Bipolar: Mariah Carey & Me.

Mariah Carey came out as having bipolar disorder last week. And it got me thinking: Do I have bipolar?

Trending across all social media channels, she was thrust back into the spotlight which, admittedly, she has hardly left since her debut album back in 1990.

For some reason, we thought we knew her. The songstress, the diva, the figure of female empowerment: But she eluded us all with the announcement of her continued struggle with her mental health.

How is that possible? How could she have kept something like bipolar a secret for so long? Was there not enough paparazzi on her tail? How dare she! 😉

Well, here’s the secret about mental ill health: You can’t see it.

The label isn’t written across her forehead. It isn’t self-evident simply because she’s a diva. She doesn’t even have bipolar until the moment she is diagnosed under the standards of the DSM-5 (the equivalent of the Bible to Psychologists).

Mariah Carey was first diagnosed with the disorder back in 2001 after she was hospitalised following a breakdown. She has been in denial about that moment until today…

But how long did she have bipolar before then? And will she have it forever? What is bipolar disorder and how can we spot it in the future?

How can I tell if I have bipolar?

Defining Bipolar

To define a mental health disorder isn’t as simple as you might think. As easy as it is for people to drop the word bipolar into a sentence to describe someone with a propensity for “anger”, its diagnosis isn’t quite as obvious and neither is its origin.

In fact, to quote our friends at the NHS:

“The exact cause of bipolar disorder is unknown. Experts believe there are a number of factors that work together to make a person more likely to develop the condition.”

Well, that’s fantastic. Exactly what you’d want to read if you suspected you may have bipolar disorder…😶

So if we don’t know where it comes from, what does someone with bipolar disorder experience?

“Bipolar Disorder is a mental health condition that causes extreme mood swings that include emotional highs (mania or hypomania) and lows (depression).”

This gives rise to two main types of bipolar: One where emotional highs are characterised by mania (type 1) and the other by hypomania (type 2).

Mariah Carey has type 2.

Let’s take a look at what these really mean…

Type 1: Mania

If you’ve ever looked up the symptoms of a physical illness, you’ll know that you often find yourself more confused than when you first began. But when it comes to mental health, be prepared to question your entire sense of self. 👀 I’m not even joking.

Here’s a peek at what the National Institute of Mental Health has to say on the symptoms of Mania and Depressive episodes:

Now I have a feeling that I’m not the only one drawing comparisons between these symptoms and myself; starting to question my mental health.

Come on tiger, you can do this! 🐯

It’s important to note that mania is more than just a feeling of elation, high energy, or being distracted. During a manic episode, the mania is so intense that it can interfere with your daily activities. It can even be difficult to redirect someone in a manic episode toward a calmer, more reasonable state.

OK…so that doesn’t really happen to me, but the symptoms are definitely there to a certain extent. Cue Type 2…

Type 2: Hypomania

One web page I found described hypomania as such:

“A hypomanic episode is a period of mania that’s less severe than a full-blown manic episode. Though less severe than a manic episode, a hypomanic phase is still an event in which your behavior differs from your normal state. The differences will be extreme enough that people around you may notice that something is wrong.”

I’m not sure about you, but I’m not exactly brimming with confidence after that definition.

So, Bipolar 2 is the same as Bipolar 1 except, less severe? More normal…

And yet, it’s still different from your “normal state”…

Thanks Interwebz. 👌

Diving a little deeper, I found that Dysphoric hypomania (yes, now we’ve got types of hypomania) is characterised by irritability, impulsiveness, and poor judgement, while euphoric hypomania can often be pleasant for the individual, causing them to have a temporary boost in productivity and positive emotions.

Give me the euphoria baby!

The most common form of hypomania, however, is the dysphoric kind and can often be identified due to the bouts of paranoia, rage, and other emotions that the individual experiences.

Yeah…not so fun. And also not so far from what I feel like I experience. But is that really bipolar disorder? Don’t we all get paranoid, angry and feel emotion?

So how do I know if I have bipolar?

According to The Royal College of Psychiatrists, around 1% of the adult population experience bipolar symptoms at some point in their life. However, given the symptoms I’ve just described, I feel there’s something to be said for its existence in each and every one of us.

Life is full of ups and downs. And so, it’s no wonder that the term Bipolar Spectrum Disorder has come into existence.

In fact, looking past the two main types of bipolar, there’s a lot more to discover under the hood . There’s even a type of bipolar called “mixed bipolar”. This means you experience simultaneous hypomania and depression.

