Bipola Disorder is a problem which affects almost 5 million Americans. Those who have it often go through a mixture of emotions quite rapidly, while some have even reported delusions and hallucinations. It is also been suggested that bipolar disorder is linked to creativity, so it is no surprise that several high profile stars suffer – here is what they have to say about it.
Welsh actress Catherine Zeta-Jones was also recently treated for the disorder. She is happy to speak out on the illness in the hopes of helping someone else: ‘There is no shame in seeking help. This is a disorder that affects millions of people and I am one of them, if my revelation of having bipolar II has encouraged one person to seek help, then it is worth it.’
Carrie Fisher
Star Wars actress Carrie Fisher was misdiagnosed when she first sought out treatment which made her struggle with bipolar disorder even worse: ” “When I was about 24, I had a doctor tell me I was hypomanic, he said I should go on lithium. I didn’t believe him. I thought he was trying to get rid of me….To my recollection, which may or may not be that reliable, I wasn’t diagnosed again until I overdosed at 28.”
Irish singer Sinead O’Connor was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 2003, but now that she has medication for the problem, feels much better: ”It explained a lot about being angry, fighting with people, being suicidal. And often with anger what’s behind it is grief. Did you ever see this creepy cowboy movie, and at the end the guy was shot from behind and a huge hole is blown through his back – that’s how I used to feel. I felt like I was walking round the world with a huge hole in me. And within a day of taking the medication, I felt the cement had come and filled in the hole.”
Linda Hamilton
Terminator actress Linda Hamilton feels as though she had “lost years” before she was put on medication to help her get over the illness: ”I would say 20 full years of symptoms, not counting my childhood. From 20 to 40. I call them my lost years. About 10 years ago, when I really was crashing and burning, had spent many years, you know, not only looking for the answers but sort of self-medicating with drugs and alcohol as well, and was struggling to keep my marriages intact. It was at that point that someone wouldn’t let me out of his office. He said, ‘You are so seriously bipolar. You should not leave this office without me calling your primary physician and we need to get you on medicine.’”
Disney actress Demi Lovato recently completed a stint in rehab for issues such as self-harming and an eating disorder. She says that she also found out that she has bipolar disorder while she was being treated: ”I had no idea that I was even bipolar until I went into treatment.”
