One thing good about the issue and its being on Oprah (as opposed to somewhere “serious”) is that those with or who know someone with Bipolar will know better and those without aren’t really going to care? A presentation like Oprah’s doesn’t ask for much discussion or thought whereas something like the Law and Order: SVU show earlier this week on DID can be more damaging (and/or helpful if discussed) if taken at “face value”. People who watch Oprah regularly and hang on her words, read “her” books, etc. don’t “think” for themselves in the main anyway so even if something were presented “well” I don’t know that they’d recognize it as such? Anyone that can make Dr. Phil a success. . . I just feel bad because I like Dr. Oz.

Oprah is in the business of entertainment, and makes a very nice living at it. It is perhaps a shame that there may be folks whose entire knowledge of a particular topic is based on her presentation. But do we blame the entertainer for being entertaining? Or do we blame the person who mistakes entertainment for education?

If I were to pick the most important topic on Bipolar, I would pick over diagnosis and over prescribing of antipsychotics, often by GP’s…

I wonder if Oprah’s show timing is purely coincidental with Bristol Meyers Squib’s big TV campaign launch promoting drugs to treat bi-polar.

Oprah could use her venue for good. Doing a bit of counter thematic research would reveal that those who suffer from Bipolar disorder are no more inclined toward violence that the normal slice of humanity. The truth is however that those who sucessfully manage are marked by greater personal awareness, tenacious self-management, and introspective self monitoring. That makes them stronger and more self aware than the average bear.

Have been reading the comments from the Oprah show on bipolar disorder. The show was recommended to me, but I’m glad I didn’t see it.
I’ve been bp since I was 13, and am now 50. It still amazes me that someone like Oprah would not have the most recent info on the illness.
I guess sensationalism is the name of the game, but she could have done
so much good by being accurate. I like the comments on some of the
blogs that she should devote an entire week to mental illnesses. There
is certainly enough material - sensational & otherwise!

I just blogged a post on Thursday “As Many Kinds as People with Them” about diversity within diagnoses. I am a psychologist with a mood disorder and was struck how different all my mood disordered patients are from each other and from me. Stereotyping a disorder is as bad as stereotyping an ethnicity.

Not to be a jerk and all, but those of us who have lived with a person with bipolar, or been dependent on someone with it, get tired of hearing how we should all pity the people with bipolar, how we should be compassionate and understanding and bend over backwards. You know, I’ve yet to meet a person with a mother or father, husband or wife with bipolar who hasn’t lived a life of turmoil.

Likewise, when I had to call the cops on my dangerous relative with bipolar, all I had to mention was this person was bipolar and the cops knew it was serious. Turns out they get calls of that nature a lot, at least in the region I was in. But I suppose my experiences, and many of the experiences of others affected by those with bipolar, do not count, because we aren’t being sympathetic enough, right? Pardon my anger, but I grow so sick of hearing about the plight of those with bipolar; one need only glance at your Q&As to see that there is a plight found in those living around it, too.

All that being said, Oprah is entertainment (all television that works for ratings is, including the news), not education, so I don’t know why people expected more this time than any other.

I don’t expect anyone to be concerned about my bipolar “plight” — but the TRUTH is that I couldn’t be less dangerous. You probably aren’t even aware of how many people you meet with BP disorder, because we can live pretty normal lives. This is horrible misinformation, Anonymous. Your situation “counts” — but it is YOUR situation, YOUR relative, not everyone with BP. The fact that you have met some other people also struggling (a support group?) is also not evidence that everyone with BP is dangerous, or causing their families to live a “life of turmoil.” (Mine isn’t!) A few people who committed some offense or other and also had BP are being held up as evidence that everyone with the disorder is a sort of human pit bull, just waiting for the bad stimuli to maul someone. It is undoubtedly true that a good many criminal offenders are mentally ill, but that doesn’t imply that everyone who is mentally ill is dangerous. You are looking at this from the wrong end of the telescope: instead of looking at the few people with BP who are dangerous and extrapolating that across the whole population of people with BP, you need to look at the whole population of people with BP and determine what percentage are dangerous (by whatever definition of dangerous), and if it is statistically significantly different from the general population, and if so by what degree.

godbless u
its just bipolar disorder
god knows everything
god loves us
its true
love,love,love its amazing therapy

1) To Blue, I love how you worded this truth: “The truth is however that those who sucessfully manage are marked by greater personal awareness, tenacious self-management, and introspective self monitoring. That makes them stronger and more self aware than the average bear.” I will remember that when folks start to get me down.

2) There’s a new musical out about bipolar disorder. It’s amusing the reactions I often get, but I’m serious. If anyone’s near the Washington D.C. area, see nexttonormal.org for info. Dear Anonymous, the show’s plot definitely covers the perspective of the husband of a woman with bipolar disorder. He gets “his song” (more than one, actually) to tell of his side, which is amazing to see portrayed on stage. The show speaks to everyone’s perspective, incl. the teenage son and daughter who do not have bipolar. Any questions, feel free to hit me up here: n2nfreak@gmail.com - thanks! Lisa K.

I find it unfortunate when television shows sensationalize the disease painting sufferers with a broad brush stroke. I have a bipolar loved one and I feel safe around him. Mentally ill and non-mentally ill people both hurt and kill others. It’s not just exclusive to bipolar disorder. I share info on the disorder on my blog http://www.bipolaradviceguide.com.

I have written to Oprah about the work we are doing on bipolar awareness…no reply…all three times.
What we are doing is promoting treatment, letting people know they are not alone (those living with bipolar and those who love them), reducing stigma attached to the illness dramatically.
We just keep hoping that somebody with some pull will help us to keep doing the work we are compelled to do and that is helping so many.
Cheers!
Check out our efforts at http://www.type2bipolarshow.com

I was horrified at the way Oprah handled this and other episodes of such a serious and sober nature. I don’t buy the excuse that she’s merely an “Entertainer.” She is more than that and bears the burden of that greater responsibility that she herself insists she has.

And to the poster that advocates calling the police (because we’re so dangerous and volatile), my god. In my county, per the Sheriff dept’s own fatal shooting records, a BP person has a 77.6% chance of being shot and killed as a result of such a well-intentioned but overly hysterical phone call to the police. People around bipolars need to learn how to handle it instead of copping/chickening out and calling local law enforcement who is more likely to fatally shoot the bipolar than “save” them.

Thanks to Oprah’s mishandling of bipolar disorder, despicable and attitudes that promote law enforcement as the stable hand are utterly clueless and utterly irresponsible.

It’s time for this nonsense to stop. As more of us put our dis-order in-order, we need the public to NOT complicate our situations and make things worse. Law enforcement is utterly Unhelpful and ill equipped to handle us. Period. All Oprah did was make a mess. She bears the burden of cleaning it up. Why doesn’t she put Tim Wooton on? She could still get big pharmas advert dollars…