Character with bipolar disorder

Hello, friends!

I'm studying psychology, and one of my biggest interests is mental illnesses. Because of that, I figured I could make a serie of posts, answering the question:

HOW TO WRITE RELATABLE AND REALISTIC CHARACTERS SUFFERING FROM MENTAL DISORDERS?

It shouldn't be just a name to throw around… it affects every aspect of human's life, and your book should show it!

BIPOLAR DISORDER

I want to point out that this is not an informative mental health post! Its focus is the illness' effect on your character that you should acknowledge while writing. Please, keep that in mind. Mental illnesses are far too complicated to describe any of them in one article.

VERY SHORTLY: what is bipolar disorder?

= mental health condition that causes extreme mood swings that include emotional highs (mania or hypomania) and lows (depression) (from: mayoclinic.org)

→ you can also experience mixed episodes (with symptoms of both mania and depression present) or non episodic time

1. BACKSTORY. Why does your character suffer from bipolar?

→ bipolar is mostly passed down genetically. So, if your character is bipolar, and there is their family appearing in the book, at least one more person should also struggle with bipolar.

→ sometimes it can be a result of a traumatic experience. You may want to examine it, if that's the backstory you chose.

→ drug use. Continued and ongoing drug use can lead to the individual developing bipolar disorder. If that's the scenario you chose, make sure to research drug abuse.

2. BIPOLAR 1 VS BIPOLAR 2

→ be aware of which type of bipolar your character has. It's important, because both types have their differences that are very significant.

→ BIPOLAR 1 is characterized by episodes of strong mania and episodes of depression. 

→ BIPOLAR 2 is characterized by episodes of hipomania (less intense mania) and depression that can be labeled severe.

3. TREATMENT

→ if your character is diagnosed and in treatment, they probably:

° use drugs specific to bipolar

° go to individual therapy 

° may be going to group therapy (optional)

→ if the character isn't in treatment:

° why do they not get any treatment?

° do they realize they're bipolar?

4. BEHAVIOR

The most important part of this post - how does a character with bipolar act? 

I cannot stress it enough - every experience is unique, and I can't speak for all bipolar folks.

Nevertheless, here are some things that are highly probable to happen to a bipolar person, and so you should think about mentioning them:

MANIA / HIPOMANIA

- there are weeks or months when the character feels super energetic, motivated, full of ideas and inspiration, ready to start every project that comes to their mind, may skip sleep, they will socialize more and perhaps even take a part in some dangerous, impulsive activities or behaviors

- ideas: they may get a new tattoo, change their hair color, become a new love affair, get into a new religion or philosophy, change their job and go on a sudden trip without planning it, they may feel like the ruler of the world, their self esteem will go up, they may experience delusions (like they're being watch by someone, or that they're a reincarnation of someone famous)

DEPRESSION

- there are weeks or months when the character feels very low, unmotivated, hurt, exhausted, may become suicidal and self harm, not seeing any point in living, may not want to see any of their friends, partners and family members, will lose interest in their interests and hobbies, their self esteem will decrease, they may neglect their hygiene

- ideas: they may stop communicating to their loved ones, they won't attend social meetups, they may lose weight or gain weight, their self esteem will go down, they may experience meltdowns and self hatred

MIXED EPISODE

- as the name says, it's a time where the character will experience symptoms of both depression and mania

- ideas: their mind is running, but their body is exhausted, they're getting into a new philosophy but their mind is telling them they're worthless and it's all useless anyway, they're meeting up with people again because they want to, but their head is full of dark thoughts

Remember not to use names of mental illnesses as adjectives to describe someone's mood. An illness isn't an adjective, and shouldn't ever be presented as such. If you decide on your character being BIPOLAR, make sure you know what you're talking about. Fake information may be hurtful and misleading.

On the other hand, having a character with BIPOLAR, whether main or the side one, can add a lot of interesting emotions, struggles and adventures to discuss in your story. 

Choose wisely, and always do your research!🩵

~ Shell