Bipolar and Bisexual?

[bi42guy1958]

Does anyone have any known to be true thoughts or material o these 2 subjects? Are they related in any way, of course other than the "bi" relation?:tongue:

I think Im bipolar and have an appointment for Tuesday to see if I may have, and I was just wondering if anyone can help if there is or might be a relation between the two.

Thanx ahead of time for your input!!:cool::cool:

[the mage]

Many Bi males report a type of "cycle" but its seldom extreme enough to be Bi Polar. I personally do not know of any pointed relation between the two.

Persons with difficulties in general are a larger than normal percentage in any "deviant" part of society. (I use deviant with respect..) But treatment of 1 is not treatment of the other...

[DiamondDog]

They're not related at all.

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/bipolar-disorder/DS00356

One's a mental health condition and one's a sexual orientation.

[lady_starlight]

Its been my experience (with people and research) that people with more education are more sexually open. Generally speaking people with higher education are "more intelligent" than the average person. People with higher iq's have a slightly higher tendancy to be diagnosed with mental disorders. (ie: bi polar, schitzophrenia, personality disorders, etc). From that, you could potentially conclude that there is a link between sexual openness and psychological disorders....but its vague, distant, and has all sorts of information against it.

And no, I can;t back up any of my information with sources at the moment. I'm sure i could if i went through some old text books and research...but it's friday and im lazy.

and i am sure lots of people are going to say "well, what about this and this and this". And thats why i said if there even is a correlation, its vague, distant, etc and likely more coincidence than anything psychological.

[Stargazer1417]

I was diagnosed with bipolar II disorder almost 6 years ago. As far as I know, and in the opinion of every professional I've talked to, there is no connection. Just coincidence. But if you find something to the contrary, I'd love to hear about it. :)

[12voltman59]

I doubt if there is any more correlation between being bisexual and bipolar than there is to being a writer, musician, actor to either state----many of those who fall into these catagories have been known to be bipolar and to also be bisexual---but then again--probably no more than any other member of the human race---it is a very difficult thing to try to link one of these things to any other---

[Azrael]

I'm both.
I don't think the correlation exists strictly speaking, but my depression is significantly exacerbated by how people react to either one.

[mattypete]

The can personally connect the two this way...

I have been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. My first "break" with reality happened about ten years ago while I was under a great deal of stress. Coincidentally, at this same time period I was grappling with my newly discovered bisexuality. I'm not trying to say bisexuality caused my bipolar disorder, but I really feel there is a connection. I could choose to simply say that my fear and paranoia are just the typical symptoms of bipolar disorder and take my meds and be done with it. But I'm trying to look passed the symptoms and find their root cause. Oh, by the way, I'm not openly bi to anyone. A few people know and a few have their suspicions, but I'm not projecting it widely. I feel part of my fear and paranoia stem from being afraid of being found out. Not knowing who to trust with this personal info causes me a lot of stress also. I live in a fairly rough town and I guess on some level, I fear for my physical well-being. Sometimes I feel like a lot more people (around my town, for example) know about my bisexuality than I think, but noone is saying anything to me. I get freaked imagining homophobic/biphobic conversations that may or may not be happening behind my back. Maybe I'm making too big a deal out of the coming out process, but it feels like a really BIG deal to me. Yet when I think about people in my community who are obviously bisexual or gay, it feels like it's a totally normal thing. Why can't I just accept my orientation and move on? If I could, I'm pretty sure a lot of my fear and paranoia would lessen.

Thanks,

MP

[godowntogether]

I'm both and don't see any connection.

[bi42guy1958]

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/bip...sorder/DS00356


I didn't order mayo on my burger!!:cutelaugh:cutelaugh:cutelaugh:cutelaugh

[Germanicus]

...Generally speaking people with higher education are "more intelligent" than the average person ...

Yes, this is a generalisation and a very value based one at that. I'm BA(Hons), MA and PhD, and am perceived to be "more intelligent" by many people at work even though I am not. However, I will argue that what constitutes intelligence (and what "intelligence" is perceived as), and the means by which it is measured, is very much subject to middle-class defintions despite the claims to "objectivity" by academic hacks.

[leizy]

I personally believe this is rooted largely in underlying bias that exists within mental health fields towards any nontraditional sexuality. There is, diagnostically, evidence that in the manic phase, some bipolar individuals engage in lots of indiscriminate promiscuity. "Indiscriminate" means, to a shrink, that they act bisexually and fuck anybody. Unfortunately, people (including mental health therapists who should know better) generalize this point and assume that anyone who is either bisexual or promiscuous must be mentally ill and probably bipolar.

cheers.
david

[Stargazer1417]

The can personally connect the two this way...

