Bipolar Disorder and Scepticism: Part II

Part II: Now, how does Sceptical philosophy interact with bipolar disorder? Is it a good system for bipolar people to study and adhere to? My answer is a resounding "No." Firstly, the idea of Sceptical philosophy is knowledge, itself, thus a bipolar person (or anyone else) couldn't learn it if they were using a Sceptical thought process. It's the "Just Do It," ideology. Secondly, a Sceptical (meaning the philosophy) viewpoint is a terrible one for a bipolar person. If no knowledge can ever be learned, then scientists wouldn't exist; for a bipolar person, that means brain science and those that study it wouldn't exist. No knowledge means no psychology or psychiatry and, worst of all, no medications because no one would have a clue how to make them. Ignorance is the deadliest weapon against a person with a mental illness. Bipolar disorder exists, it's physical. There is an imbalance in neurotransmitters (albeit, a current view of psychiatry and not a proven theory.) The brain physically breaks down over time. If a fire is burning our house down, we can ignore it but it is still doing to burn down around us. To me, a Sceptical view would ignore that fire (as it would take knowledge of what a fire could do to be afraid of it or know how to stop it) and would also ignore the brain malfunctions that are responsible for bipolar disorder. Scepticism is ignorant; bipolars must be vigilant. Though Scepticism is freedom for some, it is not for us unless we consider it freedom from the realities of our lives (more on that in a minute.) An ignorant bipolar is a suffering bipolar. Not suffering in a sense that we all suffer in life from petty things (a stomach ache or cold) to the moderate things (a bad work review or school grade) to the traumatizing (the death of a family member or family pet.) These are pains that all humans go through and bipolars are no exception. Bipolar suffering is another level of suffering. It is suffering that most humans don't have to do simply because they don't have the genetic makeup necessary to make it happen. The bipolar sufferer is tormented by depressions that are much more savage and longer lasting then normal depressions, super speed (and troubling) highs that are out of control and mixed episodes which are the zenith of suffering as they combine the powerful, intense mood storm of the manic phase with horrible blackness and pain of the depressive phase. I've had a few mixed episodes and I can only describe them as me wanting to kill myself so powerfully and intensely that I felt like I was in a tornado of desire to die. It's the worst feeling I've ever had (and I've had psychotic breakdowns of epic proportions.) To relieve suffering, the only way to go for a bipolar sufferer is to be empowered to learn as much about the illness as possible for personal identification of symptoms and to be open to psychiatric care and advice. We need a "brain practitioner" in ways other people don't. I know from experience that the illness hurts. It's very, very painful to have your brain ripped apart in two directions at once (high and low) or to have them both meld in that hellish tornado I talked about. For the bipolar, ignorance is withering pain.