DammitJanet
Well-Known Member
Steely...have you ever read Danielle Steele's book about her son? It is an excellent book but it really makes you think about undiagnosed and unmedicated bipolar people. She makes no bones about what happens to him.
Brilliance/Mania/medications/Dulling
- Thread starter Steely
- Start date
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flutterbee
Guest
Dr. Kay Redfield Jamison, a Professor of Psychiatry at Johns Hopkins and who suffers from Bipolar Disorder herself, has written a book you might want to read called An Unquiet Mind. I haven't read that book; I've read another of hers. But, it has good reviews and based on the book of hers that I have read, I'm sure it would be worth it.
Someone else mentioned that mood disorders (unipolar depression or bipolar disorder, as well as anxiety) can themselves cause cognitive dulling over time and especially during 'episodes' for lack of a better inclusive word. I know I have very little memory of my major depressive episodes. I remember generalities, but few specifics. easy child has virtually no memory from the ages of 10-12, when he was severely depressed. I mean almost none, if any at all.
He used to love to write. He wrote all the time. His 4th grade teacher would give him extra credit for all of his stories just because he was always writing them. When he grew up he wanted to be a writer. He has failed Language Arts virtually every year since the 5th grade (when he was diagnosis'd) - only barely passing 9th and 10th grade LA. He hates to write and he hates to read. It wasn't that he had this amazing talent, but it was something he loved to do and he was good at it and would have gotten better, but it's like that part of him never existed. He did an AD for about a month. He refused and I was new to the difficult child world and was at a loss with what to do about that - and his therapist said not to force it. So, I really can't blame the medications. I do, however, blame the illness. He is no longer depressed and is a very happy kid, but he is changed. Maybe if I had forced the AD this wouldn't have happened? Or maybe the illness was just bigger.
When I was in the psychiatric hospital, there was a man in there who seemed to be a rather frequent flyer - he shared quite a bit about himself. He was an artist with bipolar disorder who frequently went off his medications. When I met him he was in a full blown manic state and psychotic. First he was a doctor and he diagnosis'd me while eating lunch - quite boisterously - with bipolar. Then he was a time travel agent in the military. Then again later, he was still in the military, but was on this mission to Mars. Then later, after his medications kicked in he was incredibly humiliated and said he felt so stupid for saying all of those things.
I don't think there is an easy answer. I think in these instances some things have to be sacrificed in order to have functionality. And hopefully some happiness and some success.
I also know, besides the suicide rate, that a very high percentage of bipolar patients who are not stable on medications self-medicate. So, that's another consideration, too.
Someone else mentioned that mood disorders (unipolar depression or bipolar disorder, as well as anxiety) can themselves cause cognitive dulling over time and especially during 'episodes' for lack of a better inclusive word. I know I have very little memory of my major depressive episodes. I remember generalities, but few specifics. easy child has virtually no memory from the ages of 10-12, when he was severely depressed. I mean almost none, if any at all.
He used to love to write. He wrote all the time. His 4th grade teacher would give him extra credit for all of his stories just because he was always writing them. When he grew up he wanted to be a writer. He has failed Language Arts virtually every year since the 5th grade (when he was diagnosis'd) - only barely passing 9th and 10th grade LA. He hates to write and he hates to read. It wasn't that he had this amazing talent, but it was something he loved to do and he was good at it and would have gotten better, but it's like that part of him never existed. He did an AD for about a month. He refused and I was new to the difficult child world and was at a loss with what to do about that - and his therapist said not to force it. So, I really can't blame the medications. I do, however, blame the illness. He is no longer depressed and is a very happy kid, but he is changed. Maybe if I had forced the AD this wouldn't have happened? Or maybe the illness was just bigger.
When I was in the psychiatric hospital, there was a man in there who seemed to be a rather frequent flyer - he shared quite a bit about himself. He was an artist with bipolar disorder who frequently went off his medications. When I met him he was in a full blown manic state and psychotic. First he was a doctor and he diagnosis'd me while eating lunch - quite boisterously - with bipolar. Then he was a time travel agent in the military. Then again later, he was still in the military, but was on this mission to Mars. Then later, after his medications kicked in he was incredibly humiliated and said he felt so stupid for saying all of those things.
I don't think there is an easy answer. I think in these instances some things have to be sacrificed in order to have functionality. And hopefully some happiness and some success.
I also know, besides the suicide rate, that a very high percentage of bipolar patients who are not stable on medications self-medicate. So, that's another consideration, too.
totoro
Mom? What's a difficult child?
I have read SOOO many Books about Bipolar Disorder...
My favorite because her story reminds me of some of my own CaCa...
[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Madness-Bipolar-Life-Marya-Hornbacher/dp/0618754458/ref=pd_sim_b_njs_1"]Amazon.com: Madness: A Bipolar Life: Marya Hornbacher: Books[/ame]
This book is so good... intense, sad, heartbreaking. But she is so honest and brutally truthful about Bipolar Disorder. She is an extreme case of how Mental Illness can affect someone... but she is also a LOT like many of us and our children.
My favorite because her story reminds me of some of my own CaCa...
[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Madness-Bipolar-Life-Marya-Hornbacher/dp/0618754458/ref=pd_sim_b_njs_1"]Amazon.com: Madness: A Bipolar Life: Marya Hornbacher: Books[/ame]
This book is so good... intense, sad, heartbreaking. But she is so honest and brutally truthful about Bipolar Disorder. She is an extreme case of how Mental Illness can affect someone... but she is also a LOT like many of us and our children.
