The Third Degree

A friend of mine prolifically writes about her personal experience as a career-woman living with bi-polar disorder. She has had multiple searches recently on whether bipolar people are dangerous … and has asked those in the mental health community* to write to remind people that bipolar people are not typically dangerous people.

Not every bipolar person I know is on medications, and those who aren’t are no different to me than those who are. In fact, I didn’t even KNOW that one of my friend was bipolar until just recently … and she’s not on medication! Anyway, medications control manic & depressive episodes. While they don’t prevent either type of episode, they are manageable while on medications.

Like Master of Irony mentions, bipolar patients “have a higher rate of drug/alcohol abuse and that makes us dangerous just like it does anyone.” I’m not bipolar, and I’ve been known to become incredibly agitated after alcohol consumption.

From everything I’ve experienced and everything I’ve read, more often than not, when a bipolar patient is ill (having an “unmanaged” episode), their dangerousness is towards themselves, whether due to poor decisions (over-spending, over-drinking) or due to self-harm (cutting, burning, pulling their own hair). However, it is clear that these decisions can interfere and harm others … but just like with the alcohol or drug thing, this is true for everyone.

Master of Irony puts it best summing an entry up with “… we are not dangerous. Sometimes we may be at increased risk for being dangerous, but that is not guaranteed. I know plenty of people who live far more dangerous lives than I do, for example. In fact, I live a pretty boring, sedate, stick-to-the-rules life.”

*I used to write for a specific mental health website, mental health (within a public health frame of mind) is a forte of mine so I feel compelled to remind ya’ll that bipolar people are not typically dangerous

I received a fantastic comment from MadnessManifesto on this subject that I absolutely wanted to share with you all in this post!
“I think that there is information showing that the “mentally ill” (a term a dislike) are more likely to be the victim of violence than the perpetrators of it. How this applies specifically to bipolar, I am not sure. I have bipolar disorder, and can only speak for myself. I have had angry and yes, even violent thoughts most of my life, but in actuality have gotten into very few conflicts with people, and never anything physically violent. I think the most dangerous time is before diagnosis and acceptance of the illness. I think when a bipolar person takes responsibility for their condition, then they are definitely no more dangerous than anyone else. And maybe less, because they may go to very great lengths to take care of themselves, and to create a peaceful lifestyle.

The media gives us a very distorted view of mental illness, as it does of just about everything else in life.”