This is a great reminder and just what I needed to hear today. It is too easy to think of our mood disorder as such a big part of ourselves, even as part of our personality. Thanks for the reminder that our personality is a thing unto itself. That is some much needed perspective for all of us. You have given us a healthy reminder which should result in a much broader perspective as we work towards healing and recovery.
Great article John. I was just in hospital getting my BP meds tweaked (again!) and witnessed this in myself and another patient who I knew from "the outside". Whllst I "suffer" from Bipolar 1 I do my best (through my personality and my traits) to but a positive spin on thing - somtimes I think i have too much fun with my bipolar - and my med side effect (well some people spend alot of money to get those effects!!) and I do get depressed and sometimes mixed states (the worst ever) but I am still essentially a positive extroverted type and I think that's why I survive and why my family copes as well.
My friend on the other hand has Major depression and I think (not a dr but seen enough inside hospitals!) BPD. She is clingy, thending down even when well, blames me for things I have not done and is always trying one-upmanship on me and then I end up apologising to keep the peace.
BUT, this was an in-patient situation with both of us stuck in there and I was mixed and very agitated and could see her so much more clearly cause my usual traits were not coming to my rescue (happiness and light were not in the mix) and I was not apologising for anything and she did not care that I was sick it was all me me me (about her) and I could have been invisible for all she cared.
So when my personality took a holiday inside a mixed state I saw hers clearly for the first time, and it was not a pretty sight. Then my huisband told me he's thought that for ages but that my judgement was always slightly impaired by my inablility to think badly of people and to trust too easily due to my "traits". I'd rather be me than her but what a lot you find out when your personality takes a little break and lets you look around :)
NK
I don't know how the subject became religious, but since I am an Atheist, I shall forgo altogether further comment on that.
I think the issue of state vs trait is very complex. For instance, during one of my state hospitalizations, the psychologist gave me a copy of Disorders of the Personality: DSM-IV and Beyond to look at. I recently was able to find a copy for my home library. His point was that he was leaning toward thinking that I had a depressive personality. I suppose he is probably right. When you have known depression for most of your life (since age 2-3 anyway), it becomes nearly impossible to tease out the threads of what is personality, what is mental illness, and what is simply me.
In fact, at this point in my life, I do not even know who I am anymore. Who was I born to be? Why and how was that destiny changed? What parts of "the real me" have persisted and what parts have perished? Of my current traits, which ones are real? For that matter, how can any of us know the answers to these questions?
Featuring Content From:
By using this service, you accept our Terms of Use. Please read them. The consumer health information on is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for medical advice or treatment for any medical conditions. You should promptly seek professional medical care if you have any concern about your health, and you should always consult your physician before starting a fitness regimen. Copyright © 2012 Remedy Health Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Another anti-Christian diatribe supporting Muslims as superior in their philosophies, and from a man who many would think is learned. Unfortunately, this gentleman has little understanding of the Christian faith and even less, about Islam, if he thinks that Muslims have a higher understanding of human nature and behavior. This entire article has very little in content that would encourage someone with a depressive disorder, and is aimed, primarily, at "talking heads" who will use it to pass further judgement upon those who suffer from this disease. I usually find the information in these newsletter somewhat helpful and of interest, but this is just a bunch of blah, blah, blah by someone who is fulled with this own self-importance. So shame on both the author and this internet publication for this gigantic piece of crap.
Thought this was about Mental Health not Religion.
Good article
Hi John,
I think the previous author did what I used to do - see the word "Christian", how it is used in the sentence (derogatorily, for example), and make an association about the entire article based upon the one or two sentences. Not every Christian reverberates with the name itself, and so we tend to shun whatever was done in its name.
However, I did not find the article to be religious in nature at all. Muslim? I read the article three times, and unless the previous author is referring to a name, I missed any obvious Muslim references. A name itself it not going to tell someone about an individual as much as they think it will.
In fact, John, you said, "[I]f we are just looking at the "state" we are in, we are failing to pay attention to the whole picture." You talked about overcoming the lower, autonomic brain with the higher, decision-making brain. You talked of hope. That's what I pulled from this article.
I agree we have choices to make. Sometimes we cannot make the choices all by ourselves, nor as humans were we meant to. John, you call someone. Wonderful! I do, too. When I am weak - and I often am - someone else can be my strength. Oh yes, that's Biblical, by the way.
I guess you can also judge those who are not too favourable about the crusades or the inqusition, yet are stunned at the mathematics of the middle east to be anti-christian?
Oh grow up. John's talking the history of philosophy notabout modern faith based politics, whatever your flavour Read the peice properly or go elsewhere for some faith based psychiatry.
NK
The FACTS if you are interested, SpeakthetruthNot, is that our knowledge of Greek medicine came to us not from the Greeks but through the Arab translations. During the middle ages the Arabic civilzatons were superior in their knowledge of Greek. It would be a good language for you to learn, takes up A Lot of time, so you won't be misconstruing what John, a knowledgeable person, has written.