Up/Down: Bipolar Living
7.11
Ratings: 7.11/10 from 137
users.
There are approximately 5.7 million people in the United States with bipolar disorder. In an attempt to eliminate the mystery and misinformation surrounding the illness, many throughout the country diagnosed with this condition were interviewed extensively.
They diligently explain the struggle to balance themselves between floating to a state of euphoria and sinking to a devastating depression.
In short, Up/Down is a personal analysis of bipolar disorder from those living with it. Bipolar disorder is just one of many mental illnesses that is still highly stigmatized in our culture today, and Up/Down could certainly be instrumental in changing that fact.
I guess black people dont get it
It’s scientifically proven that eating bacon ? make you happier
great video... I have a personal member of the family who had dealt with this for some time and still dealing with it. It has helped me gain an understanding of what she's going through. I particularly resonated with those who members of family related to those of bipolar. I can say how difficult it is being a direct relationship to someone with this disorder. It was great insight to what is going on in their head as they go through these high and lows. I have witnessed it repeatedly and am grateful for the director of this film. I will likely approach my sibling differently because of this. There are other factors that I yet still don't understand, but I personally know in my special case and relationship that the person I know dealt with trauma at a very young age and I'm unsure if this was a factor and or trigger. Thanks to TDF (topdocumentaryfilms) for putting out there all that you do.
Cheers
Great documentary of brave people that can help anyone with this affliction. Having seen the suffering first hand with a young family member, I can only urge anyone struggling with these symptoms to seek help and take control of their destiny. The right
medication is the answer and there should be no shame involved, this is a condition that can be managed as these heroic people have demonstrated. Peace
Proof of the problem. Insensitive people to a mysterious problem that gets people feeling so horrible they kill themselves. I'm usually angry to read comments like John Krisfalusci
posted but nothing this time because he has the empathetic disposition of Hitler. But I do wish it would afflict one of his family so he would see for himself how crippling it can be. Eating differently or thinking good thoughts isn't a cure. Wish I could meet you in person with a baseball bat and see if you could eat or think your way out of it smashing your head in.
Thank you, I watched it all. To the bipolar people interviewed, thank you for having the courage to do this and the family members who spoke. I am not bp but have people in my life with the illness and you all have given me and the world a better understanding. It explains a lot and is a rare and important film. I am grateful to you all.
Good documentary. I would like to know more about the resources that are available to help. I've been diagonalized with Bi-polar II. The daily personal struggle is very much about trying to keep some sort of working balance between mania and depression. The best I've ever been able to do with meds and therapy has been on the high end of the depression scale. That is being just depressed enough that I don't go on some crazy trip somewhere but no depressed that I don't do a few of my hobbies at least once a week or get out of bed at least once every 24 hours. I'd be interested to hear others experiences
great documentary very informative and well done !
Anyone diagnosed with bipolar or any other mental illness should be tested for medical causes, especially autoimmune diseases....in particular Graves Disease and other Thyroid related ones. Graves especially causes patients to very often first receive a dx of bipolar due to the endocrine hormone levels rising up and down and even can cause hallucinations, psychosis and sooo many more psych manifestations. I cannot count the number of people I know this has happened to.
Thought it was interesting that there were no spouses of people with bipolar interviewed. I have been married to a bipolar man for 26 years, and committed to staying with him always. However, as I have grown older, the constant stress of this illness has put a huge strain on my emotional and physical well-being, as well as that of my children. My oldest daughter is now working on a masters degree in psychology, specifically studying the stress of being a child having to parent a parent. My husband has done some very damaging things to our personal and family relationships, that I am unable to continue to forgive. And yes, he has been the victim of job discrimination, losing two jobs during his career after he felt comfortable disclosing his illness to employers. That has taught all of us that it is risky to disclose this illness. Would be interested in hearing from long-time spouses of people with this unfortunate illness.
Wonderful documentary, what a lovely group of people. Thank you all for this insight into living with bipolar disorder, I have learnt so much.
(I posted this on youtube site, but filmmakers are holding comments for approval so may be censored there)...As a human being diagnosed bipolar I, an avid documentary fan, and a cinematographer's asst, found this film to be unwatchable. I gave it two tries and couldn't get through. The only beneficial aspect I found was the woman who described her detrimental experience with ECT and how she was persuaded by the published recommendations of Kitty Dukakis and Carrie Fisher. I think that needs to be made light of since psychiatrists are truly pushing this treatment and even forcing it onto patients as chic and without their consent. The camera work was distracting and teeeerrrrible and just felt like the narration and questioning will add more stigma or hopefully will encourage others to keep making better documentaries on the subject.
I think all the people in this video were very brave to give over their thoughts of what it's like to suffer bouts of manic/depression, commonly known as bi-polar disorder. My daughter was diagnosed with bi-polar at the age of 23. I knew nothing about this disorder or what to do about it. After years of mental hospitals including shock therapy, she is now at the age of 50, living in her own apartment which was made available to her by a county funded mental institution. She receives SSI and pays her own living expenses such as rent, food, utilities, etc. She moved from a group home after proving that she could provide day to day living on her own. She is thriving and happy and I thank this mental health organization every day for giving her this opportunity to live her life independently. She has a case worker who takes her for Dr. appointments and shopping She still has days when she gets frustrated with things that happen around her that she has no control over. I documented her episodes with this very debilitating disease from the very beginning and from my perspective. It was very helpful for me, at the time, to write what was happening with her treatment and what worked and didn't work. I am interested in publishing this documentation in a medical magazine dealing with bi-polar. If interested, please e-mail.
