Stephen Fry: The Secret Life of the Manic Depressive
8.12
Ratings: 8.12/10 from 349
users.
Stephen Fry presents this documentary exploring the disease of manic depression; a little understood but potentially devastating condition affecting an estimated two percent of the population.
Stephen embarks on an emotional journey to meet fellow sufferers, and discuss the literal highs and lows of being bi-polar.
Celebrities such as Carrie Fisher and Richard Dreyfuss invite the comedian into their home to relate their stories.
Plus Stephen looks into the lives of ordinary people trying to deal with the illness at work and home, and of course to the people studying manic depression in an effort to better control it. A fascinating, moving and ultimately very entertaining Emmy Award-winning programme.
people make me laugh when they say oooh im depressed when sh*t aint going their way when really they are just pissed off or fed up, i have a mate who is bi polar and was pretty late on before he was diagnosed and ive seen him at his worse.
Very interesting documentary and comments. I'm struck by the stark disagreement about different approaches to manic depressive disorder, what it should be called, whether it is even necessarily an undesirable condition, or a disorder.
Lots of good questions with – from where I sit – less than satisfactory answers. But I will take a stab at answering one question. Mia Dominique asks, "Why is it that everyone thinks they're a expert on mental health? Im obviously not talking about the doco above, I'm talking about these comments."
I think part of the answer may be that people don't necessarily trust other people's accounts of their experiences. Even if we take it as a given that people sometimes behave badly because of the condition, what is to stop an afflicted person from behaving badly and blaming it on the condition even in cases where the condition isn't really the main driver of the behavior?
Probably some people will get upset that I even ask this question. But I don't see how we can sweep it under the rug. After all, people with mental illnesses, or conditions, or WYWTCT, are still people, subject to variance in human behavior. Surely it would be mistaken to think they never behave badly except as a result of this condition.
Further complicating the picture, mental health professionals are incentivized to diagnose people with conditions, as doing so acts to justify their profession
I applaud the courage of people who speak about their battle with manic depression. But I speak as one child of three of a mother with severe manic depression and the abysmal lack of support. If I was to write a book about our life with a manic depressive mother you would not believe what happened in our journey to adulthood. It was compounded by the fact that our father had been diagnosed schizophrenic. The combination of both was a real experience. Psychiatrists and social workers had absolutely no idea what we went through. However in adulthood we have never used this as an excuse, we have worked all our lives, own our own homes but have a wealth of experience about manic depression. Let's forget the fancy term the celebrities use, it's a violent, destructive, abusive disease. However it has had an impact because we refuse to take any drugs for stress or depression regardless of the circumstances because of the numerous addictions that led to violence of our mother. We support each other in a stoic and strong manner. Bipolar is a cute term used by some celebrities, it's the new affliction. But live with it, our mother used to take us for a walk that lasted 3 days over the moors. She decorated our living room walls with polythene to keep out damp. Within 6 months the walls were covered in black Mold and condemned by the health department. She was promiscuous and slept with dozens of men. This condition is not a joke and it's not a new trend for celebrities, it's destructive and violent. Our mother died at 63 and for that we are forever grateful because she was no longer in turmoil and we were safe.
I have been suffering with depression for year's now, have been on so so many different type's of medication none of them worked for me only resulted in having nasty side affect's hence making the depression worse more 2 worry about like a dog chasing it's own tail. So I have been managing for age's now dealing with depression in my own way, medication free, just about keeping it at bay. Depression seem's 2 feed on self pity, I alway's think 2 myself "starve it & it will go & hopefully stay away. That worked for me for about 15 month's. now ive been having alot of sleepless night's [insomnia]. I think far 2 much it seem's that depression is trying 2 creep back in2 my life now that I am feeling 2 weak 2 carry on struggling with it. It's a constant battle . Seem's almost alike " the devil" has concocted a potion in capturing the one's that manage 2 escape depression, re - capturing them & controlling them. Reading this back look's lame but once i write down my own dreaded thaught's then & only then i can move on, rather like been there ,got the t - shirt & what comes next, That i cant tell at the moment as ive not yet worked it out . Still wanna fight this battle Were all far far better than feeling this way . Stay strong, keep ur chin's up, [ P.S. wish i could take my own advice ]. :/
I watched this when it was originally on TV and my husband had been hospitalised after a particularly gruelling manic episode. I kept it on the system so that he could watch it when he came out after 3 months. For the first time he admitted he'd been ill and watched the program. I thought it was brilliant.
Anyone who thinks living with bipolar disorder, either as a sufferer or as a relative, is an easy ride, a self indulgent trip, or that it can be cured by the ridiculous comments below truly knows nothing about the illness. Some of these so called 'cures' may appear to work, because some sufferers will have only a few episodes in their life with many years in between. A few people only ever have one episode. Others, on the other hand, may be rapid cycling and switch from mood to mood within the same day. True bipolar type 1 is far more than just extreme switches of mood, it involves psychosis, paranoia, mania, delusions and more. My husband is in hospital again as I write, and it took us months to get him there. He refused medication for ages, as one of the sypmptoms is complete lack of insight into his mental state. Currently he believes that he is alright and everyone else is wrong. I'm going to watch the video again, and I recommend any one else who wants to know about bipolar to watch it too.
