Bipolar Disorder Versus the Boogey Man
The clip is a product of Dr. Jay Style’s imagination and he brings this amusing comedy to his lectures. If you like this, you may also find Bipolar Insights by Dr. Jay Style to be of interest. Bipolar Insights is a presentation he gave to a group of high school students educating them about bipolar disorder and mental illness.
He shares, “Most people do not understand bipolar problems. Doctors understand enough to prescribe meds. Therapists understand enough to help with counseling or substance abuse. But almost no one has a practical understanding. We are about twenty years behind in the treatment of bipolar. We call it a ‘mental illness’ yet most people who have it are perfectly sane. For thousands of years, bipolars have been pioneers in our society. My mother was bipolar and I am a psychologist who studied medication. I have a different understanding of it.”
His presentation is currently available online for free. Check it out and let us know what you think. ~Kimberly
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Comments
Didn’t really laugh at the cartoon, but I did enjoy most of the seminar. – zoe
I personaly see nothing humerous at all about this video.
I find no humor in the video at all. In my opinion, it serves to further ignorance of this affliction lend itself to the stereotyping of those with bipolar disorder.
I thought it was funny, and I laughed. Just yesterday I compared myself to a boogeyman. I understand where some might be offended by it, but you must not allow BP to rob you of your sense of humor!! It is SO easy to get wrapped up in the drama of it. I’ve been there. Lighten up when and where you can. It’s good medicine for we humans to laugh at ourselves whether we’re bipolar or not.
fantastic
Personally, I found the clip funny. In reality, ignorance and stereotypes are everywhere. Everyone has at least one label that wraps them up in a nice neat little box for others to judge.
I am not offended by clips like this one because they exaggerate reality enough to make people think about how life may be in someone else’s little box. While the situation portrayed in the clip is unlikely to happen, it still rings true. I can remember several instances where it seemed like someone couldn’t get away from me fast enough after I disclosed my bipolar status.
Our society has become obsessed with judging others, which is somewhat ironic because it was based on principles such as love your neighbor and judge not…
Believe it or not, clips like this open the door to educating non-bipolars about how life seems to someone with bipolar disorder.
Somewhat amusing!
NOT FUNNY
It was funny, don’t mess with us boogie man. The disease is serious enough gotta laugh and don’t take things too seriously.
Because aggression is often one of the manifestations of my mania, the clip made me distinctly uncomfortable. One of the stereotypical responses to my telling someone I am bipolar is for them to step back and wait for me to “act crazy”. More often than not, the so-called “normies” are my boogeypeople.
AS to Dr. Style, I think his analysis is misleading in some ways. To the extent that biochemical imbalances exist that must be addressed by medication, it is an illness. To treat it otherwise will encourage insurance companies and the government to withdraw what little assistance in obtaining mental health care that exist.
As far as being “sane” is concerned- that is not a psychologically valid term. The determination of sanity is for legal purposes in involuntary holds, conservatorships or guardians of the person (depending on the state’s nomenclature) or to determine whether a person is responsible for his or her criminal acts. Having taught attorneys and grad students in psychology for many years, I was careful to distinguish the therapeutic use of psychological terminology and establishing a differential diagnosis for forensic purposes and the behavioral flags that tell an evaluator that a person is in pain and what can be done for them.
I believe that for someone who knew little or nothing about what it is like to be bipolar or to live with someone who is bipolar, it was an excellent seminar. it is definitely not the whole story.
I am absolutely insulted by the cartoon. As someone who has suffered with barriers and predjudice for the past 11 years, that cartoon not only appears insulting it also takes away any progress that the mental health field has been making. NOT FUNNY. I realize we should all have a sense of humour but lets ensure what we laugh at is not demeaning to ourselves and our struggles to maintain respect in an already judgemental society. Think hard people!
Must have missed something, I can’t see anything funny about video. Was there some hidden meaning I missed?
Fellow Bipolars:
Below is the commentary I sent to Jay Style regarding his lecture on May 12, 2009.
JONNYQUES3
=============================================
Jay Style:
I have just finished viewing your presentation to your audience of high school students. And after some reflection, I have to say that I found your attempt to communicate a very serious and lethal illness to these students or even an adult audience quite feeble. But before I begin my comments, I would like to direct you to this link so that you can see for yourself that I am not alone in my assessment of your delivery.
http://bipolar.about.com/b/2009/07/14/bipolar-disorder-versus-the-boogey-man.htm?nl=1
What I found in your argument was a few very important items in which I know that you totally misfired upon. First, your delivery and “laid back” attitude towards what you and others now call Bipolar Disorder (a slant that I consider insulting) was very poor. You distinctly failed to directly address the fact that Manic – Depressive Illness is a very serious, and debilitating lethal condition that is not to be taken lightly, and in fact you did just that. Being an elementary, high school and college science and math teacher, I can assure you that because of your delivery you showed, that even though your mother and daughter have the illness, that you really have no understanding of the illness; you are simply an observer. The consequences of informing a young audience the way that you did, not to mention having performances that supposedly convey mania and depression, was foolhardy.
