Bipolar disorder has become a trendy diagnostic entity. However, in spite of the wide appeal of the over-glamorization of this entity in the tabloids which have run scores of stories about the extremely popular singer Britney Spears who it is said has been diagnosed as suffering from this disorder, it should be kept in mind that it is not a joke to be hit with this label which can in itself be very damaging.
Keeping in mind that there are actually no biological markers for the myriad of diagnoses of the psychiatrists as pointed out by the Citizens Commission on Human Rights, and that Britney may have in fact therefore never suffered from such a disorder whose existence must in itself be placed in question, nevertheless she is a very lucky young woman whose presence as a Hollywood singer has opened up opportunities for her to flourish in life and to become independently wealthy in an industry which obviously does not respect psychiatric labeling and associated discrimination.
If Britney, as clearly a warm person and talented performer, characteristics which in themselves make one wonder who is responsible for having labeled her with bipolar disorder, was not well known in Hollywood circles it is possible she would be living a lonely, isolated, and poverty stricken life today. As Jim Gottstein, JD, the founder of PsychRights has pointed out in his blog post "Diagnosing Dangers" in Mad in America "People with such labels can immediately lose their jobs and essentially become unemployable. They often become social outcasts, that has been described as 'social death.'"
Another serious problem for people labeled with bipolar disorder aside from the painful stigmatization is the drug treatments themselves which generally make things worse for the patients. The negative effects of drug treatment on people labeled with bipolar disorder are discussed on the Mad in America Blog. It is pointed out that prior to 1955, bipolar illness was considered a rare disorder. In 1955 there were only 12,750 people hospitalized with that disorder. Furthermore, there were only about 2,400 “first admissions” for bipolar illness yearly in the country’s mental hospitals. And outcomes were relatively good too. It was found that seventy-five percent or so of the first-admission patients would recover within 12 months. And over the long-term, only about 15% of all first-admission patients would become chronically ill, and 70% to 85% of the patients would have good outcomes, which meant they worked and had active social lives.
Today, it is said that bipolar illness affects one in every 40 adults in the United States. This rare disorder has become a very common diagnosis. There are many reasons for this. First, many drugs, both illicit and legal, can set off manic episodes, and therefore usage of those drugs leads many to a bipolar diagnosis. Second, the diagnostic boundaries of bipolar illness have been excessively broadened. It has been found In a large NIMH study, “the major predictor of worse outcome was antidepressant use.” The patients put on antidepressants were nearly four times more likely than the non-exposed patients to develop rapid-cycling, and twice as likely to have multiple manic or depressive episodes.
Researchers have noted that “in the era prior to pharmacotherapy, poor outcome in mania was considered a relatively rare occurrence . . . however, modern outcome studies have found that a majority of bipolar patients evidence high rates of functional impairment.” In their discussion of this deterioration in outcomes, they concluded that “medication-induced changes” may be at least partly responsible. And Harvard researchers have observed that “prognosis for bipolar disorder was once considered relatively favorable, but contemporary findings suggest that disability and poor outcomes are prevalent.” They have noted that “neuropharmacological-neurotoxic factors” might be causing “cognitive deficits in bipolar disorder patients.” Clearly a purist Natural Mental Health Care approach to the prevention and treatment of what is labeled as mental illness should be given consideration as the best approach.
The Harold Mandel, MD Natural Mental Health Care Reform Association
