something simmilar.

No, if meds drain you of personality, they are not "working". Stabilized doesn't mean drained of what made you... YOU.

I wouldn't look so deeply into it for that show, Venus. I'm sure that one of the writers just googled some things about bipolar and probably has no idea what they are talking about.

I would assume they will use it to "blame" things on it.... Annoying.

CBS soap opera. There are only two left, this is the last one left that's 60 minutes long. aka "YNR". I love it - kids either stay children forever, or they turn from infants into teenagers within 3 years, depending on storyline needs! And on shows with smaller casts, like CBS' "The Bold and the Beautiful", the same 4 or 5 people will remarry each other multiple times. I guess we're not supposed to watch for that long!

I just wish they had some show where they portrayed MI deeper then "crazy. crazy doesn't want to take pills. Wise doctor explains why to take pills in bumpers sticker slogan. Crazy takes pills. Crazy is happy".

I wanna see dilema's. I wanna see some personal development of the crazy character. I wanna see them rebel for real and not as "illness making them to". JUst... something. Stuff I read here on forums style. And something... sympathetic. I cannot help it, but most shows portray crazies as either funny or scary.

(at that note... I recommend I am cyborg, but that's okay. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0497137/ One movie that portrays crazy in exaggerated way... but sympathetic).

that sounds like a great movie! DID or multiple personalities have long been a staple of soap operas. I think YNR is trying to do a better job on WHY Sharon is acting like such a nutjob - usually people on the soaps act like fools for no real reason.

Actually, The United States of Tara was pretty good. I don't know that much about actual DID and she had like several personalities, so I can't say exactly how accurate that part of it was. But as for someone living with a mental illness, it showed her as a human being who didn't want to be on meds that made her into a zombie. The show begins after she's gone off of the meds, and her personalities are resurfacing.

It shows things like how her sister thinks she's just "acting" like playing pretend. How she responds to stress and her parents and kids and husband. How the illness is there, but she doesn't want to be the illness. She's an artist and has started her own business, and stress relating to that. How other peopel "find out' and react to her, and her journey to find out what caused her to become who she is, etc.

It was on for several seasons and is now available on Netflix. I watched the whole thing there. I thought it was really good and portrayed her in a very positive light and as a human, not as some crazy nut job.

that sounds interesting, actually.

DHX, I wanna watch that... Guess I'll have to wait for internet, OR get someone to download it for me... Think I'ma go with option 2 as 1 is dependent on wether I gain actual employment at ADT in June...

It was a very good series. I recommend it.

Great. Now everyone with mood swings will think they have bipolar disorder.

I have not seen that movie, but found one where the MI character (paranoid schizophrenic) is not only portrayed sympathetically, but is recognized for the genius that he is. It's called The Soloist. Jamie Foxx plays Nathaniel Ayers, who, in fact is a real life person that the movie is based on. Bonus points for not just making it up to make the story more interesting The viewer cannot just pass it off, saying, "oh, it's just a story". Robert Downey Jr. plays the guy who "discovers" him so to speak. Their relationship is interesting, and it's not just all "feel good", like, "oh, here comes the hero and "his" rescue follows obediently along". Nathaniel has a mind of his own. There is in fact a small part where medication is discussed. I will not spoiler it, but I believe w/o a doubt you will appreciate it. It's not black and white as such things are usually portrayed.

It is also a social commentary on homelessness. I recall my BF telling me that though it may look exaggerated, it is very real. He should know. He lived fairly near that area and worked among them, distributing food and clothing as part of a program he was in a number of years ago).

At any rate, I think you would really like it. (My only complaint would be a little too much focus on the RD jr. character. But that is small potatoes in light of what the movie does accomplish.) I have not seen a ton of movies, but of what I have seen, I would count this as the best theatrical treatment of MI I've seen yet.

On YNR no comment, haven't seen it. But there is another current show that someone has mentioned that has a BP character. I haven't had a chance to see it yet. (Homeland) Only reason I mention this really is that I made the mistake of watching (on youtube) a parody of it from SNL. I should have known better. Sure, it's a parody, but...damn. It was insulting and hurtful to the point of triggering. NOT recommended!

Despite this experience, I will try to see the real show, as some here on PC have appreciated its portrayal.