Secondly, if you are going to address Manic – Depressive Illness through art, allow me to suggest, that you inform your audience of those Manic – Depressives who took their lives in the pursuit of artistic endeavor; Kurt Cobain, Virginia Woolf, Ernest Hemingway, Vincent Van Gogh, and a score of others. Historically speaking, even though you mentioned that Manic-Depressive Illness is in the baby stages of its understanding, in which I agree, perhaps you should also mention that it is an illness that has been documented since as far back as Alexander the Great, and has been in the publics’ eye for centuries. In other words, it is not a condition that has just been discovered, it is an illness that is finally getting the scientific attention that it deserves.
Thirdly, you mentioned that there were those few natural medications such as lithium and depakote that were available to treat the condition. In this I commend you as I started out on lithium myself. But what you should have mentioned is that these remedies do not work for everyone and that there are, in fact, several other medications on the market today that are effective and should be considered in the management of Manic – Depressive Illness. This is a distinct flaw in your presentation.
Lastly, the cartoon that was shown at the end of your presentation was the most insulting representation of Manic – Depressive Illness that I have ever witnessed. I have never in my twenty years of studious campaigning to know as much as I can about this very serious condition, the people that have the illness, the medications used to treat it, and so forth, have I ever seen such a mockery of one of the most serious conditions that anyone could ever have. Would you really think it would be funny if someone saw your cartoon and turned it around and made fun of your daughter? Would you be so willing to make fun of someone who was dying of cancer? Are you really that insensitive to make a cartoon out of a condition that has a high suicide rate, that you said was at least 19 percent, but most likely higher? Do you really think anyone is laughing at your joke when they have lost a loved one to Manic-Depressive Illness?
I have taken note of the books that you have written and will most likely purchase one or the other, to keep abreast of what is “out there.” Not because I praise you for you work, such as the work of Dr. Ronald R. Fieve M.D. or Dr. Kay Redfield Jamison PhD, whose works are spectacular and will certainly stand the test of time, but rather to lump you together with those who would take aim to dilute and mock the severity of Manic – Depressive Illness such as Peter D. Kramer and Peter Breggin in their texts, and to inform those that are interested to reading quality scientific material, to avoid the books authored by the individuals mentioned above; Listening to Prozac and Talking Back to Prozac respectively.
I have read copious amounts of literature, from scientific studies to medical journals, to the works of Byron, Edgar Allan Poe, Mary Shelly, etc. Listened to scores of music, and watched those few documentaries on those with Manic – Depressive Illness, such as Mark Twain, and Teddy Roosevelt. Not to mention facilitating in support groups for those with affective disorders, and even lending what assistance I can in on-line Manic-Depressive chat rooms. In all of this, in all of my attempts to keep current of information that becomes available, in an attempt to help others, I can assure you that I have seen my fair share of Doctors, and those who pretend to know what they are talking about, that I can spot a person that is dangerous to the community of those with affective disorders. I can say and do this because I have done my homework, and because I possess the illness.
In closing, I suggest that you should remove your cartoon from your presentation permanently. That you totally revamp your presentation and consider what I have mentioned above. Because you can rest assured that one day, some person is gonna “lose it” in their frontal lobe and embarrass you considerably in front of your peers, because you know that Manic – Depressives are for the most part extremely bright, intelligent and creative people, that do not like to be taken lightly, and if and when that day comes, they will be totally in the right and you will be humiliatingly wrong.
JONNYQUES3
About.com website
MAKE YOURSELF HEARD !
For those of you that wish to make yourself heard regarding the cartoon and the lecture given by Jay Style Carter. I am posting his email addresses so you may make your comments known directly to him.
jaycarter@hotmail.com
JayCarter115@yahoo.com
This feeds the stereotype. It enables a myth that people with bipolar disorder are scary. The irony portrayed is lost on me.
Hello to Everyone who viewed my two URLs:
I wanted to get your opinion on the cartoon. I did, and as much as I tried to check it out before I paid to have it done, it is something I will remove.
I have received mostly positive feedback from the Saginaw Event, so I will pursue that with some editing. Thank you for commenting on these pilot films.
I am left with a couple kicks in the butt on the cartoon and some positive feedback on the long film in Saginaw. Thank you again. It was a big help. Dr. Jay
Funny – yes! Irreverent – yes! And – why not?
Laughter, especially at yourself, is great therapy. thanks for posting this, and also the lecture – good to hear other points of view.
I laughed at the cartoon. I liked the notion that bi-polar gives me supra-boogyman powers! And these days, I give myself to laugh at anything even remotely funny… I could use the endorphins. LOL