Documentary: Being Bipolar

Last night I watched a British documentary on YouTube about bipolar disorder called Being Bipolar. I kind of bristled at the title. I don't say "I am bipolar.' Rather, I say, "I have bipolar disorder." It may seem like nitpicking, but the former can allow me to define myself by a label...which I feel is unhealthy. Using BP as an excuse for every mood swing can be a dangerous trap for me. To some degree, having mood swings is a part of life for everyone. For folks with BP, it's more a matter of intensity....I've been hospitalized for mania several times...for depression, etc., so please don't think I'm suggesting we can always control our mood swings 100%.

The documentary I mentioned can be found here:



I'd be curious as to how folks respond to it. I'd imagine it might prove to be kind of controversial since it does seem to suggest that BP can sometimes (note italics) be used as a catch-all to explain behaviors. It stirred up some pretty complex, sometimes painful feelings in me, to be honest, but I'm glad I made it all the way through (it runs 45 minutes).

Just wondering...

Thanks for the link! I'll watch the doc today and get back to you on it.

Hi buddah1too! I watched the video. My thoughts and feelings varied, as I watched it. Overall, I didn't think the documentary was that well done. The female host made a couple interesting observations, but caused what I believe would be confusion, as well. That, or the editor cut out some crucial bits. Also, at points I felt they were representing it as mostly an "emotional disorder", rather than a "mood disorder". Indeed, there were definitely some emotional issues clearly represented, and I'm aware many of us have them, but that was a misleading tendency on their part. I think.

I do agree with the female host that perhaps bipolar disorder (I dislike that she referred to it as only "bipolar" the whole time) is an inadequate label. The mere three experiences varied enough to support that. My observations of dozens of others from online and in-person support groups also. My psychiatrist has said as much a few times.

I just finished watching the documentary. BD docs are always interesting to me, I always learn something from them. With regard to "Being Bipolar"- the first thought I have is that the interviewer did a poor job. She was judgmental, and even admitted that she was intimidated by Paul (I think his name was). Kind-of an odd reaction, considering the very nature of the subject matter.

It's also possible that the editing was poorly done. Something was off with how the various emotions (of the interviewer, even) were captured. The editing was choppy.

She had an agenda, it seemed, which was to assert that people with BD come from environments in which emotional regulation was not well modeled. The name "Being Bipolar" suggests that the film-maker (which I assume was the interviewer?) believes that one can learn how not to "be bipolar" by learning and practicing emotional regulation. I understand that method of controlling moods and emotions, and believe it is helpful, to a degree. But the woman never did seem to clue in to BD being a physical disorder that yes, is often helped along by environmental causes, but that BD is its own illness, in itself.

The drummer - I felt so bad for him...he didn't mention being on a mood stabilizer - actually, neither did the woman who kept crying - I wondered what was up with that? The antidepressants and antipsychotics alone wouldn't seem to do the whole job of controlling the disorder.

Thanks to Soupe & BethRags for taking the time to view, digest & comment on the documentary. I knew there were good reasons it made me feel a bit uneasy.

I haven’t watched it yet but it sounds like we could make a better documentary!

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Originally Posted by NaoSky I haven’t watched it yet but it sounds like we could make a better documentary!

Well, the people in the doc who have BD are interesting, it's just that the interviewer sucks. She misses opportunities.

I agree that the three people portrayed were interesting. It was good that they were clearly different, as was their bipolar disorder. course. The golfer seemed to have a very classic type of bipolar type 1. I thought that the female could have had more of a bipolar type 2 or milder type 1. I was more baffled by the young drummer. His presentation was not classic at all. More ultra rapid cycling?

I recall the drummer saying he was on Valium and an antidepressant only. And didn't he say Valium was more PRN? That's odd. Frankly, if I was in his shoes that med combo would have done me a lot more harm than good. The lady mentioned an antidepressant and an antipsychotic. I think the AP could be considered a moodstabilizer. They sort of are nowadays. As for the golfer, no mention of meds was made, but can we really assume there aren't/weren't in the picture?

When the lady went to the therapist I was happy that she finally received some, but her optimism after only the very 1st session seemed premature.Not that therapy isn't often very helpful, but who knows if THAT therapist is going to work out. The documentary almost implied that will save her, in some way. In any case, I saw her as the most willing/determined of the three to really work at curbing the disorder.I assumed that her husband was supportive, too.

What made my eyes roll most was when the interviewer seemed (my perception) to imply to the golfer that his always wanting to win is part of his main problem. Not that it doesn't play a role, but working through that tendency through psychotherapy sure wouldn't "cure him" of bipolar disorder, most likely.

