Daily Mail writer John Naish asked, Is celebrity soul-bearing spreading depression? yesterday, and upon diving into the article, I expected to gain some more insight about the effects celebrity candidness about mental illness is having on the public’s perception — and opinion — of mental illness (think “‘I want to be bipolar’ … a new phenomenon”, the research Dr. Diana Chan and Dr. Lester Sireling published in the most recent issue of The Psychiatrist).

Overall I did: Naish references the research, talks about specific celebrity cases, quotes other doctors, and even hands the podium over to a man who’s dealt with bipolar disorder for years and who finds it “horrendous” that people who don’t have bipolar disorder would aspire to have it.

Articles like Naish’s are working to educate the public about this possible trend of “I’m diagnosing myself with [whatever mental illness] because [whatever celebrity] has it and clearly it’s [cool/respected/beneficial] to have it,” which is great; however, in trying to help some, I think they might be isolating others — others who might actually have an undiagnosed problem, but end up thinking it’s all in their heads because their symptoms aren’t being addressed in the discussion.

For example, during its mission to draw a line between mood swings and actual bipolar disorder, Naish’s article doesn’t really mention the different kinds of bipolar disorder. Naish highlights extreme highs and lows, but leaves it at that.

In reality, there are different levels — different types, rather — of bipolar disorder.

Bipolar I Disorder, for example, is the one Naish seems to be referring to in his article. Bipolar I is marked by severe manic highs and depressive episodes that generally last around seven days or more. Bipolar II Disorder, on the other hand, brings depression and hypomania but tends to spare the mania.

Then you have Bipolar Disorder Not Otherwise Specified (BP-NOS), during which a person has symptoms of bipolar disorder but for some reason (they don’t last long enough, or they’re too few in number), the symptoms can’t be diagnosed as Bipolar I or II, and Cyclothymia, during which hypomania and mild depression shift back and forth but the symptoms don’t meet the diagnostic requirements of any other kind of bipolar disorder.

As if the waters weren’t muddy enough, there’s Rapid-Cycling Bipolar Disorder, which causes a person to have “four or more episodes of major depression, mania, hypomania, or mixed symptoms within a year” — sometimes more than one episode during a week or even a day.

So, while it’s probably not technically correct to say a person is “a bit bipolar” (a phrase Naish points out is gaining popularity), it is possible for symptoms to be legit bipolar disorder symptoms even if they aren’t symptoms of full-blown Bipolar 1 Disorder.

It’s just as important to understand when a symptom isn’t indicative of mental illness as it is to understand when it actually might be.

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From Psych Central's Alicia Sparks:
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    Last reviewed: 31 Mar 2010