When Normal People Freak Out, Not Us: The Bipolar Question of the Week

gina pera

4/29/12 1:16am

Bet you got your attention with this one, John.

First, you'd have to explain to me, what is "normal"?

The very idea that people with bipolar can be spoken of monolithically is almost as strange to me as speaking of their partners monolithically. ;-)

gina pera

4/29/12 1:17am

Oops. I meant I bet you got THEIR attention.

g'night!

Alfredo

4/29/12 2:26am

This is interesting. I was watching the movie Melancholia and in this movie the only person who was not affected by the fact that the end of the world was near was a person/woman with bipolar disorder. She was the only one not freaking out.It is true that sometimes (not at all times) we suffer so much, and are ready for things to go wrong, that we are best placed to cope with disasters.

Tabby

4/29/12 9:37am

family thinks we are crazy and unstable

friends think we are crazy and unstable

co-workers, employers, potential co-workers & employers think we crazy and unstable

psychiatrists and therapists and all who work with the mentally ill, think we crazy and unstable

society, as a whole, thinks we are crazy and unstable

EACH individual that DOES NOT suffer and struggle with a form of mental illness.. hazards to declare that those of us who do.. are crazy and unstable

so... why wouldn't we, ourselves, not eventually believe what everyone surrounding us thinks and TELLS us? We are crazy and unstable.

yes... we have PERIODS of time of which we may be.. crazy and/or unstable.. but THEY ARE ONLY PERIODS... unless one is truly Schizophrenic and completely lost within the scope of their own non-lucid, yet lucid hallucinatory psychotic mind... many, fortunately, are not

I think that, overall, we handle the 2 tons of crap better than the "normies" because we live with 4 tons of crap in our minds every literal day. So, 2 tons seems manageable or it's just added in, so really, what's a bit more?

Most of us are so profoundly appreciable of the good things, the stability, the peace.. than the "normies" and we are so accustomed to dealing with the bad, the unstable, the strife and drama... that we are conditioned to just accept CRAP as a normal typical day.

Always on death's proverbial doorstep, at least I am with my insidious suicidal desires and intentions when the depressions get so utter bad... that everything else pales, really, in contrast and having survived a suicide attempt and a massive car wreck.. really... 2 tons of crap is daunting and pressuring, no doubt, but it's just 2 tons on top of the 4 I already have... what's a bit more? ya know?

it's nothing, really.

someone once wrote, a friend with mental illness, that those of us with mental illness HAVE to develop means and ways of coping with life and all it's dramas.

We have to because we are faced with so utter many dramas and crises that would take out the normal "normie" or would cause them to crash to their knees and cry out for their momma's.

We have to develop means and ways of coping and dealing in order to keep surviving because we are in survival mode every day we are alive.

cathryne

4/29/12 12:55pm

I agree with Tabby. Were so use to having 4 tons of crap dumped on us a scape goats by normies every day of our lives, bosse, mid-level bosses, bullying daughters- Eveything has to be our fault because were the one's who are sick. I define sick as being so self deluded that you truly believe everyone else is sick but you. Of course those caught up in their own delusions of control - when somehting "out of control" happens they crumble. where when we, who are prepetually on the verge of exhibing out of control behavior, can thake the unusal more in stide. (god I hope that makes sense)

Chock full o nuts

4/29/12 1:40pm

First, I have to say, what an awesome scenario lol! Moving on, I have to admit that I often find myself believing the common misconceptions spoken of by society regarding bipolar disorder. Any time a situation presents itself, and when I as one with bipolar reacts to it, it is often played off as due to my disorder. “Oh, he’s just manic today.” And the all too common question is raised, “Are you taking your meds?” Very annoying, yet sadly, I often view my reactions likewise…That in comparison to those who are “normal,” my reactions are completely out of line and inherently untrustworthy. Yet, reading this article, I have been brought to further analyze such an assessment. If shit did indeed fall at anybodies feet, it would be viewed as a shitty situation (pun intended), and from my acquaintance with those who are “normal,” I would have to say that they would be just as likely, or more so, to “freak out.”

In regards to the question, “Why would the person with bipolar be more likely to be cool as a cucumber?”

As others have mentioned, I believe that one advantage that we have, as sufferers of mental illness when “shitty” situations present themselves over “Normies,” is that we have experienced shit falling before…and in some regards have grown accustomed to it. For example, emotional and intellectual shit-storms are quite common in my life, and these have somewhat dulled my reaction to them when they do inevitably occur (never to the point of shit actually falling from the sky thankfully lol). When the shit does fall, we are faced with a familiar situation, one which we have practiced, intensively, performing drill after drill on how to react to and deal with such situations…A somewhat comforting thought for me; one which I had failed ro recognize.

Great article!

Joanne Shortell

4/29/12 3:15pm

After 9/11 I had to contact my executive coach, who happened to be a psychologist. I had a business reason, which is irrelevant to this, but there was another reason. I was feeling that I wasn't quite human. Why? I had been right next door to ground zero and had thought and acted far, far more rationally than at least 90% of the other tens of thousands of people evacuated from neighboring buildings and had to force my ex-military, highly intelligent boss to act rationally. I wasn't at all unemotional; I was very afraid. Here's what made me think I was "inhuman":

1) Even though my eyesight was excellent and my boss's was not, I could not see the jumping, burning victims while he could.

2) While it seemed nearly everyone (probably only 90%) was not moving away from ground zero (they were all transfixed by the burning towers), I was not only trying to get away from there, but also planning how best to get out of the city (there was no rational reason to believe the attack was over).

3) As we walked I worked out the safest route out of Manhattan. I made myself think like a terrorist and decided to avoid other iconic, crowded locations like the Empire State Building, Penn Station, etc., and headed for a NJ Transit train station in the village. That train would run under the Hudson and any way off the island could be a target so I thought about what might keep us alive if we got stuck in the train tunnel. I stopped in a bodega bought all the bottled water that would fit in my briefcase.

4)When we went by a car radio on which a report of an attack on the Pentagon in Washington D.C. was playing, I didn't get any more upset than I already was-- I wasn't surpised that there was more to the attack than 2 planes.

What was my coach's explanation? My mental illness had saved my rationality. She said that unlike "normal" Americans (even ex-military) I was not unfamiliar with the idea that someone might kill me while I was carrying on my normal routine (my PTSD was well-established before 9/11) and my need to protect a person I cared about (a trait I see frequently in my fellow support group members) had mobilized every survival instinct when I realized my boss was nearly helpless. This was before I was properly diagnosed. Looking back I can see that the PTSD also triggered hypomania which certainly came in handy for analyzing data and making quick decisions. The not-seeing of flaming, falling victims? I don't remember witnessing any of the many instances of my father's domestic violence before I hit puberty either. It's a protective adaptation.

Ask a Question