All About Bipolar

Posted By atorturedsoul on August 14, 2009

CBS aired a public service announcement about bipolar disorder during last night’s episode of Big Brother but it directs you to the CBS Cares website for more information and very little information can be found.

Actor Mark Harmon says:

“Bipolar disorder is a brain condition that causes unusual or dramatic mood swings. It affects millions of Americans and compromises their ability to function. When diagnosed, bipolar disorder can be effectively treated by mood stabilizers, but most people with bipolar disorder suffer for years without help because the symptoms are missed or confused with other illnesses like depression. Learn how easily you can keep this from happening to a loved one. Visit CBSCares.tv.”

See the video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=loObS_eaA9w.

I sincerely believe that CBS aired this public service announcement in response to the complaints it received about the comment made during a recent episode of Big Brother concerning bipolar disorder. I appreciate the effort, CBS, but I would like to point out its shortcomings.

The public service announcement states: “Learn how easily you can keep this from happening to a loved one. Visit CBSCares.tv.” I visited CBSCares.tv. There is no information on how to “keep this from happening to a loved one”. In fact, there isn’t much information at all.

The front page lists bipolar disorder in the first paragraph but gives no link for more information. If you click on Topics you will not find Bipolar Disorder listed. If you take a look at the sidebar on the right hand side you will see a list of public service announcement videos. Bipolar Disorder is not listed there either. It is not easy to find the video for bipolar disorder. Why? It has been placed on the Depression page.

Depression and bipolar disorder are two separate illnesses. As stated in the announcement, people with bipolar disorder are often misdiagnosed with depression. Lumping the two together only adds to the confusion.

What does CBS say about bipolar disorder? It isn’t mentioned that much and the few mentions it gets are in the Depression section.

Causes:

Bipolar disorder is mentioned once and it is referencing how other illnesses can be misdiagnosed as bipolar disorder.

The PSA talks about how bipolar disorder is often misdiagnosed as depression and now you give information that can lead the general public to believe that people with bipolar disorder have been misdiagnosed. Now I will have people telling me that I don’t have bipolar disorder-I really have *insert name of illness*.

Diagnosis:

Bipolar disorder is mentioned three times, but the information is a bit misleading. It labels bipolar disorder as one of three categories of depressive illness. Again, it is being associated with depression which leads people to believe it is depression. It does state further down the page that bipolar disorder is commonly misdiagnosed as other illnesses. It also states that more people with bipolar disorder have alcohol and substance abuse than people with depression.

Treatment: Medication:

Bipolar disorder is mentioned once and it is in relation to family history and how it may contribute to an increased risk of suicide.

Other Treatment Options:

Bipolar disorder is mentioned twice in this section. The first mention states that lifestyle changes can “reduce episodes of depression and mania in bipolar disorder”. The second mention refers to bipolar disorder and seasonal affective disorder and how light therapy can cause manic or hypomanic episodes.

Postpartum Depression: Interview with Dr. Weissman:

Dr. Weissman states that women with a history of depression or bipolar disorder have an increased risk of developing postpartum depression.

Postpartum Depression: Essay by Dr. Spinelli:

Dr. Spinelli states, “Most cases of postpartum psychosis are episodes of bipolar disorder (manic depression). Women with bipolar disorder are at the highest risk for a postpartum psychosis.”

Creativity and Depression:

This section briefly mentions author Robert Lowell’s struggle with bipolar disorder. It also mentions that creative people with bipolar disorder and people experiencing their first episode of mania are less likely to seek treatment.

Where is the information explaining how to help a loved one? I couldn’t find it and I really dug through the site. Most people will never see the information I was able to find because it is buried within a lot of information on depression. Does this sound helpful? Do you think that people who visit the site seeking information on bipolar disorder will be able to find it?

CBS, I feel this public service announcement would be better if you simply left off the portion sending people to the website for more information since the site really does not offer much. I appreciate the mention of bipolar disorder, especially during the show where a derogatory comment was made. It’s not a formal apology but at least I know you took notice of the complaints. However, saying you provide information that you do not is misleading.

Now, add a section for bipolar disorder to www.cbscares.tv or simply direct them to my website for accurate information on bipolar disorder.

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Categories: About Bipolar Disorder, Bipolar 1, Bipolar 2, Cyclothymia, My Personal Experiences, NOS
Tags: about, all, announcement, bipolar, CBS, CBS Cares, confusing, disorder, information, Mark Harmon, misleading, public, service, video