Normally I'm really not into celebrity gossip. I don't find their lives any more special or exciting than the rest of us and I don't see what the hype is about. If they're not entertaining me on the big screen, they're not entertaining. But I did find this one bit of news interesting on a personal level. So Catherine Zeta Jones checked into a mental health facility to treat her Bipolar II disorder. This was on the heels of six months of the stress of being by the side of her husband while he went through cancer therapy and court battles with his ex-wife. And right before she's set to star in two upcoming movies. So it's a pretty stressful time for her, I'd imagine.
I was rather impressed with the dignified and public way in which she handled the ordeal. She didn't hide behind dark sunglasses and scoot off to a foreign county or have her publicists lie about what she was up to. She wasn't having a "relaxing spa vacation". She was having mental health treatment, openly and publicly, for a disorder that's pretty often stigmatized. Think about it. How often do you hear about bipolar people when they're not off going into a rage and shooting fellow employees or mothers going into delusional depressions and killing their children? Being that I was diagnosed as Bipolar I as a teen the way the media portrays the bipolar person as some seething lunatic just waiting to snap is an issue near and dear to my heart. And I think Ms. Jones is to be commended for her openness. My opinion might be a bit bias being I have a full on crush on her and this just makes her all the more sexy on the crazy/hot scale, but hey, you can't fault a girl for that. I mean, have you LOOKED at Catherine Zeta Jones? Seriously? If you're even a little lezbo you want her. If not, you might consider changing your mind.
Anyway, I have a friend, Mike, who I went to high school with and now we just sort of randomly chat on Facebook. Apparently, at some point in the last 10 years he was diagnosed as bipolar. I'm not sure when. I really don't care when. Because, just by his reaction to what happened with Catherine (I'm going to call her Catherine. She'd want me to.) he's apparently a whiner. He's one of those people who has received his label and, upon receiving it, has decided it's his "reason" for everything bad that he ever does and every bad thing that ever happens to him. One of those people. I can spot those people from miles away, over the internet, in chat rooms, in support groups, during my own hospitalizations. I HATE those people. Those people are the reason there is such a stigma for the rest of us. His reaction to Catherine was that "she's making bipolar disorder a fucking joke". When I inquired as to how he went on an angry rant about how one does not check into a rehab for it and one does not get better in five days and one does not do so because one is stressed out and one does not do so in order to get better to make movies.
Oh? Really Mike? Well, being that I'm a veteran of bipolar I felt I could educate him. My credentials? I was diagnosed at 14 after years of cycling through hypomania and depression finally topping out at a full blown psychotic episode complete with visual and auditory hallucinations which nearly caused me to jump from a second story window. I've been doing the therapy and medi-go-round ever since. I've been hospitalized for both depression with suicidal thoughts and attempts as well as full blown manic episodes at least six times I can remember ranging anywhere from 24 hours to two weeks. I've read every single thing I can get my hands on regarding bipolar disorder since my diagnosis, from internet articles to scientific journals, and watched countless documentaries and attended support groups and talks. I've been the subject of published articles by some of my therapists and college professors. (I won't ever reveal which ones. I never kept copies.) I've been studying psychology formally since sophomore year in high school when the teacher invited me into the class earlier than usually allowed because of my interest and knowledge. I have my BA in Psychology with an emphasis on Developmental Psychology and studies in Abnormal Psychology and was just shy a minor in Early Childhood. I also have a son who's most likely suffering from a mood disorder, most likely early onset bipolar. And, when my kids are old enough, I'm going back to school to continue my education so I can help others with disorders to live a fulfilling life. I don't claim to be a doctor. But I think I have a pretty good handle on life with bipolar disorder.
So, Mike the whiner, now that you know who you're talking to, let me explain something. Catherine is not making this a joke. She didn't check into rehab. That's something the papers say. She checked into a mental health facility that also happens to treat celebrities who need rehab. But a mental health facility nonetheless. It's what people do when they're being responsible and adult enough to admit they're having a serious issue with their mental health. And I applaud her for being open about it and therefore taking away some of the stigma. You're right. One does not get better in five days. But one might only need five days to get their meds adjusted correctly to feel better. Or to get the talk therapy they need to cope and feel ready to go back out into the world. Or feel they've been away from the stressful situations that led them there long enough that they and their doctors feel they are ready to handle being back outside. And don't forget, she checked herself in. If she's showing all signs of being mentally competent she can check herself out. No one said she was all better. She said she's feeling better. You can feel better when you're bipolar. It doesn't mean you're better forever. You never will be. But if you never, ever feel good at all, you're not bipolar. You're clinically depressed. Whole other disorder. Go find a better doctor because yours obviously doesn't know how to diagnose. One does go into inpatient because one is stressed out. Why the hell else would a person go inpatient? For the hospital food? I have episodes all the time, even on meds. Some for days and some for weeks, some worse than others. And I'll tell you there is almost always a trigger, even if it's just a small thing like a stupid argument with my husband while I feel fat. I'd say her husband having cancer and being in court battles while she had to be the strong one the whole time was probably pretty fucking stressful. And, now that he's feeling better, she can break down for five god damned days. Leave her alone. And your issue she's doing it to come out and make movies? Well what the hell dude? If you or I go into the hospital why do we go? So we get better to come back out and go back to work and keep living our lives as normally as possible right? Well, her job is to make movies. She went inpatient to get better to come out and...do her job. So...in conclusion...shut the fuck up. You're just jealous that she has a better life than you. Just because she's bipolar AND managed to have a pretty great life and you're bipolar and want to sit around and use it a crutch for all the bad crap that has ever happened to you and an excuse as to why it'll never get better doesn't make your illness any more valid than hers.
Guess what? My life is better than yours too. Sure I get into my episodes and I blame my messy house and the fact I haven't washed my hair in three days on my "mood swings" at times. And sometimes it feels as if the entire world is going to crash down. And more than once I feel like I should have been sterilized before having children because now I've probably passed this horrible thing on to my son. And then the realization hits that this is FOREVER and I am ALWAYS going to be mentally ill. And it sucks. It sucks more than anyone can possibly understand who is not living with this illness. But I refuse to let that define me. I am a loving mother. I am a devoted wife. I am a loyal friend. And, yes, I am a raging psychotic. Sometimes bipolar disorder has me, but more often I have bipolar disorder. And I have a whole lot else.
Now stop talking shit about Catherine or I'll get all crazy eyes and cut ya. You know how us crazy people can be Mikey. I know where you live. The same place you did when I wouldn't date you in high school. Oh, do you blame that on the bipolar disorder too? Because that wasn't the bipolar disorder. That was because you skeeved me out.
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