Stephen Fry on bipolar people
I just saw (part of) a documentary by Stephen Fry about his bipolarity. I wanted to see it partly because I always liked him as a comedian, but the subject also intrigued me.
He tells that after a suicide attempt, that didn't succeed because in the end he just couldn't, he fled to Bruges for a few weeks. Later he was diagnosed as being bipolar, which explained a lot of things in his past, like being expelled from school because he was so difficult, and stealing a credit card to buy fancy clothes and go to fancy cocktail bars.
He also interviewed Robbie Williams (never thought I'd see these two next to each other) and Carrie Fisher (princess Leia in Star Wars) who are also bipolar. With Robbie Williams it's not so hard to imagine, and maybe I can forgive him for doing stupid things (see previous posts).
As to the difficult kids in school - we've all known them - it begs the question whether they might need treatment rather than punishment. When they're in a manic period, nothing will stop them, not even severe punishment, because they feel like they're the center of the world. The same is true for prisoners that committed crimes because they have problems ranging from not knowing how to deal with anger to serious mental illness.
But he also interviewed two brothers of about 15, who were diagnosed as being bipolar, and got lots of medication for it, Prozac amongs others. I don't know what a libido suppressing drug does to your puberty. Stephen Fry wondered what would have come of him if he had been treated at that age. It is likely he would never have become a comedian, so we would never have known him.
An interview with another man intrigued me because he told he had seen the devil in a vision during a manic mood, very vividly. This makes me wonder whether all the prophets were just bipolar people, who had a vision that is subconsciously based on stories in their culture, and then tell people about it. Manic people are so full of energy that they can be very convincing.
He also said there are about 4 million people in the UK that are bipolar. That's about one in 15! When it's that many, I start to wonder if it has a biological purpose, being a fan of evolutionary psychology. That would not necessarily mean it's a good thing, of course.
He tells that after a suicide attempt, that didn't succeed because in the end he just couldn't, he fled to Bruges for a few weeks. Later he was diagnosed as being bipolar, which explained a lot of things in his past, like being expelled from school because he was so difficult, and stealing a credit card to buy fancy clothes and go to fancy cocktail bars.
He also interviewed Robbie Williams (never thought I'd see these two next to each other) and Carrie Fisher (princess Leia in Star Wars) who are also bipolar. With Robbie Williams it's not so hard to imagine, and maybe I can forgive him for doing stupid things (see previous posts).
As to the difficult kids in school - we've all known them - it begs the question whether they might need treatment rather than punishment. When they're in a manic period, nothing will stop them, not even severe punishment, because they feel like they're the center of the world. The same is true for prisoners that committed crimes because they have problems ranging from not knowing how to deal with anger to serious mental illness.
But he also interviewed two brothers of about 15, who were diagnosed as being bipolar, and got lots of medication for it, Prozac amongs others. I don't know what a libido suppressing drug does to your puberty. Stephen Fry wondered what would have come of him if he had been treated at that age. It is likely he would never have become a comedian, so we would never have known him.
An interview with another man intrigued me because he told he had seen the devil in a vision during a manic mood, very vividly. This makes me wonder whether all the prophets were just bipolar people, who had a vision that is subconsciously based on stories in their culture, and then tell people about it. Manic people are so full of energy that they can be very convincing.
He also said there are about 4 million people in the UK that are bipolar. That's about one in 15! When it's that many, I start to wonder if it has a biological purpose, being a fan of evolutionary psychology. That would not necessarily mean it's a good thing, of course.
posted by Mark VP at
9:35 PM
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