IZ, I watched that movie, and I agree it was very realistic, and sympathetic portrayal the way they take you thru his journey, and OMG, the musical genius of that man. It really touched a nerve, in a good way tho... Sorry, didnt mean to derail, I dont watch soaps, so wouldnt know what happening in YNR.

You definitely can't leave it up to the soaps to portray MI with any degree of accuracy.

The prime-time shows don't do much better, actually. I don't get Showtime so I've never seen "Homeland", but the only two bipolar characters I can remember in recent years are Taye Diggs' character's sister in "Private Practice", and Sally Field's role as Abby's mother on "ER" a number of years back. Both characters portrayed BPers as violent and unpredictable, which isn't helpful, although Sally Field's role was more involved and lasted quite a while. The audience also got to see her in her remission periods, as well as her manic and depressed episodes, which I think fleshed out the bipolar character better than most shows do. But we've still got a long way to go in getting TV and movies to portray us as multidimensional people, rather than mere "crazies".

My bf's only knowledge of bipolar was from Abby's mother on ER. I never watched it. He certainly was scared when he discovered I was bipolar, and I forsure had to work on his perception, and work on his not being scared of me.

I really liked that United States of Tara, it's on Netflix if you look for it can watch on computer.

I used to watch Young and Restless when I was a kid, I had a crush on the one guy was it Rick Springfield in it? Going way back, lol.

When I first got bp dx, i searched for movies with bp characters and did not find a lot. There needs to be more. There is a movie called Melancholia, which won awards at Indy Film Fests. It is an intense and artful movie, main character and her sister both seem to have MI. Fabulous movie.

There's that movie with Ann Hathaway which was all Indie and supposedly a good one with her going to her sister's wedding. I can't remember the name. It was just a disappointment, don't see that one unless you like to be really bored and wonder "what the hell is going on?"

What about black swan? Hate to admit it, but it mind effed me. I enjoyed it, but her mental anguish and torment was oh so close to home, so close that I really felt for her character. Some scenes I still dont know which were her delusion and which were real... Need to re-watch it. Very touching movie indeed...

Black Swan was great. But yes, DH that Anne Hathaway movie, where she was fresh out of rehab... yawwwwn... My Sister's Wedding I think it was called, I don't even remember her having a MI - but at any rate, no plans to watch that one again.

It was aweful. I think she was supposed to be ill or something. She was the "crazy" sister.... It was rather disappointing. The best way to describe it is like you went along with her to her family gathering and you just kind of new her but not really friends. Then you get to watch all this awkward family stuff and you're stuck there without an escape.... Yeah...

I really don't like the direction this bipolar storyling is going on "Y&R."

Sharon (the bipolar character) was having some anxiety, pacing, kind of pulling her hair, and then she picked up her bottle of meds. It was almost like they wanted the audience to think that we take our meds only if we are feeling crazy, rather than taking them to stay stabilized.

Makes as much sense as taking birth control pills only when you have sex.

Then the character left a cottage where she had been staying and went back to her own home. She realized she had forgotten her meds and sent her son to get them. She asked him to go and said something like, "I think I'm going to need them."

Well, yeah. You need them.

She went out to dinner with her son and, as soon as they entered the restaurant, she made a big deal about thinking people were staring at her. Her voice got more and more frantic, and then she made her son take her home.

Are they confusing bipolar with something else? Schizophrenia? Or is paranoia part of bipolar, but I just haven't been there?

My biggest complaint with how they are treating this character is their idea of bouncing from the two poles within seconds of each other.

Couldn't find the clip I was hoping to find, but here is one from the other day. http://www.cbs.com/shows/the_young_a...cared-of-mommy

Hmmm now I'll have to start back watchn Y&R. I've gotta see how Sharon is playn this role. Leave it to Hollywood to get it wrong as usual.

I just watched an episode of "Y&R" online for the first time in several weeks.

My mom (who refused to believe I'm bipolar back when I was first diagnosed many years ago) said to me the other day, "I watched 'Y&R' for the first time in a long time, and it looks like Sharon has gone wack-o."

I felt like saying, "No. She's ill. Just like me. But they're doing a bad job of writing about the illness."

But I didn't.

It's not worth bringing up the whole thing with my mother.

So I decided to check in and see what they're doing with her character at this point.

It's not good.

Why can't they research bipolar and have a character portray it in a more realistic way?

That really bugs me.