Friday, March 16, 2012

Bipolar disorder and the show Private Practice

All images are from Google.com

Like many of you I spent the evening last night watching Grey's anatomy followed by Private Practice which I am addicted to. I love the show and what I love even more is the interplay of issues of all the people on the show and I love seeing various things play out. Last nights show was no different and we got to see more of one of the characters battle with Bipolar disorder and family reactions to the disease. So I thought a blog post about bipolar disorder was in order......

There are many definitions for Bipolar disorder (both 1, 2 & Cyclothymia) so I will give you a very simplified definition---Bipolar disorder is characterized by mood swings where a person will cycle between depression and mania often very rapidly although either can last days or months. The illustration below gives you a good idea of the symptoms.

On the last few episodes of Private Practice we have gotten to see Sam's sister suffering with the disorder and the beginning of treatment and family interaction and although I have yet to personally work with or know someone who suffers from bipolar I have read various books and articles on the topic and the show seems to be fairly accurate in its portrayal and I appreciate the show being real and showing it in a positive manner instead of the usual portrayal of someone being down right scary crazy which seems to be standard on television. If you are interested in learning more about Bipolar disorder click here.

I wonder how the show is affecting all those who watch it in their understanding of Bipolar disorder and other mental health issues that are featured on the show and I would love to hear your feedback on what you think of the show???

1 comment:

  1. Thanks for shearing about Bipolar disorder. I thinks its very helpful post and very important post for us. Really this post will be helpful for all king of people to awareness. So i appreciate your post.
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