Bipolar Disorder and Scepticism: Part III

Part III: My last subject as it relates to Scepticism and bipolar disorder touches on those bipolars that choose a Sceptical viewpoint as their way or living. Namely, bipolars who think that doctors and their medications are conspiring against them, that they don't need any medications and that it is the medications that are making them crazy and not a brain disease. There is a large and tragic community of bipolar people in the cyber world that fall for the ignorant ideologies preached to them by anti-psychiatry "truth tellers" and phony bipolar "prophets" (who often have books to sell.) These suffering bipolars choose ignorance over knowledge, easy answers over hard realities. They are seduced by people who tell them how evil psychiatrists and medications are (it's a conspiracy) or that bipolar disorder is somehow a normal phenomenon not to be evaluated or treated. These "prophets" (some bipolar and others just anti brain science) ignore personal and societal moral responsibilities in their desire to attack people, those in the medical profession, who genuinely help people with bipolar disorder to improve and live happier lives with happier moods and experiences. No, I'm not talking about "happy pills," I'm talking about medication that RELIEVES painful and powerful brain storms of the bipolar. I'm talking about MEDICINE that treats ILLNESS. I'm very sad to say that it's still very much a process in the bipolar and medical communities to get intercommunication and a successful, long term doctor/patient relationship. It is so much an inexact science that it's practically a minefield between where we are when bipolar first sets in to where we need to be when we're taking our medicine and pursuing healthy options for living as healthy a lifestyle as possible with bipolar disorder. There is often ignorance from parental and school groups that need to be supportive, doctor/patient miscommunication that can lead to drug addictions and traumas that destroy a sufferer's peace of mind to just not knowing enough to feel good no matter how hard you try. I've experienced all of these things and I know. Too many bipolars bury their heads in the sand when it comes to taking their illness by its horns. This often comes from fear, fear of being bipolar due to stigma or fear of its devastating effects or fear of medications and what they do. There is also some genuine fear that is medication based as certain medications are narcotics and others, wrongly prescribed or in incorrect doses, can actually trigger or worsen certain symptoms. There are also powerful side effects to drugs (weight gain is the killer) that lead many bipolars to stop their medications. THIS MUST NOT DETER US!! I have had many horrible situations with medications and doctors and have been on and off many different medications for reasons from my own personal ignorance to the side effects of weight gain and nausea and dry mouth and sedation and fatigue. THIS MUST NOT STOP US!! It has been incredibly difficult for me to find peace and that doctor/patient relationship that I've talked about but I've managed to attain some level of stability on those issues. I've made a ton of mistakes and I'll make more and it's just so hard. It is not easy for a bipolar in this world but we must do what we can to win our fight our fight with it!! Footnote: I'll be pursing topics that relate to bipolars that are at more personal levels and are independent of classical philosophies in future posts.

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.

Bipolar Disorder and Scepticism: In three parts

Part I: This post will be heavy on the bipolar perspective and somewhat less on the philosophic side as Scepticism is more of a non-philosophy than anything, more of a refutation of the views of philosophers to that point though a system of doubt had been around since the first day of the first philosopher. Scepticism is an organized doctrine of the doubting perspective. Sceptics maintained that no one perspective is more or less important than another and that knowledge is impossible because our senses that perceive such knowledge could be faulty. Its the "When in Rome, do as the Romans do" ideology. The beliefs of wherever I have been are no better or worse than the beliefs of where I am now so I should respect both equally. To Sceptics, that meant performing the rituals or expected behaviors of wherever they are at the moment whether they believe in those rituals or not. Russell uses the example of genuflecting at church even if you're not a religious person. This idea of subjectivity is very much at the core of modern liberal social ideology that maintains that we should respect all world cultures as equal with none considered superior than the rest and that we should be respectful of such cultures and the people of different identities that comprise these cultures. Modern liberal thought tends to stop short of having a view that one culture is as good as another, however, and is more concerned with valuing all cultures instead of devaluing them which is the Sceptical approach. Knowledge can't be proven so there can't be an individual orthodox belief system of truth therefore nothing to compare it to or judge it on. Russell says it appeals to the everyman (and it does) because it destroys the foundation for intellect and educational achievement, namely knowledge and strips information of any value. In that way, Homer Simpson can be as smart as Albert Einstein on the logic that neither of them knows anything. I must admit that I enjoy this idea because it's an easy ideology; let's not try to learn anything because none of it is worthwhile anyway. I also dislike this idea for the same reason; it's an easy ideology; knowledge can't be gained so why bother? Let's not learn anything. Let's not apply ourselves and try to figure out the world around us or the mysteries of humanity that all humans are (or should) be driven to try to answer. In this way, it's an anti-philosophy whose subjectivity is closer to Sophistry, though the Sophists valued wisdom and knowledge like philosophers. Knowledge is a key area of study for philosophers. Sceptics didn't want anything to do with it.