Misleading information on bipolar disorder=Discrimination
Posted By atorturedsoul on October 26, 2009
Disorderdirectory.com provides a lot of information on bipolar disorder, but all of it is misleading.
I was searching the internet for recent news involving bipolar disorder when I ran across this website. They have tons of articles about various disorders. This is what their home page says:
This is an annotated directory of mental health resources for consumers on the Internet. Each site has been evaluated for content before being included as a listing on DisorderDirectory.com. The sites we find to be a good source of information have been added to the directory. Some sites have been selected by DisorderDirectory.com for inclusion. Other sites have been submitted by visitors. Please use our Submit a Site form to suggest a resource for review.
http://www.disorderdirectory.com/
I quickly noticed that there were a lot of articles that discuss bipolar disorder. I was shocked by the information given. It’s absolutely absurd.
A person with bipolar disorder is often unreasonable and not realistic. You must know that you are dealing with a bipolar disorder and not a personality flaw.
Bipolar disorder cannot go away in a single day. Symptoms displayed may not be as obvious one day, but can easily appear the next day.
Bipolar disorder symptoms can be triggered. It is essential to know these triggers and to avoid things that will cause problems.
It is difficult to reason with someone who is in a bipolar mood. In a relationship you must be aware when a Bipolar mood is present. The person you know is not ‘there’ as the Bipolar mood has taken over. It is critical to be aware of this so you do not feel responsible to “fix” or “change” a person who is Bipolar – reasoning will not work.
http://www.disorderdirectory.com/articles/index.php?id=81
Bipolar disorder cannot go away in a single day? A bipolar mood? They call this “good information”? It gets worse from here.
A person with bipolar usually has mood changes that appear to have no obvious reason.
http://www.disorderdirectory.com/articles/index.php?id=71
I would say that is accurate. That’s about the extent of the accurate information provided.
The episodes of mania and depression can range from one to up to twenty in a lifetime for a person with bipolar I disorder.
http://www.disorderdirectory.com/articles/index.php?id=65
Up to twenty? Heck, mine should be over by now then if we can only have up to twenty in a lifetime.
Another common trait is the typical disappearance of these state for months at a time, where the person will appear ‘normal’.
http://www.disorderdirectory.com/articles/index.php?id=65
Appear normal? Are they really insinuating that someone with bipolar disorder is abnormal? Surely not, right?
It is important to understand moods and the difference between normal moods and abnormal moods when dealing with bipolar disorder.
http://www.disorderdirectory.com/articles/index.php?id=61
There is that word again: “normal”. This time it is emphasized by the use of “abnormal”. Maybe I am just nitpicking, as I can sometimes do. I kept reading and was mortified by the relationship advice.
These are things you MAY encounter when dating a bipolar woman.
Signs your Relationship is Unhealthy or Bipolar:
http://www.disorderdirectory.com/articles/index.php?id=37
They just labeled a relationship with someone who has bipolar disorder as an “unhealthy” and “bipolar” relationship. To top that off, they give a list of signs.
You may be in a relationship with a bipolar person. Check their past, if other family members have had mental disorders.
Are they insinuating that a person should find out and run? They wouldn’t do that, would they? Well….
Your partner is abusive – not just hitting, but throwing things at you in anger, even if the things they throw can’t hurt you, like food items, clothes, or paper/garbage.
http://www.disorderdirectory.com/articles/index.php?id=37
Oh my. They are definitely trying to encourage people to avoid relationships with someone who has bipolar disorder. Oh, it continues elsewhere on the site.
Your partner may over stress the importance of trust and say that any little thing you do and forget to mention as ‘breaking the trust level’, even something simple as what you may have watched on TV one night when they were sleeping – such as ‘What did you watch last night when I was sleeping?‘ and you answer ‘Um, football highlights, Gilligan’s Island, and I think part of a MASH episode‘. and they say ‘THINK??, are you sure thats it you watched? You seemed to have been watching long than that!, you didn’t come to bed for 2 hours, so WHAT ELSE DID YOU WATCH??’ and you think and mention, oh yeah, I watched some of the news‘ and then say in anger ‘SEE?? This is the LYING I can’t stand!!!!’
http://www.disorderdirectory.com/articles/index.php?id=53
Apparently we are all irrational and irate. This is an example given on a site that is supposed to provide “mental health resources for consumers on the Internet”. They state on their home page: “Each site has been evaluated for content before being included as a listing on DisorderDirectory.com.” I know how easy it would be to slip up and allow an article or two that contains information that is misleading to be posted, but all of them seem to have inaccurate information-all of them!
Your partner uses anger to motivate you to give them money.
http://www.disorderdirectory.com/articles/index.php?id=52
Apparently, if you have bipolar disorder then you might be a gold digger. I suppose this is one of the many symptoms of bipolar disorder that I’m not aware of. (Yes, this is sarcasm.) Great. The next commercial for mood stabilizers will involve a woman telling a man, “Give me your credit card and no one gets hurt”, followed by her taking a pill and giving the card back. Egad.
