The Bride of Park Slope

theoryofpractice wrote: Yep. Sad story.

Although perhaps for the best -- if the fiancé couldn't help her with this, being married isn't going help either. Looks like he wasn't ready for the "in sickness and in health" part, so good riddance.

Hmm. Without knowing a lot of personal information, this seems a bit harsh. Having dealt with a bipolar family member, it isn't as simple as it might seem from the outside.

A family member who is bipolar is heartbreaking, especially when they don't feel they have a problem and refuse meds completely.
It affects the whole family and can tear it apart.
It's so hard to turn someone out who isn't thinking clearly.
The worry never ends.......and waiting for the phone call that something has happened to that person can be unending.
All you can try to do is help, hope and pray they find their way.

I've been hearing more and more about more people being bi-polar and needing to be medicated. How common is manic-depression?

Manic depression is a hard dx for professionals to make because to really pinpoint this diagnosis a therapist needs to be aware of both extremes.. (bi polar.. get it?)


The person who is on the manic side is having a grand old time . So for instance... if their manic side tells them have a good time shopping and they go on major shopping exploits and are a trust fund babe and CAN pay for their indulgent shopping no big deal..If the bills mounted up and somehow the family got involved and there was no money to cover the outrageous expenses .. then the question comes up.. How the hell did that happen? At that point perhaps the family intervenes.

Now the depressive side is something else.. more likely the person would be willing to present themselves to a therapist on this end of the problem because they feel so down.. So they go to a therapist and a mis diagnosis is made based on DX of depression which is the state presented at that time. Wrong drugs prescribed.... no real relief and the swing to manic comes back at which time the person is having such "fun" that they stop taking the drugs that didn't work in the first place and stop seeing the therapist anyway!

This is not a problem of just being moody.. It is the extreme swings that can lead to a correct dx and indeed the proper medication can stabilize a person with this problem.

I am thinking about the speculation when this thread started.. an art student trying to get attention for their art? A prankster just getting attention?

Well.. now we know these theories not true. But how can a person remain "sleeping" in a transom above a brownstone entrance without falling? Now that is a question.. isn't it? The heavily drugged?.. Have you ever seen that methadonian who leans over in a daze and the arms almost touch the ground and they remain in that stance but never fall over? For some reason the mentally ill person can do much the same thing.. almost defying gravity.. and that is probably why The Bride of Park Slope remained unconscious/asleep in the transom till the police came.

Subject: park slope bride

Does anyone know if there is any video footage of this event?

Subject: Re: park slope bride

Natascha wrote: Does anyone know if there is any video footage of this event?

I do! I do! The bride is so exciting that I stood outside for hours recording her with my cell phone. I posted it on you tube -- click on the link below.

www.whatkindofsickoareyou.com

It's good to have some electric freaks out there to create art and culture that cannot be produced by a "normal" mind.

I agree with this but I have to say that it's not good being the person without the "normal" mind. People who really are bipolar live their lives on an emotional roller coaster, constant ups and downs are very tiring. Even on a good combination of meds, you question every emotion, thought, and action. Did I do this because it's "normal" or because I'm bipolar? Am I sleeping too much because I'm tired or because I'm depressed? Am I just a little hyper or am I manic?

And there's no guarantee that the meds that are working now will continue to work for you. They can just stop working and you have to find others. You can't just take an antidepressant because that can cause you to become manic. You have to take the antidepressant as well as a mood stabilizer or antipsychotic. Sometimes you have to take 2 or 3 medications just to break even. Then there's a chance no medications or combination of meds work for you.

Bipolar Disorder is also not quite as accepted as people think. People have a hard time understanding someone who can't leave the house, let alone their bed, for a few days or a week. Or someone whose behavior is so erratic it seems they must be coked up. Or someone who is so manic they spend their rent money on shoes and other crap they don't need. People still say things like, "Have you ever tried not being bipolar?" It's not fun.

i don't know that you can possibly truly understand it till you've seen it first hand it's devastating for both the patient and those around him/her.

as for better or worse... i nearly married someone who turned out to be bi-polar. what was "better" for him would have been far worse for me. the scars linger 11 years later, and the course of his illness could have destroyed my life.

i'm not unsympathetic to wedding vows and taking care of sick people you love; my father was a quadriplegic for 20+ years and my mother took care of him. it certainly took an enormous toll, but i'd imagine that of a mentally ill person would be far worse because there's no road map, no calm without a storm brewing, no sense of normalcy.

sometimes better or worse means saving your own life before saving someone else's

veets wrote: Brooklynpotter.. I guess you would agree with my statement above that some of the "best" marriages are the ones that never happen!

that's a pretty odd way of looking at it. life's a crap shoot; i could be married to someone who, like my dad, had an aneurysm and became a quad. or i could be married to someone who steps off a curb and gets hit by a bus. there's certainly no predicting that.

I saw a TV commercial for a drug for bipolar disorder tonight that gave me the impression that everyone is bipolar. On one hand, it's great to bring illnesses out into the open, kill any shame suffers might have, and give people the treatment they need. On the other hand, I hope everyone's not popping pills to avoid the reality of what some might believe to be a crappy world.

I agree with you, to a degree. I've also found those ads to be a little too broad... very "Hey, are you moody? You're probably bipolar! Try our drugs!" I definitely don't think that's a good thing.

But for people who are truly bipolar, living without medication is devastating. It's hard enough to find the right meds... if you choose to live withough meds at all, life is very, very hard. My sister is bipolar and refused medication for over 20 years. She's been in and out of mental hospitals over 10 times, in jail, and frankly, the fact that she isn't dead is sort of a miracle. She takes meds now, and she doesn't love it, because it definitely alters the way you feel, slows your thoughts, hinders your creativity... but she has a nice life that is stable and in control.

I just think it's a delicate balance. It's great that there is a heightened awareness; I just don't want to see a very complicated disease dictated and diagnosed by pharmaceutical companies.

One of my good friends is bi-polar. He was not diagnosed until well into his thirties. He became so depressed he laid down in the middle of a highway at night and attempted suicide. Fortunately he didn't suceed but it took years for him to get his life back on track. He essentially had to rebuild his life from the ground up. Years later after numerous hospitalizations he's okay, but hewas forced to quit his job and was pretty much unable to get work in his chosen field. He had to go back to school, re-educate himself and find a career that would not negatively impact his health.

Having seen him go through the process, I've got a lot of respect for anyone that lives with the disease. Its not easy to deal with.

homeowner wrote: he laid down in the middle of a highway at night and attempted suicide. Fortunately he didn't suceed but it took years for him to get his life back on track.

Just curious, was his name Dirk? This sounds all too familiar.

Brooklyn Groom, were you the groom?
With the name and all.

Ahem, this from the lady who started the second page.

Just sayin'

It is.
I wish you the best. It's a terrible thing to go through.