Bipolar wannabes

A recent article, interestingly re-published in the NZ Herald as “Bipolar Wannabes”, has shown that there has been a rise in self-diagnosis of bipolar disorder. 

This article has caused much controversy over water-coolers around Like Minds, Like Mine offices, with many people wondering what this means in terms of stigma and discrimination.

Is the idea that having bipolar disorder is desirable, with stars, such a Britney Spears, plagued by rumours of the illness, a 'negative idea?  Are we linking the disorder with celebrity, similar to the 'idiot savant' ideas of the past haunting those who experienced autism?

Or is it simply that celebrities, like Stephen Fry, have brought bipolar disorder into the limelight and made the diagnosis more tangible for people? 

Self-diagnosis is in no way a new idea, I remember being warned as a first year psychology student that in reading the text book we would find many behaviours that we shared with the case studies we were reading about.  But, while many feel that self-diagnosis is often a negative, isn’t it better that people have an understanding of an illness and notice if they are feeling and reacting in the same way? 

In many ways we have taken control of our health care in this century, no doubt I am not the only one who Googles medical symptoms before making an appointment with my GP.  Perhaps people being more informed about illnesses, such as bipolar disorder, will lead to earlier help-seeking and therefore, we hope, earlier recovery.

What do you think?

Jade Caulfield, Auckland Like Minds Health Promoter