You are very afraid of your partner’s anger and fear of an outburst – very common, and makes for a difficult relationship.
http://www.disorderdirectory.com/articles/index.php?id=51
Someone needs to inform my husband that he should be afraid of me. I might become an abusive spouse. According to Disorderdirectory.com, it’s very common. No, they didn’t say abusive, but that is what I would say being afraid of your partner’s anger would mean.
If you want to know why discrimination is so common, you should take a look at sites like this. They claim to provide “mental health resources”, but these “resources” promote the idea that people with bipolar disorder aren’t suitable for relationships and should invoke fear. This is what people who are searching for advice on handling relationships with persons with bipolar disorder are being told. It’s absurd.
Don’t worry. I made sure to use the nofollow tag so I don’t help out their search engine rankings. (If you are using WordPress and want to make some of your posts nofollow, but not all of them, try the Robots Meta plugin: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/robots-meta/.)
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Misleading information on bipolar disorder=Discrimination http://bit.ly/3E5AcE
RT @torturedsoul: Misleading information on bipolar disorder=Discrimination http://bit.ly/3E5AcE
RT @torturedsoul Misleading information on bipolar disorder=Discrimination http://bit.ly/3E5AcE
This is beyond outrageous! If this is considered a ‘resource’ by its authors, I’d hate to see an article that they consider stigmatic.
I hardly know what to say. They ought to be ashamed of themselves.
Ridiculous myths :-/ RT @torturedsoul: Misleading information on bipolar disorder=Discrimination http://bit.ly/3E5AcE
I was shocked by page after page of this.
“They ought to be ashamed of themsleves.”
I agree 100%.
So…what should one look for in dating a bipolar MAN? I notice much of this is directed at women. However, the whole thing is filled with stigma.
As someone who rapid cycles, I know I have had far more than 20 instances of so called “bipolar mood.” I also know that once I was correctly diagnosed and began taking Lithium, I began to recognize the cycles and to have actual periods of euthymia.
The idiot that wrote this supposed information should be smacked upside the head at the least. Did they even bother to consult with people who actually live with the disorder? Disgusting.
With all of the incorrect information they have on their site, I doubt they could recognize a person with bipolar disorder to try and consult with them. Regardless, I wouldn’t be able to talk to them. It might “trigger” one of my “bipolar moods” and incite “fear of an outburst”. Ugh. The more I read it, the sicker I get.
I wholeheartedly agree with SI. This is not only unbelievable, it’s unforgiveable. Yet, how sad that there will be many who will go to this source and actually believe it to be reliable and trustworthy (the disclaimer alone smacks of academic “proof.”). It’s an uphill battle we fight every day. After reading this, it only makes it clearer to me why the general population never “gets it” about persons with bipolar. I wonder if my ex-partner ever read something like this after she found out I was bipolar. At the time it was never my expressed intention NOT to tell her or to even consciously intend to mislead her. I had been on my meds for quite a long time and was being managed quite well. I honestly just didn’t think about it at the time. I felt that having bipolar does not define who I am; it does not consume my every thought process (well, that was back then…I’ve since experienced quite a crisis this past month as a result of no longer being able to afford my meds. See my blog for the details). Reading this entry has certainly been an eye opener. I’m glad you posted this!
Thank you. It is horrible that they put this kind of trash out there and people are led to believe that it’s true.
Very sorry to hear about your current crisis. I am always hear to listen to anyone who needs an ear: support@allaboutbipolar.com
Misleading information on bipolar disorder=Discrimination http://bit.ly/3E5AcE
Misleading information on bipolar disorder=Discrimination http://bit.ly/3E5AcE
RT @torturedsoul: Misleading information on bipolar disorder=Discrimination http://bit.ly/3E5AcE
RT @torturedsoul: Misleading information on bipolar disorder=Discrimination http://bit.ly/3E5AcE
RT @torturedsoul Misleading information on bipolar disorder=Discrimination http://bit.ly/3E5AcE
RT @torturedsoul Misleading information on bipolar disorder=Discrimination http://bit.ly/3E5AcE
Ridiculous myths :-/ RT @torturedsoul: Misleading information on bipolar disorder=Discrimination http://bit.ly/3E5AcE
Ridiculous myths :-/ RT @torturedsoul: Misleading information on bipolar disorder=Discrimination http://bit.ly/3E5AcE
Ridiculous myths :-/ RT @torturedsoul: Misleading information on bipolar disorder=Discrimination http://bit.ly/3E5AcE
Oh the horror! I took another look around to see what kinds of sites were listed there because they had to be just as bad, right? I sincerely doubt any of the sites listed on that site asked to be listed. In fact, I KNOW they didn’t. I *used* to have a blog somewhere else and that blog is listed on there as a blog about bipolar. Guess what keywords were used in the page info to describe my old site? Woman with bipolar, dating bipolar, and bipolar relationships. I know that I never asked to be listed there and certainly would never describe my site with those keywords. Dating? I haven’t “dated” in over 12 years.
I would be raising cain about this and demanding to have it removed–but since I am not associated with that site and have not been for about six months now, I’m not going to argue over it. Still, it’s scary to think that a site can be associated with someone like that simply because they chose to throw up a link. *Shudders*. I’m going to check and see all sites linking to this site now.
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Guess I am bipolar I but the doctor never did really diagnosed which type of bipolar disorder I had, he just told me I was having bipolar disorder at all.