Topic: Not liking how they're portraying mental illness
Topic Posted by: lizziebeth
Date Posted: Sun Aug 31 7:04:49 2008
Additional Comments: Didn't they say Pam was bipolar? I'm sure many of us know someone with a mental illness and they aren't going around trying to kill people when they're off their medications. I hope no one with bipolar disorder is watching B&B.
Posted by: Shadowdancer Date posted: Tue Sep 2 13:12:08 2008
Message: Now that I've watched the episode, I have apoint to make. They didn't say Pam was simply bipolar... she was borderline personality as well. Having dated a guy suffering from that disorder in college, I can certainly vouch that, without medication, a seemingly lovely person can turn dangerous very quickly.
Posted by: Rosebud1 Date posted: Tue Sep 2 0:50:10 2008
Message: Most people w/ANY mental illness don't get violent like this towards others. However, it HAS happened before. The guy who killed a family friend several yrs ago was off his meds. He was released from the state mental hospital w/orders to go to a community clinic (on his own) to get his daily meds as prescribed. However, like a lot of people w/mental illness, he didn't go to the clinic after awhile. It isn't uncommon for people who have to take medication on a daily basis (mental health meds or not) to want to take a break from them every once in awhile--even when they shouldn't.
In this case, the guy didn't show up for a couple of weeks & no one went to retrieve him or put him back in state care--as they were supposed to do. So he did some pretty strange things--like wrapping himself in barbed wire & threatening people in a crowded shopping mall. But when the police were called their hands were tied, since he had a signed paper in his pocket from the state mental hospital, certifying him as 'sane'.
When he was released from police custody, he repeatedly broke into apartments & homes in the area. He didn't consider it breaking in since he only went into places where the doors were unlocked. Unfortunately, my friend was ill & forgot to lock her door that night. He came in & brutally murdered her as she slept. He wasn't caught for several months.
When he was caught, he told police that it was HER fault for leaving the door unlocked!
Ultimately, he was locked up, for life, in the prison system's mental hospital. I've always felt that he was also a victim. Had he been treated the way he should have been, he wouldn't have been a danger to anyone but possibly himself. My friend's daughter wanted him put to death. I just didn't want him to ever be on the streets again.
I've seen people on the streets who are mentally ill & who wouldn't hurt anyone. They are more likely to be victimized themselves than be the agressor. I've also seen people on the street who were obviously mentally ill & a danger to both the public & themselves.
Posted by: flowergirl Date posted: Sun Aug 31 21:10:05 2008
Message: Sadly it has happen before.There's a reason they need their meds and without them some bi-polar people can have thoughts of murder,and even kill.I've read cases of mothers who have murdered their own children.One lady undressed her 3 small kids and tossed them off a bridge,killing them.She was off her medication even though her mother begged her to take them.
Posted by: Beezil Date posted: Sun Aug 31 20:28:48 2008
Message:
You think this is bad? Back when Heather Tom was Victoria on good ole' Y&R, she had a stalker. They were trying to make it look really freaky (he sent her a grand total of three "I'm your biggest fan" letters and had a small corkboard of pictures of her.) Anyway...
While she was meeting with all the investigators and authorities about him they were doing a psychoanalysis of him, and they said something like "some lonely man suffering from OCD" and they played really scary music when they said "OCD" and Victoria got this freaked out look on her face. Um, what???? It's almost common knowledge (well, for those of us with real experience) that OCD sufferers are just the OPPOSITE of dangerous. In fact, a person having OCD almost guarantees that nothing bad will happen to ANYONE else. OCD is NOT a disorder that causes stalking. "Obsessive stalker" does NOT MEAN "OCD." Even a "pure obsessional" OCD sufferer just ruminates over ideas within their own mind that disturb them because they DON'T plan to hurt anyone. Just because one word is in both does not make them related disorders.
Needless to say, soap writers have never exactly been Einsteins when it comes to accurately portraying specific mental illnesses. They'd do better to just stick with random evil behavior without trying to stick a legitimate mental illness label on it just to make it sound more authentic.
Posted by: Georgie Date posted: Sun Aug 31 13:47:56 2008
Message: Did some google search.
There are several types of Bi-polar illness. Not everyone acts the same.
Also, a person in an extreme case of mania, can lose touch with reality. This seems to be what happened with Pam.
If she slips into the depressive state, she will most likely be a danger to herself.
Posted by: Brooke Fan Forever Date posted: Sun Aug 31 12:01:44 2008
Message: One of my best friends had Bipolar disorder. She was nothing like Pam & certainly was not violent & mean. She did however stop taking her meds several times over the years & was a very different person when not on the meds. Very sadly, my friend committed suicide 6 years ago, while off of her meds.
