Today, a series premiere of a new show called, “Black Box” aired on ABC. The show is about a world famous neurologist who, while helping others deal with their own mental disabilities, hides the fact that she herself has bipolar/ manic depression disorder. During the show the writers depict the disorder, for example when Dr. Black goes off of her medication and goes into a manic episode. During the episode, she dances on edges of windows and balconies and thinks that she is invincible, almost like she is a super hero and nothing could stop her. But during one of her manic episodes she had to give a speech about her work to the Neurological Institute of America, where she mentioned all of these famously recognized individuals who our society idolizes, that also have had mental disorders. A few that she mentioned were Ernest Hemingway, Sylvia Plath, Billy Holiday, Charles Dickens, Herman Melville, and even Van Gogh, who was actually in a mental hospital when he painted the masterpiece, Starry Night. What shocked while listening to this speech was not only how many people have been through this tragic and awful disease, but also how many people have truly never experienced a world where they had a stable emotion. Later on in the episode when she speaks about her disorder she says she has a “history of non-compliance” which means she goes off of her meds, because of the rush, the incredible high, and the empowerment she feels and the beauty she sees in life when she doesn’t take them, obviously describing her manic phase. Not that I can ever understand what it could feel like to go through any of this, but I believe this show depicts the disorder extremely well, showing people the side of the ill who go through this everyday, and the challenges they face. The show also brings up how her mother was bipolar and how the disease is hereditary, and how her elder brother was lucky and didn’t get the disease, but she did. Overall, I believe that with not only our lecture on Bipolar disorder but also the show I have a better understanding of the disease.
Today, a series premiere of a new show called, “Black Box” aired on ABC. The show is about a world famous neurologist who, while helping others deal with their own mental disabilities, hides the fact that she herself has bipolar/ manic depression disorder. During the show the writers depict the disorder, for example when Dr. Black goes off of her medication and goes into a manic episode. During the episode, she dances on edges of windows and balconies and thinks that she is invincible, almost like she is a super hero and nothing could stop her. But during one of her manic episodes she had to give a speech about her work to the Neurological Institute of America, where she mentioned all of these famously recognized individuals who our society idolizes, that also have had mental disorders. A few that she mentioned were Ernest Hemingway, Sylvia Plath, Billy Holiday, Charles Dickens, Herman Melville, and even Van Gogh, who was actually in a mental hospital when he painted the masterpiece, Starry Night. What shocked while listening to this speech was not only how many people have been through this tragic and awful disease, but also how many people have truly never experienced a world where they had a stable emotion. Later on in the episode when she speaks about her disorder she says she has a “history of non-compliance” which means she goes off of her meds, because of the rush, the incredible high, and the empowerment she feels and the beauty she sees in life when she doesn’t take them, obviously describing her manic phase. Not that I can ever understand what it could feel like to go through any of this, but I believe this show depicts the disorder extremely well, showing people the side of the ill who go through this everyday, and the challenges they face. The show also brings up how her mother was bipolar and how the disease is hereditary, and how her elder brother was lucky and didn’t get the disease, but she did. Overall, I believe that with not only our lecture on Bipolar disorder but also the show I have a better understanding of the disease.