I have been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. My first "break" with reality happened about ten years ago while I was under a great deal of stress. Coincidentally, at this same time period I was grappling with my newly discovered bisexuality. I'm not trying to say bisexuality caused my bipolar disorder, but I really feel there is a connection.

I'm not saying you are wrong about your belief in the connection, but I would point out that a rather common symptom of a manic episode, which for me at least, goes hand in hand with my "breaks," is more willing sexual exploration, and even recklessness in one's sex life. A manic person is much more likely to get out there and do things they would normally not do. This could have something to do with the timing, i.e. your first real episode with your bipolar disorder, and discovering/exploring your bisexuality. :2cents:

On a note more related to bipolar than to bisexuality, I completely understand where you are coming from about not wanting to just accept the paranoia and symptoms and take the meds, and I applaud your desire to dig deeper into the cause of your symptoms. I'm the same way, and I only take the meds to really bring me down (or up, as need should arise) in an emergency. Most of the time, I'm sans medication. I'd rather find more natural ways of dealing with it, and it has worked pretty well for me for the past 6 years. :)

[mattypete]

I'm not saying you are wrong about your belief in the connection, but I would point out that a rather common symptom of a manic episode, which for me at least, goes hand in hand with my "breaks," is more willing sexual exploration, and even recklessness in one's sex life. A manic person is much more likely to get out there and do things they would normally not do. This could have something to do with the timing, i.e. your first real episode with your bipolar disorder, and discovering/exploring your bisexuality. :2cents:




Hey there Stargazer. Thanks for the post.

I'm going to try to clarify my angle on this whole thing. It's a bit of a conundrum. Like, which comes first, bipolar disorder and then bisexuality? Or the other way around. For me it feels like the discovery of my bisexuality came first and caused my bipolar symtoms. Or, here's a long shot, sometimes I feel like (or wish) I don't have bipolar at all and am simply Bi(sexually)freaked out. You know, internal homophobia, external homophobia, fear of being criticized, parnoia about who's talking about me behind my back, fear of an unaccepting family, fear of physical harm, fear and paranoia from all angles, etc. I REALLY, REALLY wonder, if I am ever able to fully accept myself and come out to friends and family, will my symtoms will decrease or disappear altogether?



On a note more related to bipolar than to bisexuality, I completely understand where you are coming from about not wanting to just accept the paranoia and symptoms and take the meds,




I think you misunderstood me here. I DO accept my symtoms and I religiously take my meds. But, I don't do it blindly. I'm always asking myself, "how did this happen to me?" "How can I get to the bottom of this?"


Most of the time, I'm sans medication. I'd rather find more natural ways of dealing with it, and it has worked pretty well for me for the past 6 years.




I was under the impression that it takes quite a while for medication to build up in your system. I didn't think you could take it as you need it (for emergencies). Can I ask what meds you do take for emergencies? And what are the natural ways you have found to deal with your bipolar? I read an article about a man who learned Reiki energy healing and supposedly cured himself of his bipolar. It sound too good to be true. I thought bipolar was incurable

:)

Thanks again,

Mattypete

[Stargazer1417]

Matty - I think you may have misunderstood a couple of the things I said, but its not a big deal. I get that a lot. :)

To answer your direct question, however, in general you can't take the medications on an as-needed basis. Thats the only draw back. The effects of the medication are not instantanious and often time I'm worse before it gets better. But usually its only a week or so before I start to feel any better, and after that it gets better every day. My medications varry, but I've tried everything under the sun. (One of the reasons I stop taking them when I don't immediately need them is because the side effects are always hellish for me. I've had everything from unmanagable sleepiness to tardive diskenesia (spelling?), which can be permanent if untreated.) At some point, the side effects are worse than the symptoms, so I stop taking the meds as soon as I can. I'm always monitored and see a therapist regularly. The meds are just too hard on me.

While I respectfully disagree that the bisexuality caused the bipolar, you are entitled to your opinion. It was explained to me that I had a chemical imbalance most likely caused by genetic factors, which were "triggered" by a traumatic experience and resulted in bipolar type II. My bisexuality came later, and really until I read this thread, I never considered that they might be related.

:2cents:

[Bluebiyou]

I'm bipedal, I wonder if that has anything to do with being bisexual?:rotate: