So, I’m watching a movie about Jackson Pollock and read a little about how he may have suffered Bipolar Disorder. I had a thought: I think Bipolar Disorder is harder than Schizophrenia because you have to be present all the time.
Do you think that’s true?
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The prognosis is better for bipolar disorder than for sz, but the suicide rate is higher. Sz is normally considered a more serious disorder than bipolar.
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I’m not even sure bipolar exists
it just seems like a variant of depression
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I think sz is tuffer then bipolar…many celebrities suffer from it and they manage to live…u r life is preety impressive u work… ur off medicine…btw my dad is shizo he never took pills.worked full time…
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I’m watching the intensity of this character. And I think of the intensity of my sister who either has bipolar or borderline personality disorder. She’s so uncomfortably and intensely present. My sister self medicates with drugs and alcohol.
I’m “gone” so much of the time without having to make myself gone. When I’m present it’s painful. If I had to be present all the time I just think it would be harder.
It’s hard enough, but my mind has naturally found an escape mechanism.
I’m rambling.
With having bipolar-type sza, getting the worst of both worlds, I would say sz is worse. I say that even though the sz side of my illness is relatively mild- for example, I don’t hear voices- and the bipolar side of it would be considered severe. I see nothing in MI as being worse than psychosis.
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I guess I’m just thinking about escape. But I’m at a “stage” where I’m no longer afraid of any of the demons or angels or anything that I’ve had in my life for so long. When I was younger I spent more time on the bathroom or closet floors hurting myself and struggling with all the noise. I still do, but not every day…
Mine is an alternative experience, while my sisters torment is in her conscious mind.
Having said that, she is a member of humanity and a participant in society and I’m not…
I’m really just thinking about this just now. I always assumed my suffering was exponentially greater than hers, and maybe it has been. But I’ve spent much of my time not part of this world and she had to get drunk or high to escape…
Yeah, I’ve had my share of problems with substance abuse, alcohol especially, so common with bipolars. Self medicating, a way to escape. Even though I spend most of my time at least somewhat detached from the world around me. Well, not so detached that I can’t function, though. Being on an AP lessens that detachment to an extent, but still I find it bewildering when I come out of it at work, when I’m suddenly fully present. Everything seems way too real during those moments, but I slip back to my usual state quickly enough. I get what you’re saying, though.
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I was originally diagnosed as bipolar and then, later on, as schizoaffective, so I have a view into both worlds. Mania is exhausting and destructive, while depression crushes your soul. Not to mention the reality (or unreality, I guess) of dealing with sz. I don’t think either one is any easier than the other. They’re both hard, just in different ways.
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