Pssst: they used to call it "manic-depressive"
Richmond, VA - Following two high-profile local murders by people previously diagnosed as "bipolar" - as well as several other national news events featuring bipolar hijinks - the Richmond Times-Dispatch asks, WTF?
"You probably know people with bipolar disorder and don't even know it," says one source quoted in the story, neglecting to mention that you could very well know people with bipolar disorder and be aware of their condition. Back in the 80s we used to call it "manic-depressive." I had a friend in college who was a bundle of energy much of the time, interspersed with periods when (as an example) I might find him in the men's bathroom at 6am, naked and in the fetal position on the floor, rocking back and forth chanting "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands."
A UVA professor named Anita Clayton is quoted as saying that people with bipolar disorder "are no more dangerous than anybody else. Almost no one with psychiatric illness is dangerous." That's a pretty important "almost," because "almost" no one without psychiatric illness commits serial murders, for instance, or rapes children. Sociopaths, after all, are estimated to make up about 4% of the population, which is plenty. Also, the human species as a whole sits at the top of the food chain - a station you don't get to occupy without being a pretty bloodthirsty bunch of badasses. It would be truer to say that only those diagnosed with a very narrow range of psychiatric disorders are more dangerous than any average person.
Regarding the terminology of "bipolar" - what other quantity of polarity do things ever have? We don't refer to "four-cornered squares", "wet water" or "red stop signs", and I've never heard anyone say that Santa Claus lives at the "North Bipole," so why include a redundancy in a term of clinical diagnosis? Let's just call a one-pointed-spade a one-pointed-spade.
Bipolar disorder in the news [Richmond Times Dispatch]
"You probably know people with bipolar disorder and don't even know it," says one source quoted in the story, neglecting to mention that you could very well know people with bipolar disorder and be aware of their condition. Back in the 80s we used to call it "manic-depressive." I had a friend in college who was a bundle of energy much of the time, interspersed with periods when (as an example) I might find him in the men's bathroom at 6am, naked and in the fetal position on the floor, rocking back and forth chanting "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands."
A UVA professor named Anita Clayton is quoted as saying that people with bipolar disorder "are no more dangerous than anybody else. Almost no one with psychiatric illness is dangerous." That's a pretty important "almost," because "almost" no one without psychiatric illness commits serial murders, for instance, or rapes children. Sociopaths, after all, are estimated to make up about 4% of the population, which is plenty. Also, the human species as a whole sits at the top of the food chain - a station you don't get to occupy without being a pretty bloodthirsty bunch of badasses. It would be truer to say that only those diagnosed with a very narrow range of psychiatric disorders are more dangerous than any average person.
Regarding the terminology of "bipolar" - what other quantity of polarity do things ever have? We don't refer to "four-cornered squares", "wet water" or "red stop signs", and I've never heard anyone say that Santa Claus lives at the "North Bipole," so why include a redundancy in a term of clinical diagnosis? Let's just call a one-pointed-spade a one-pointed-spade.
Bipolar disorder in the news [Richmond Times Dispatch]
posted by Sterling at 4:18 PM
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