How anyone can tell you’re bipolar when you’re down and up at the same time is beyond me. I thought that just equals out to…“normal”. 😘

There’s another type referred to as rapid cycling bipolar disorder which is characterised by frequent and often unpredictable switches between depression and hypomania.

Wow. On the plus side, I’m not the only one thinking that this is just getting confusing. Further down the same page I find this:

“These two forms of bipolar disorder can often confuse the diagnostician and make identifying the problem different for even experienced mental health professionals.”

So I’m not stupid after all!

Unfortunately, many people have to be diagnosed several times before they receive the correct diagnosis. This just goes to show how difficult it is to know whether or not you have bipolar disorder or diagnose someone else with it. This is particularly relevant when looking into its treatment; our final topic.

But first, as we take a step back from the scene of the diagnostic crime known as Bipolar Disorder, I feel it’s important to remember something: Bipolar is just a label. A label that can sometimes prove helpful, and at other times not.

Helpfully, the label of having a mental health disorder can get you into treatment quicker and help you to find the right path forward. That is certainly a plus.

Unhelpfully, it stigmatises and separates people. The label itself is notoriously hard to get rid of from both medical and social perspectives once you “have it”. Not to mention the fact that if diagnosed incorrectly, and subsequently treated as such, you could end up in a much bigger mess than when you started!

Additionally, the fact that it attempts to define what is “normal” doesn’t sit well with me…at all. *Snap* 💁

Treatment

So, we all know what it comes down to — pills or therapy — the age old debate…

Of course, there’s also electroconvulsive therapy but let’s not get into that today!

As far as pills are concerned:

• Mood stabilisers — are prescribed to treat manic or hypomanic episodes.
• Antidepressants — are prescribed to treat depressive episodes.
• Antipsychotics — just in case.

UK guidance for the treatment of bipolar disorder has an emphasis on medication. However, more than 60% of people with the diagnosis stop taking their medication at some point. This is often because of the unpleasant side effects that drugs such as lithium and olanzapine can produce.

A recent review also suggested that medication only helps a small proportion of those it is prescribed to. It found the highest success rate was just 33% and that lithium, a drug that NICE recommends as the “first-line, long-term pharmacological treatment for bipolar disorder” was found to benefit only about one in seven patients. Not only that: It’s toxic.

Recent research has found that around one in three of those taking lithium over many years will go on to suffer from chronic renal failure.

The evidence demonstrates that bipolar disorder-specific psychotherapies, when added to medication for the treatment of bipolar disorder, consistently show advantages over medication alone on measures of symptom burden and risk of relapse. Whether delivered in a group or individual format, those who receive bipolar disorder-specific psychotherapy fare better than those who do not.

Here’s the best of the best for you:

I’m probably going to do a post specifically about the different types of therapy soon. 😇

Conclusion

From what I can tell, I don’t believe I am bipolar, though perhaps one day I’ll go in for a diagnosis and find out for certain from the professionals. However, I’m glad that Mariah has found it within herself to share her diagnosis with the world. It gives us this collective sense of relief both for her own happiness and her ability to uphold her wellbeing in future — not to mention the fact that now we know she’s human just like us! 💫

Mental health is a medal of honour to be worn with pride. It shows strength of character and resilience to be able to put yourself out there and let everyone know that you go through struggles, and that’s OK: Because you are your own hero. Cheers for that one Mariah. ⭐️

I’m going to continue on my journey to spread awareness of mental health and its many layers. The power it holds to give us some of the most beautiful moments of our lives and take them away in an instant. I will be toeing the line of the mind in learning how it controls us and how it might be controlled by us. Why? So that one day we can all feel comfortable in ourselves.

If you listen back to Mariah’s songs now, you will find within them the power that only comes from someone who has experienced true pain, absolute paranoia and anger. She is a strong, bipolar woman on a mission to tell the world her story and, in doing so, inspire us to tell ours.

To put things in Mariah’s own words:

“It does not have to define you and I refuse to allow it to define me or control me.”

Thanks for reading!

My name is George and I’m a Mental Health Adventurer. 😘🌴😇🌴🙃🌴 Exploring the Jungles of the Mind! Follow me on here for my latest insights on this MAF life. Oh and if you give me a clap (you know, the kind Medium likes) I feel instant gratitude run through my body and soul so…you know…clap!

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I can’t finish my posts without some music. Since we’re talking about her, I’ll be damned if I play anything else, so here it goes:

So much love.