Gillian Wright on her portrayal of Jean's bipolar storyline
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Diagnosed with bipolar II in 2001, Mariah Carey admitted she was in denial in the very beginning. “I didn’t want to believe it.” In a candid interview, Mariah, 53, revealed she “lived in denial and isolation” due to the health condition. “For a long time I thought I had a severe sleep disorder,” she told People Magazine.
“But it wasn’t normal insomnia and I wasn’t lying awake counting sheep. I was working and working, and working…
“I was irritable and in constant fear of letting people down. It turns out that I was experiencing a form of mania.”
The NHS explains that mania can include:
- Feeling very happy, elated or overjoyed
- Talking very quickly
- Feeling full of energy
- Feeling self-important
- Feeling full of great new ideas and having important plans
- Being easily distracted
- Being easily irritated or agitated
- Being delusional, having hallucinations and disturbed or illogical thinking
- Not feeling like sleeping
- Not eating
- Doing things that often have disastrous consequences – such as spending large sums of money on expensive and sometimes unaffordable items
- Making decisions or saying things that are out of character and that others see as being risky or harmful.
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“It’s not making me feel too tired or sluggish or anything like that. Finding the proper balance is what is most important.”
The NHS says that the aim of treatment is to reduce the severity and number of episodes of depression and mania.
Most commonly, mood stabiliser are prescribed, which will be taken every day on a long-term basis.
Psychological therapies can also be useful, such as talking therapies.
Mariah Carey At The BBC airs on Saturday, September 10 on BBC Two at 11pm.
Episodes of mania can last for several weeks or months but, eventually, the pendulum swings the other way.
“Eventually I would just hit a wall,” Mariah continued. “I guess my depressive episodes were characterised by having very low energy.
“I would feel so lonely and sad — even guilty that I wasn’t doing what I needed to be doing for my career.”
The NHS adds that during a depressive episode, symptoms might include:
- Feeling sad, hopeless or irritable most of the time
- Lacking energy
- Difficulty concentrating and remembering things
- Loss of interest in everyday activities
- Feelings of emptiness or worthlessness
- Feelings of guilt and despair
- Feeling pessimistic about everything
- Self-doubt
- Being delusional, having hallucinations and disturbed or illogical thinking
- Lack of appetite
- Difficulty sleeping
- Waking up early
- Suicidal thoughts.
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A post shared by Mariah Carey (@mariahcarey)
Having bipolar disorder means your mood swings from extreme highs (mania) to extreme lows (depression), over and over again.
“Between episodes of depression and mania, you may sometimes have periods where you have a ‘normal’ mood,” the health body adds.
Some people might experience “rapid cycling”, which is where a person repeatedly swings from a high to low phase “quickly without having a ‘normal’ period”.
There can also be a “mixed state” where symptoms of mania and depression are experienced together.
The NHS explains: “Bipolar disorder is a condition of extremes. A person with bipolar disorder may be unaware they’re in the manic phase.
“After the episode is over, they may be shocked at their behaviour.”
Mother to twins Moroccan and Monroe, 11, Mariah “sought and received treatment” when she felt the condition was “too heavy a burden to carry” on her own.
“I’m actually taking medication that seems to be pretty good,” Mariah continued.
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by Mariah Carey (@mariahcarey)
“It’s not making me feel too tired or sluggish or anything like that. Finding the proper balance is what is most important.”
The NHS says that the aim of treatment is to reduce the severity and number of episodes of depression and mania.
Most commonly, mood stabiliser are prescribed, which will be taken every day on a long-term basis.
Psychological therapies can also be useful, such as talking therapies.
Mariah Carey At The BBC airs on Saturday, September 10 on BBC Two at 11pm.
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