I haven´t watched the movie yet but am planning to. Think is good that famous people that have influence come out of the closet about their "brain/mental" illness. This helps the million others who don´t dare. I was one of you who thought depression and bipolar and anxiety are not real, but luxury diseases of the modern world until it happened to me out of the blue. Now that I have been to hell and almost killed myself and it took me 2 years to even recover I know these disorders sadly exist. I come from a family where there were 2 suicides in 2 previous generations which happened "out of the blue" and nobody understood until l I became sick, I would have been the 3rd generation to fall pray to this mental killer but I was fortunate enough to live in Europe today where there are doctors and medications to help and have a loving and supporting family. They saved me.
offcourse finches while your at stick some needles in a doll and claim your helping me. Psychiatric Illness is serious stuff take your "magical" cure away from vulnerable people, you snakeoil salesman.
How to stop hypomania and hypersexuality and overspending- stop all caffeine, sugar, and fruit. Try that for four days and you will stable out on medications completely without having to go through med changes or hospitalizations.
I run an Alternative Mental Health facebook page and tell people how to stabilize without medications and never see a doctor again. I have a post from a mother who went to a holistic doctor i recommended and her daughter is now stable and going to university and she is schizoaffective bipolar. There are 80,000 people, including Margot Kidder, the actress, using orthomolecular medicine to treat bipolar without meds or psychiatrists. I know two doctors that can stabilize people with schizophrenia and bipolar without meds and they can do it over skype without even running any blood tests. It is a problem with digestion, food sensitivities, stimulants make it worse, gluten makes it worse, and a genetic need for a huge amount of nutrients, which require supplements and enzymes.
to me, bi-polarity is just a new labeling for passionate people, they get great highs, of course their downs will go accordingly, labeling them just opens the door to sell them drugs, when you take sugar, or caffeine, it gets you real high, for those passionate people, it s sometimes just too much, and when they get their downs, it s pretty heavy, just by knowing you re such a person makes it easier to cope with, and eat and drink accordingly, those drugs designed to make you dull not only cost money, they also are health hazardous, no one in this documentary talked about the consequences, if it changes you that much, who do you really are then? no, really, it s best to cope with yourself without adding drugs in the mix, I m a passionate man, I thought about suicide before, and the world is a pretty sick place, but, drugs won t make it better, far from it.
This problem is really a spiritual problem. Deep in the soul. When having a mental desease it can be that one part of the soul is lost, but if you go to a good medium, you can get that part again. My relative who has borderline and bipolar, has been in drogs and much problem, but after 45 years with this and medecine for 5-10 years, she´s now her self, more stronger in her self, and never seen her feeling so good, and only after when she did Reiki healing on herself 1-2 times a day. Reiki healing open your chakras and let your energi channels go thrue all chakras. This is the key to feeling better and meditation. But medecine is to make you sick, in the deep in the soul, and you will not be you. Its all about money when its about medecine. So please dont let the doctors make you as a testrabbit. If you dont beileve in this spiritual stuff, beilive science, all is energi! If you will healthy and find more truth about life and feeling happy, You must try to get to this spiritual path. Everything has a meaning. You must just find it, and ready to try things you not heard about, or beileve in. Maybe you will see everything what happend has a meaning when your come further. And you are not sick as many think, you are spiritual gifted. You just must find the way !
Love this doc, love Stephen Fry and loooove being bipolar "light" - would never press the button. - Which is fortunate since the button doesn't actually exist.
Hello, My name is venkatesh from india..i accidently visited this website during my search for my disorder...
iam really frustrated in my life and now i came to know this is bipolar disorder...iam a normal person not very rich....no one else there to take care about me..iam not in a position to take the treatment from the well known specialists due to my financial crisis...
can anyone help me to come out of this..?
regards,venkatesh
Why is it that everyone thinks they're a expert on mental health?
Im obviously not talking about the doco above, I'm talking about these comments.
I would never press the button, because no matter how dark times may get I truly believe that one can only know what light is when they have stood in the darkness.
I am very disheartened by some of the comments on this thread. I was diagnosed with bipolar and obsessive compulsive disorders when I was 27. The stigma about mental illness infuriates me.I am 33 now and have lived with this! I specifically asked my doctor to not over medicate me. I know there are people that are over medicated and are not true bipolar patients. The doctors are to blame because they are treating specific symptoms. Bipolar patients should be hesitant about taking any stimulants such as anti-depressants. A mood stabilizer should be the 1st option.I have a PhD and have been an executive for 2 different companies. I was a professional french horn player for a symphony.I am a complete perfectionist. My illness almost completely ruined me and I am still trying to recover. People need to educate themselves before making ignorant comments. People without any mental disorder should not make ANY judgments, because they do NOT know how it feels to struggle daily with this! I wish everyday that I did not have this, but these are the cards I was dealt.
And, to the person that say they lie, steal and cheat, go screw yourself. I do none of those things. Movies and the media have perpetuated the ill stigma.
Candice
Stephen,
Thank you for doing this documentary. It helps me tremendously to know what is happening in my life.
My wife is manic depressive. I'm sure of it. Her father, grandmother, brother, cousin have all have been diagnosed or clearly have symptoms. She was on medication for depression (before manic behavior became clear), but she has been off of them for sometime. She is in denial; partly because of manic cycle she went through; partly because to admit it is overwhelming for her. I've tried to be very, very patient and understanding, but it probably won't be enough to stop her from moving and divorce. She is just leaving a manic phase (1 week mixed ... now apparently depression). I know it is the illness, but she won't admit it. The manic phase was 90% positive, but obviously didn't last forever.
It has helped to better understand this disease and knowing that I'm not the only one experiencing these problems.
I don't think people should be loading up on tons of pills, however substituting this studied area for complete unsupported BS, like the spiritual nonsense found bellow is beyond idiotic in contrast.
Stephen Fry allowed me to laugh my head off at his expense because I find his quips so amusing. I was expecting this doc to be all doom and gloom but it certainly wasn't.
My heart bleeds for the people who hate themselves and are dying inside of loneliness. I felt really bad for Mr. Fry
Two of the moms, dealing with bipolar children, looked absolutely haunted.
I have an adult bipolar child running loose in the world.
She self-medicates and creates chaos in the lives of anyone who cares and loves her..
She would try to kill herself as a child, then turned on me when she was big enough. As an adult, she refuses any help and claims everything is someone else's fault.
I tried over and over to get help for her in our health care system, even dragged her to the ER; full of her own blood someone else's and a danger to others.
Nothing.
There are no words to describe what she has put me and my family through.
I know the above mentioned moms would understand my feelings.
I would take a bullet for her, but cannot have her in my life.
Lady, your young children are not bipolar because they rage and kick in glass doors. Your child has borderline personality disorder. This has a different treatment than bipolar.
The pharmacy oh wow. The pic on here is me from 2 years ago May 2011. At the time I was taking 4-6 mg of benzodiazepines for anxiety. I had dealt with anxiety and depression since the age of 10. I self medicated with food, alcohol, and other substances. What kicked my a** and brought me to submission with this world was- Xanax and Klonopin. Celexa was before the "Roxycodone Gold Rush" in Florida.
My daughter is unable to verbally communicate but she understands language and the world around her. The obvious traits of my mania are hyper verbosity and the obsessive nature I have regarding studying and research. I channeled all of the mania towards something outside of myself for 25 years. In 2007 everything changed- I had my 3rd child and got the baby blues. Badly enough to start drinking regularly again after 8 years of drinking perhaps once every 6 months. From teetotaler to reborn "wine lover" the beverage of Dionysus and Jesus. It is glorified to drink wine- women who are unhappy are encouraged to drink it. If we won't take your blue pill mommies will buy the bottles of pretty wine and with no shame place them in our carts next to the organic cheese crackers for the kiddies.
Back to my daughter- she was diagnosed with autism at the age of 2 but many of her behaviours are manic and do not correlate with autism. She seeks constant sensory input yet drowns it out completely in the same day.
My point is multi layered however did no else go " da fuq" when they joked about the amount of meds a 16 year old takes. He is on legal drugs- needing uppers and downers to function.
What he fails to show is the torment the bi-polar patients give out to the people around them. They are manipulative, lie, steal, abuse verbally and sometimes phisically. Ever talked to a kid that has a parent with this disorder? Do it, you will be shocked. What I find disturbing is that they can do what they want and everything is covered up with the disease. Weird world.
Hello out there
I would like to know if there are people out there that suffers from any of these symptoms as i would like to know if you would like to get in touch with me please as i to suffer with mental health ,and would so like to speak to you as its hard enough speaking to any one about this in the out side world
I have lost so many friends through this as all they say is ((( here we go again)) and the min i hear this i would rather walk away instead of saying something i regret,and it would be so nice to speak to someone with the similar problems that i face as we would be on the same wave length
so please don't read this and ignore as you must know whats it like not have people out there that don't understand you just like me and you and would so like to be chatting or sitting talking to someone knowing that they wont say here we go again and walk away or go out of your life because you are so boring and don't chat etc etc
so please get in touch and by my email and then maybe if you feel comfortable wee could chat by Skype as it would be so easier as we are chatting and not emailing
Thank you for taking time to read this letter from me
God bless you
Hi jt6572
I am on few drugs
From neil
I'm bipolar but one thing I find concerning is the prevalence of people taking so many drugs. Maybe it's because I'm a mild case, but I am very wary of how many different chemicals I put into myself.
I'm on a few, but really wish there was just the one I could take.
Does anyone have this?
Stephen Fry is a global treasure.