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Secret Life of the Manic Depressive - BBC2


Rachie

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Anyone else watch part 1 of this tonight? (Re: Stephen Fry exploring the world of bipolar disorder), really interesting stuff. I'm still quite amazed at the fact that a kid as young as 6 was diagnosed and medicated. The second part of it's being shown next week at the same time - definitely worth a gander.

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Fuck' date=' I missed it!

Is there a repeat at all?[/quote']

Not sure if it will be repeated, but it was Part 1 of 2, so there's another one next week.

You can watch some clips of Part 1 here -

http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbctwo/programmes/?id=manic_depressive

It was great. Fascinating, and most informative about a very misunderstood condition.

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Damn, I missed it as well.

As Frosty Jack rightly says, it (like all genuine depression) is a very misunderstood condition.

I have a friend who is bipolar and is permanently on Lithium and as a result he is, by his own admission, a "non-person" in this state.

He has taken himself off medication from time to time with the explanation of "I NEED my highs". He has moments of pure genius when he is there, but can become uncontrollable (not violent - I hasten to add) and has pulled some crazy shit in his time o_O. I've spent many,many nights giving explanations to and pacifying folk who were ready to lynch him!!

The downside are the lows, coz when he crashes, it's awful. I remember one time when he was low, I went to visit him and went home after 5 minutes and cried my eyes out coz I'd never seen such utter desolation and misery in a human being.

I wouldn't wish that condition on anyone.

DZL

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I caught a bit of this. It is positive that the myths are being dispelled about mental illness through programmes such as this. Also that so many respected celebrities are willing to talk openly about their condition to educate the masses. It's great that Stephen Fry was doing this after having being slaughtered in the press after his most publicised "crash". As Hog says many articulate and intelligent people are inflicted with this illness, particularly people in the entertainment business, but it was good that he interviewed some "normals" as well to show that this can happen to anyone.

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damn, pissed that I missed that, I thought it was on Sunday night. Poo. Would be interested to see a repeat if anyone finds out if its on, it's something I'd like to know more about. A guy I know had it and much like Fry is on of the most intelligent, articulate and damned charming men in the world.

I say 'had'...is it something that you can recover from fully?

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Guest Jake Wifebeater
Perhaps the most interesting point that Stephen himself and several of the people he interviewed made was that given the choice' date=' they wouldn't want to [b']not be bipolar.

Everyone with manic depression (a far more accurate term than bipolar) I've ever worked with has said the same thing. They say that the highs are so terrific that it's worth going through the lows for, even though the lows are far more frequent and longer-lasting.

You need the patience of a saint when people are high, you really do. They drain you completely and are generally in denial that they're unwell. You can't blame them really, you're seen as someone who's just trying to spoil their fun. But the longer the high goes on, the more crushing is the low when it kicks in, and it almost always does.

That said, there's a very small percentage of sufferers who only experience the mania and never get depressive episodes. That probably feels great at times.

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