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Originally Posted by Soupe du jour I agree that the three people portrayed were interesting. It was good that they were clearly different, as was their bipolar disorder. course. The golfer seemed to have a very classic type of bipolar type 1. I thought that the female could have had more of a bipolar type 2 or milder type 1. I was more baffled by the young drummer. His presentation was not classic at all. More ultra rapid cycling? He seemed classically clinically depressed, to me. His med selection was certainly odd. I recall the drummer saying he was on Valium and an antidepressant only. And didn't he say Valium was more PRN? That's odd. Frankly, if I was in his shoes that med combo would have done me a lot more harm than good. The lady mentioned an antidepressant and an antipsychotic. I think the AP could be considered a moodstabilizer. They sort of are nowadays. As for the golfer, no mention of meds was made, but can we really assume there aren't/weren't in the picture? Geez, I hope the dude was on meds! Strangely not mentioned. Yes, he was classic BD 1 to the max. Poor guy. I knew someone like him, years ago. The guy would frequent an indie book store and jump up on the counter. The employees were cool; they'd tell him to get down and he would. But then he set his girlfriend's fence on fire and wound up in major IP. When the lady went to the therapist I was happy that she finally received some, but her optimism after only the very 1st session seemed premature.Not that therapy isn't often very helpful, but who knows if THAT therapist is going to work out. Haha - I thought exactly the same thing!

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I haven't watched it, I have seen clips of it. The interviewer is a Psychotherapist here in the UK. I know that and that's about it. I'll need to watch it see what she says. Over here bipolar disorder is referred to just simply bipolar. We don't use its full title Bipolar Affective Disorder or Bipolar Disorder

I guess it's true what they say about us being separated by a common language! When I worked with folks from the UK, they'd talk about about "lorries" (semis), "car parks" (parking lots), "boots" (car trunks), "jumpers" (sweaters), etc. I had to learn parts of English all over again!

I think I finally found the documentary I was searching for. It's called "Of Two Minds." It's well done.

Thanks for searching for that, BethRags. I'll make a note of it.

Where did you see it- Youtube, Netflix, Amazon...?

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Originally Posted by Moose72 Where did you see it- Youtube, Netflix, Amazon...?

Amazon. I don't know if it's available in other places or not.

I can never watch these sorts of documentaries, they make me cringe. However, just going by the imdb description, the premise seems to be rooted in a false dichotomy:


I don't really understand why that's an interesting question to "investigate." I think it's pretty well established that there's a large genetic component but that environmental factors often play a role in triggering BD. It's a mix of both. I don't really see the controversy there. To me it's extremely important that the genetic/biological component is acknowledged. When it's not, people tend to think that it's not a real illness and that it's a "choice," something you can get over if you just try hard enough. I don't like the implication in the above description that the idea of a biological component is somehow outdated, because it's not.

Besides, it makes zero sense to view bipolar as some sort of emotional dysregulation disorder that's essentially caused by "bad examples" from parents. If that were the case, then it would be a chronic issue, like a personality disorder. In reality, bipolar is an episodic illness, not a chronic impairment in emotional regulation. As a psychotherapist, the documentary maker really ought to know this.

I take offense at the (implied) notion that BD is purely environmental or some kind of emotional/behavioral disorder. I don't need more stigma and misunderstanding to be perpetuated like that. For example, during a severe depression, the emotional part is actually the easiest component to cope with, at least for me. What really trips me up is the physical manifestations of the depression: insomnia, impaired cognition, psychomotor retardation, impaired memory, extreme fatigue, and so on. For me, those things have little to do with emotions, and they persist no matter how much I try to think positively or manage my emotions. I just hate how many people think of depression as simply "sadness."

I also don't think it's a great choice to include an ultra-rapid cycler in the documentary, as there's such a fine line between that and borderline personality disorder. It's not even universally accepted that ultra-rapid cycling exists in BD. To me it always seems more like a potential misdiagnosis. I really don't want more confusion between BD and borderline, there's far too much of that already. That's part of the reason why I wish we would go back to the term "manic depressive." At least it's not as easy to confuse with other things.

I don't think I've ever seen a documentary or movie involving bipolar disorder that wasn't full of stereotypes and misconceptions. I don't want people who hear about my diagnosis to see a film like that and think that's me.

While I'm the one who started this thread, I generally avoid bipolar documentaries & other media depictions of BD (I'm just a YouTube documentary junkie & ran across "Being Bipolar" by chance). My reaction to such media is almost like a form of PTSD; I've lived it, so watching such things dredges up some very painful feelings & memories. "Being Bipolar" made me feel guilty about having bipolar disorder, since it did seem to suggest that environment & learned behavior played the major role in triggering it. I'm grateul to Soupe, BethRags & FluffyDinosaur for their critiques. Their insight reinforced the view that the psychotherapist in the documentary was somewhat full of shite (as the Brits would spell it!).

Yeah, that's one of the things I don't like about psychology. It's full of people who all have their own little pet theories and write books or make films about it with very little evidence to back it up other than their own personal anecdotes. You end up with about a billion unsubstantiated ideas and hardly anyone who knows what's true. I wish they would be more careful and consider the damage caused by the confusion that they perpetuate in doing so.