In watching the culmination of videos and reading the assigned articles, the most impactful was the BBC documentary by Stephen Fry. I ponder, that I enjoyed it the most, possibly due to him being my favorite actor and activist. Or it could be that my grandmother is also British and that voice is incredibly soothing for me. I enjoyed how vulnerable her was able to be in his documentary, which was what struck me the most inspiring. He was able to share with us almost all of his history and his struggle with Bipolar. Society, especially in America, we feel that men do not talk about feelings, let alone become vulnerable. The PBS short film on Bipolar also demonstrates this, in fact the director and the main actor, stated that fairly clearly. …show more content…
Often, we find BiPolar used as a pop-culture slang, to diminish someone who has normal mood swings but we stigmatize what real Bipolar is, people like Robbie are not Bipolar, he was very clearly depressed. Depression can look like BiPolar, as some who struggle with Depression wear a mask, which is very dangerous, as it often goes undetected. Where Robbie differed from Stephen was the mania. Stephen discussed his history, both his depression and his mania, as well as his suicidal behaviors. Stephen took us on a journey looking at genetics; participating in a study on DNA, having a brain scan completed and talking with many who are on multiple psychotropic medications to manage their symptoms. I was impressed with the perinatal psychiatrist and how closely they followed their client, educating her on her choices to have another child or not. I cannot even fathom that happening in America. I had never heard of a perinatal psychiatrist before watching this video, I am absolutely interested more in the field and how, what they study, as well as their …show more content…
Mood swings, irritability and restlessness are often found in other diagnoses. I feel that we often quickly label someone Bipolar as it is easy for insurance coverage purposes, as well as the pharmaceutical world makes a significant amount of money on newer, better, bipolar medications such as Vraylar. As with many medications, there is off label use for depression and anxiety as well, but with an increase in Bipolar diagnosis in the country, I am not surprised that the pharmaceutical companies are pushing for Bipolar