Bipolar Disorder and Schizophrenia - More Closely Related than You Might Think

Hi, M. Very nicely put.

Many thanks, Judy. Pope John was truly extraordinary. His photos reveal both kindness and a saintly spirit - very inspirational to look at. And his deeds match his image.

Funny you should mention my book. In my book, I point out many of the similarities between bipolar and schizophrenia, but I felt obliged to reassure readers that schizophrenia was somehow on the other side of the chasm. No way I would do that now. I was living in my own fear. It is far healthier in any situation to acknowledge what binds us rather than what separates us. We're all learning as we go along. Thanks so much for reassuring me.

Hey John,

I have been catching up on my reading, now that I am no longer hospitalized at the state mental hospital in Warm Springs.  I was there for almost seven months.

I have a degree in Psychology and from my education, I was taught that Bipolar is a mood disorder and schizophrenia is a thought disorder.  In my own experience, my husband had schizophrenia, and he "went psychotic" when he got stressed out.  During one of his episodes, it was his thought patterns that were faulty.  You say that schizophrenia goes into psychosis which goes into depression.  My husband did not experience any kind of depression, even after he came through a bout with psychosis.  It was his thoughts that were skewed. 

One suggestion I have for you, John, is to stop referring to us as "bipolars".  I am not, now, nor have I ever been, a "bipolar".  I am a person who has been diagnosed with bipolar; it does not consume my entire identity, as I am so much more than my diagnosis of Bipolar.  I think we people who have been diagnosed with mental illnesses have so many other, beautiful things going on with us.  If we continue to refer to ourselves as our diagnoses, other people will be more inclined to see us as "bipolars" and put us in the bipolar box.

I founded a statewide support group for people with mental illness diagnoses in the late 80's and early 90's.  We did not care what the person's diagnosis was.  ALL people who recognized themselves as being "mentally ill" were welcomed into our group.  We had members with schizophrenia, bipolar, personality disorders, schizoaffective disorder and so on.  We did not make any distinction between one diagnosis over the other, other than sharing experiences we had.

I agree that we need to have compassion for people who have any kind of mental illness diagnosis.  In our group, everyone was invited to join; we all worked together without putting up barriers for people who have schizophrenia or any other mental illness diagnosis.

In the end, it didn't matter who had what diagnosis.  We were all people, after all.  People need pretty much the same things in life:  food, clothing, shelter, love, companionship.  By making the distinction between schizophrenia and bipolar, you are part of the mentality that puts people in square or round pegs, with each diagnosis fitting into their pre-determined peg.

When it comes down to it, we all want to be loved.  Yes, you did say that we are all related to each other and share many of the same "symptoms" of either group. I do appreciate that you talked about both diagnoses and how they are similar.  Perhaps if we try to  be more understanding of people, regardless of their diagnosis, we can bridge the gap between "those schizophrinics" and "we "bipolars" (as you might say).

Great topic for discussion!

Kay