Around Since Forever: Treatment and perception of disorder since 1583

Bipolar disorder has been around since before explanation. Mania was recognized as something different or wrong from time immemorial to now. The American Indians and others considered the mad holy. From English History we know the mentally ill were once imprisoned in conditions that were barbaric. With nothing but straw or hay to sleep on, and foul food to eat, the mentally ill were subject to torture and illnesses such as the plague.

In modern times they were imprisoned by the Nazis and gassed with the Jews. The most modern facilities "treated" us with ice baths; beating and rape were common. In the novel, Jane Eyre, we read of the "madwoman" locked up in the house. It wasn't until the 1950's lithium was used to treat bipolar disorder. Prior to that, and even afterward, the mentally ill were institutionalized, locked up for indefinite periods of time.

Only relatively recently has there been a wide range of drugs to treat bipolar disorder. When I became ill, twenty years ago, I was misdiagnosed, given ineffective medication as a result and suffered for it. It has only been the last nine years my illness has been controlled (and by then I was disabled). Early treatment offers the best chance of recovery.

We have reason to be grateful for the progress made by medical science and psychiatry. From that perspective, the stigma that still exits is nothing. Because of the progress, we have the happy chance (disabled or not) at living relatively stable and meaningful lives.