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Post by fuzzywuzzy on Mar 6, 2015 9:27:54 GMT
For anyone who watched 'Being Bipolar' last night, I just wanted to say that whilst it was great, for once, to see what 3 ordinary people, with normal families go through, be mindful of the fact that it was just 3....there are many more versions of the disorder...I personally, for example, know of one woman who alternates monthly between the depression and the hypomania, for NO reason at all.....
But the main thing I wanted to point out is that the presenter is coming to her views from the standpoint of a therapist....that is what she is....specifically a PSYCHOtherapist, i.e. she is in the business of identifying and aiding what she believes to be problems that are psychological in nature....in the mind.....she continued with her premise that it must be 'trauma' related and therefore people don't need medication, despite the fact that one of the leading world experts at Cardiff University, involved in research on 6,000 people with the brain disorder, told her categorically that the scientific evidence is overwhelmingly that it is genetic.....and despite the fact that the people appearing could not relate to trauma.
Thanks for reading x x x
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sunride
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Post by sunride on Mar 6, 2015 18:01:36 GMT
The condition can be triggered by a trauma, but I guess you have to have been predisposed with the genes to start with?
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Post by petra on Mar 7, 2015 0:53:11 GMT
I thought the programme was utter rubbish and am still slightly fuming over it.
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sunride
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Post by sunride on Mar 7, 2015 1:17:51 GMT
I've not watched it yet, I recrded it, it was on the night of the bipolar group that I'm a facilitator at and we had a particularly sad meeting so haven't really felt like it yet, but reckon it will wind me up anyway, like most things on the telly!
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Post by rhiannon on Mar 7, 2015 7:50:52 GMT
I might be the black sheep here, I often am lol but I sort of thought it was quite good, I have only a limited understanding of bipolar disorder of any type though so I guess it could be because of my ignorance but I in no way felt that she was saying it wasn't genetic, In fact I admired that she gave in and re assessed her stand point to objectively include what the scientist had told her about it being genetic.
However, I think it's also good to get it out there that it isn't just genetic, somewhat like depression (I think) where you have a pre disposition and any number of things can bring it forward including trauma and if it is trauma related and you seek counselling you stand a chance at making your life a bit better.
I do disagree like her that the medications work, they obviously help but they just seem to dim the moods not prevent them from happening. When I take an anti depressant it stops my depression in its tracks, it's gone. This doesn't appear to be the case for bipolar as they were medicated and clearly still experiencing a lot of symptoms.
I might be wrong and I don't mean to offend anyone with my potentially ignorant views but if you have limited knowledge of it as a disorder I thought it presented the cases quite well dispite her underlying ideas about what causes it.
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Post by fuzzywuzzy on Mar 7, 2015 20:30:48 GMT
I have had a few really good days....very productive (even before trying meds, legitimately, for the first time, today being Day 2)... Today, I'm in a much more inactive, energy-sapped phase, so will post more on my personal views on the programme when I'm a bit more with it.... in the meantime, this short review is quite good.....
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Post by fuzzywuzzy on Mar 7, 2015 20:33:56 GMT
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Post by petra on Mar 7, 2015 21:40:44 GMT
The short review says it all really. As far as I'm concerned, it's just a few more names added to the list.
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Post by rhiannon on Mar 7, 2015 22:08:10 GMT
I'm not sure that I took it the same way others did from reading those, in no way did I take that to be the whole situation or draw any real conclusions but I'll hold my hands up on this one, I think this is a case of me = ignorant and wrong!
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Post by JJ on Mar 8, 2015 2:07:03 GMT
I thought the programme was pants - as did a zillion bipolar sufferers on twitter immediately afterwards. I thought the stupid woman was .... Well, stupid...and ignorant.... IMO she shouldn't be practicing as a psychotherapist if she's not aware that not every single mental health issue in life is due to a childhood trauma. She was so desperate to hear someone talk of abuse, death, plague or pestilence, the disappointment was palpable, it was cringeworthy. As with anyone, ND or NT, stress is an exacerbating factor in mental ill-health, and to that end psychotherapeutic support should be available to all who need it, particularly those who are more vulnerable. BUT, to suggest that genetics and meds are any kind of red herrings or superfluous factors is frankly ignorant at best, dangerous more likely... And also highly arrogant when the lady with bipolar said (what evidence concurs) that her meds have saved her life. Life stresses will exacerbate conditions, but people with mental health vulnerabilities such as bipolar will have their episodes even if everything is A OK, that's the point, that's the diagnosis, there doesn't have to be a reason, when the black cloud gets you (or the mania / hypomania) it gets you, there's not necessarily a rhyme or reason. And as far as meds go, it depends on your definition of 'working' as to whether they work. If you mean 'do they stop it all and get rid of it' then for some people the answer is no, they don't. If you mean 'do they make it a bit better' or 'do they stop people from dying of this disorder' then the answer is yes, evidence shows the meds help with the symptoms and that they reduce deaths and improve quality of life. Adhd meds don't get rid of my adhd, they don't even take it all away when they're active, but they make it better. The fact I'm not cured doesn't mean I should have a good year-long talk with a counsellor and eschew the meds. Talking might help with the things that make me feel worse / make my adhd symptoms worse, but it's not giving me a brain injection of dopamine and norepinephrine to bring me up to 'normal' levels. This woman clearly has no perception of how it is when your brain goes haywire - and it's all about the chemical and the neurology - and nothing to do with the psychology. Sometimes it's just about that, there's nothing you can do - except take the meds, and survive. And rhiannon, the woman clearly didn't change her views at all?!!! She didn't reassess her standpoint at all??!!! That's one of the reasons I found her and her views,on such a big platform, so objectionable. She was single minded and nothing was changing her. This response to the programme on MIND's website says what I think in a much better way, and from someone who has bipolar.*** ***Which is also important - she has bipolar, she's a person who has bipolar, just like someone with cancer has cancer, they're not cancer, they're not 'being cancer', the person with bipolar isn't 'being bipolar', they have bipolar.
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sunride
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Post by sunride on Mar 8, 2015 9:04:34 GMT
What a great post JJ :-)
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Post by grim on Mar 8, 2015 20:43:49 GMT
Well said JJ
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