Daniel Bader, Ph.D.
Bipolar Disorder in the Mainstream: “Homeland” Season One *Spoilers*
*Spoiler Alert* Continue reading
Improving Your Life Through Incremental Change
New Year’s is coming up, and any people make New Year’s resolutions about how they are going to improve their lives. However, as is well known, most New Year’s resolutions are rarely kept. It is difficult to simply decide to improve one’s life and to have those resolutions stick.
For those of us with bipolar disorder, the condition compounds the problem. The ups and downs of bipolar disorder make sticking to resolutions or to any goals more difficult, since what is an easy plan to stick to in one mood state becomes a difficult one in another mood state. Continue reading
Avoiding Freak Shows: Reality TV and the Mentally Ill
Last week, Amber Portwood, one of the four single mothers on the MTV television show Teen Mom revealed that she had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and that she tried to commit suicide after the season ended.
This isn’t the first time that a mentally ill person either was temporarily institutionalized or tried to commit suicide after an appearance on reality TV. Susan Boyle, who came second place in the second season of Britain’s Got Talent temporarily entered a psychiatric institution the day after the final of that show, and Paula Goodspeed committed suicide outside of Paula Abdul’s home after a rejection on Americal Idol. Continue reading
Overcoming Powerlessness: How To Get a Bipolar Person Help
Bipolar people have one advantage compared to their family and friends. At the end of the day, we have the option of seeking treatment or not seeking treatment, and what kind or kinds of treatment to seek. Family members and friends of bipolar people can be in a much more difficult and often frustrating situation. Unless the bipolar person is legally incompetent, bipolar people have the right to refuse treatment. As a result, the loved ones of bipolar people are often only able to watch and are unable to act when they see that the people they love need real help. Continue reading
How To Talk To Someone Who Has Bipolar Disorder
I may be a little controversial with this post, but bear with me. Part of the reason for stigma around bipolar disorder is that we can be a little different when symptomatic, and people aren’t quite sure how to talk with us during those periods. I know for myself, irritability, depression and especially effusiveness can create some socially awkward situations. As a result, we can be ignored or even disliked in some cases. Continue reading
Can a Bipolar Person Lead a Normal Life?
I know one of the most common questions when it comes to bipolar disorder is whether people with bipolar disorder can lead a normal life. The question, unfortunately, is one of those loaded ones. It really depends on what one means by “normal”. However, rather than simply throw up my hands and yell “Semantics!”, I thought I’d look at some of the different senses of “normal” and whether or not bipolar people can lead a normal life in those senses. Continue reading
Serenity: The Value of Emotional Detachment for Bipolar Disorder
My life with bipolar disorder has certainly become better in the last ten years or so. The first few times I was asked why that was, I didn’t really have a very good answer. However, in retrospect, I think what has really improved my ability to live with bipolar disorder is developing emotional detachment. By this, I don’t mean that I don’t feel emotions. I have a mood disorder, so I couldn’t stop them if I wanted to. What I mean is that, along the way, I stopped thinking of my emotions as real. Continue reading
Going Public Today: Why I’ve Decided To Stop Hiding
A few weeks ago was Mental Illness Awareness Week, which gave me a lot to think about. For the most part, I’ve considered my bipolar disorder to be something essentially private, much like if I had asthma or some other disease. As a result, it didn’t warrant any public revelation, not so much because I was ashamed of it (I’m not), but because I don’t normally discuss any of my other illnesses, so why would I discuss this one? Continue reading
Bipolar Disorder and Skepticism: My Philosophical Journey
I’ve spent the last several years completing a doctorate in philosophy, and bipolar disorder has been in some ways a hindrance and in some ways a benefit. One way in which bipolar disorder has been a bit of both has been its tendency to push me toward skepticism. Our moods and our thoughts are connected both ways, and instability of moods creates an instability of thoughts. However, instability leads to skepticism for a number of reasons. I’ve both had to fight against this tendency and embrace the aspects of it that are good. Continue reading
"Stigma": Reflections on Its Meaning and Use, Part I
This post is long, so I’ve decided to break it into two parts. This is the first part, while the second part is here.
I’ve only really become active in what one might call the mental health community within the last couple of years. Like any movement, the mental health community has its own vocabulary. Since I already had my own vocabulary that I was perfectly happy with, some of those uses struck me as strange, to the point where I don’t even want to use the terms. However, I’m well aware of my linguistic conservativism and that it’s probably a bad habit. Continue reading
To find out more, please visit the website for his private practice, Bader Mediation & Counselling Services.