Assignment 4: Paragraph Essay

Aja Binder

PSYC 3406-02: Abnormal Psychology

Dr. Aaron B. Daniels

March 6, 2022
 In the past two weeks of class, we had a discussion centered around bipolar disorder. This

disorder has always been fascinating for me, so I made sure I was fully tuned in. Before this

discussion I had not understood the basics of what it meant to have bipolar disorder. In class you

mentioned, it is either the experience of going from hypomania to major depressive disorder

(diagnosed as Bipolar II) or going from mania to major depressive disorder (Bipolar I).

Wikipedia defines hypomania as “a mental and behavioural disorder, characterised essentially by

an apparently non-contextual elevation of mood (euphoria) that contributes to persistently

disinhibited behaviour”. DSM-5 has a more complex definition, describing rather the criteria for

a hypomanic episode but noting that it “lasts at least 4 consecutive days and present most of the

day, nearly every day”. As for mania, Wikipedia defines it as “a mental and behavioral disorder

defined as a state of abnormally elevated arousal, affect, and energy level”. DSM-5 also notes

that a manic episode specifically “lasts at least 1 week and present most of the day, nearly every

day (or any duration if hospitalization is necessary)”. While these definitions are helpful, they are

very similar. I still struggle to differentiate the two types of bipolar disorder. I believe this is

because of a lack of experience and/or encounters I’ve had with people with bipolar disorder that

makes it difficult to understand the differences. I knew that ultimately; I would have to

understand the difference between hypomania and mania, which I am sure is not as

compartmentalized as it sounds. Thereupon, I became interested in the idea of conversing with

people diagnosed with bipolar disorder, however, I knew this was not an option, at least not at

this time and not for this paper, so instead, I went researching with the hope in mind that I would

find an article from the perspective of someone with bipolar disorder to help clarify the

difference and open myself up to a new perspective. While I did not find an article directly

written from a person with BD, I did come across something very similar.
 A report on “Being Bipolar” was released. In this report, Anika Mandla et al. (2017)

explore how BD is presented on the Internet from people who have the disorder. This study was

a qualitative analysis of the experience of BD as described in Internet blogs. The team aimed to

retrieve easily accessed blogs, which a lay person would be likely to encounter, that were written

by self-identified BD sufferers. The questions that the team hoped to be answered were: (1) What

problems (or symptoms) do people regard as being part of BD?; (2) How do people view having

or getting a diagnosis of BD?; (3) What do people believe are the causes of BD?; (4) What are

people's experiences of, and views about the treatment of BD? After the team examined

approximately 80 blogs through a Google search and by reading blog titles and skimming blog

content, they comprised a sample of 45 blogs, written by 22 bloggers, from 12 different blogging

websites. Of the selected bloggers, 15 were female, 4 were male, and the gender of 3 was

unknown. Ages ranged from 35 to over 50. 10 of the bloggers were from the United States, one

from South Africa and the remainder was unknown. The selected blogs were then analyzed using

a thematic analysis. Mandla et al. discovered these key themes; BD as a tendency to experience

intense and fluctuating emotions often in association with anxiety, suicide, and substance misuse;

ideas on drug company websites were consistent with BD patients and that advertising can

change the way the human experience is perceived; the moral function of BD was thought of as

an autonomous entity acting as the repository for disliked aspects of the self and provided an

explanation for bad behavior or failure, which ultimately was illustrated by the attachment to

BD; BD patients found many positive characteristics of BD, such as intelligence and empathy, as

an integral part of their personality; and overall bipolar identity encompasses a complex and

contradictory relation between patient and their disorder. Mandla et al. note limitations in their

analysis report. One being since they selected the most accessible blogs, their sample was likely
to overrepresent sites associated with large organizations. Another limitation, Mandla et al. notes

was that they cannot confirm the accuracy of the blogs in their sample, but that most were

derived from blogging sites with an established reputation. The authors conclude by noting that

there is a public view of BD as a broad concept that may contained a variety of problems and

fulfills a moral function.

After reading the report, I developed a greater understanding of some of the greater moral

impacts BD has on individuals related to episodes of mania. I became aware that inconsiderate

behavior could stem from being in such a heightened state, which could ultimately affect the

relationships of those around the individual. I acquired a perspective that made it possible to

imagine a sense of a “monster vs me” battle going on within the person’s mind and thus affect

their moral stance. This brought back the idea of ego syntonic versus ego dystonic. However, I

noticed that only a fraction of the bloggers noted this sense of separateness from their self and

their condition, which made me wonder the limit to which BD is ego dystonic. The

uncontrollable fluctuations of emotions in BD suggest this is not necessarily how the patients

wants to react, so egodystonic, yet I wonder if this is how the patient might genuinely feel, which

would be egosyntonic. When a patient is living through a manic episode their morals can be

altered, however, I wonder to what extent. How can you truly assume someone’s intentions?

This introduced the idea of analyzing Annie Wilkes in Stephen King’s Misery. The idea of

captivity is universally immoral, however, when one looks at the history of Wilkes, it brings into

question how absurd this idea is to her due to her complex storyline. Thus, for the next

assignment, I would like to analyze Wilke’s personality, keeping in mind the criteria for BD but

also staying open to other diagnosis because I am aware of the true complexity of Wilkes. I
question maybe if she suffers from personality disorder as well? I do need further guidance in

that sense as I have learned it is possible for someone to have many disorders.
 References

Mandla, Billings, J., & Moncrieff, J. (2017). “Being Bipolar”: A Qualitative Analysis of the

Experience of Bipolar Disorder as Described in Internet Blogs. Issues in Mental Health

Nursing., 38(10), 858–864. https://doi.org/10.1080/01612840.2017.1355947