This video was good in interviewing people to show the world how this disordered is really like but this video lacked n creativity and pertty much everything else a video could lack in.
omg so booorin asking randoms who dont know shit about it,,made me so uninterested i turned it offf,i wanted facts so i could learn! so annoying
Our Society tends to judge and label everything, bipolar is just a label!
What most people don't know is that we are not just humans, we are spiritual beings having human experience and everything is energy, the people in power don't want you to know this so they can easy control you, keep you in fear for their interests. When you suppress your emotions (e-motion=energy in motion) that's where
all diseases are coming from its stuck energy's in your body
(suppression=depression=disease) we all need to express our emotions if we don't wanna get depressed and sick, that's how the life-force works!
I read with interest, empathy and honestly with great sympathy about those currently experiencing bi-polar either themselves or with their nearest and dearest. These are the only threads that matter. Otherwise, the other comments are from people who for whatever reason wish to stick the stigma further. Why? Scapegoat? Bad expierence? I don't know. Ignorance isn't realistic in this World, it's easy to gain knowledge about any physical or mental problems, the word ignorance actually means 'not to know', which happens all of us all the time - acknowledgement and education is the difference. I volunteer for KidsCo .
org in London. They look after a shocking amount of children who fall through the government's hands. These kids become extremely difficult and join gangs. Not because they want to but because they have to - their parents and families do not and in many cases cannot look after them properly, so they grow up abused and confused. In my experience of myself and others I have met in mental health hospitals and in detox (for alcohol), all of them were abused in childhood - mentally, emotionally, sexually, neglectfully - it is not random. There are genetic factors, absolutely. There are also learnt patterns, seen or hidden, the child will pick up and learn the same. Us humans are litmus tests for the lack of care or the abuse we have experienced - it shows up in the brain and in the body, the behaviour and then the mind, because it is wrongful violation and wrongful treatment of a vulnerable child or young adult. This is absolutely the worst thing that we can do to each other, absolute violation is heinous and has disastrous consequences. There are strong statistics that give insight to show the darkness of these human wrongs. It's important that anyone who wants to dig deeper to understand does - Bi-Polar is not a coincidence and neither are many other mental health issues.
But as far as the descriptions of the episodes, these people explaining them are dead on. Def a great doc to hand to someone u want to understand you. I sent it to 5 people =)
I was diagnosed with manic depression when i was is in 6th grade. I was put on prozack and made to believe I had a chemical imbalance. The drugs made me suicidal for a long time. My parents made me go to see a therapist 4 times a month for years. Once i was an adult I was re diagnosed with bipolar disorder further making me believe I wasn't normal. I'm 32 now and I've finally took the time and effort to fully understand what I was really dealing with on my own and I've come to the conclusion that I suffer from PTSD. We forget how sensitive children are. I was surrounded by drugs and death as a child and as every child does I reacted to it. Healthy or un healthy a child and also adults react to anything and everything, Its just human nature. I wasn't sat down and explained anything. My parents couldn't answer anything I wanted to know so they just brushed me off thinking the schools would do the parenting for them but in reality all these children including me needed was someone real to talk to, someone to explain things in detail and allow an open forum for discussions about feelings and opinions. The diagnoses is always changing because the world is always changing. Parents need to step their game up and stop relying on all these specialist to tell them about their own damn children.
What Bipolar really is is really simple: A person boosts himself (psyche) too much which leads to mania (a totally natural state which increases chances of surviving / reduces fears). The mania then consumes too much psychic energy over time which leads to a forced shutdown; in other words depression. Solution to it all is really simple: Reduce dominance of your ego/narcissim - be less - be what you really are. And don't forget to take it easy.
Thank you for this brilliant documentary. Education and Knowledge is the key to understand this illness and deal with it.
I really recommend this doc. You'll decide if it's worth watching it
Thank you for this amazing documentary. Education and knowledge is the key to understand this illness and deal with it.
I really recommend this doc. Have a look at it, and you'll decide if it's worth it
i'm bipolar AND i have Asperger's, too. i consider myself lucky -- my life has its serious ups and downs, but the ups are worth it. my mind is full of great ideas and i'm very creative and charismatic. i've made -- and lost -- interesting friends. medications help a lot with the depression, and i enjoy the heck out of the mania :) i found this doc pretty boring -- i'm more interested in the scientific data and less with what people feel, but that's the Asperger's rearing its head. i could say lots more, but i have to get back to my knitting ;)
Probably by far one of the best documentaries on the subject of bipolar disorder. A must-see for anyone living with the condition or those of us who know someone with it. My advice is to use it as a tool to better understand why those afflicted with the insidious disorder do the things they do...
OK,so you want to know what MANIA feels like ? If you take LSD 3x daily throughout the day.You don't want to eat or sleep for days and months.
My Psychiatrist agreed with my definition.I was on a 3 month run.OH,and of course the Police are involved for your agression that flares up or other odd behavior.Not fun because you are afraid of the Police and they are afraid of this odd person that is MANIC and TALKING FAST.