Bi-polar Conviction

“She must be bi-polar.”

I’ve heard those words more than once as I’ve went about my business of shopping or running errands over the past three years. It’s a presumptive claim and nothing unique in Hernando County although it’s a cop-out when a passerby makes a casual statement based upon an unavoidable moment of eavesdropping on a person whose volume and tone might be filled with anger and threat, a little out of control. Bi-polar depression is nothing to casually speculate about.

I’ve spent my life pretty much control myself in public when irritations arise without notice, but it hasn’t always been such. A combination of work stresses, health conditions and dental expenses, car repairs, money concerns, traffic (Orlando, Chicago, Los Angeles) and more work stresses has at times led to a few public outbursts. People would turn their heads, giving an inquisitive stare as they checked out what the ruckus was all about. A person might have even made an unsympathetic retort.

No, I’ve never been diagnosed as having a bi-polar disorder but a long-term friend has dealt with the ailment for over a decade. In hindsight, the symptoms were always present but, as happens often, a series of traumatic events can exacerbate the condition and can lead to the extreme states of euphoria and severe depression. Medications to help balance the condition include mood stabilizers Lithium, Depakene, and Depakote. Regular liver and kidney blood tests are required to determine their function levels.

Psychiatric evaluations determine the severity of the disorder. It’s like a balancing act to identify what dosage of which drug will do the best at bringing the condition under control. A regimen of medications usually also includes alprazolam (Xanax), clonazepam (Klonopin) and other anti-depressants. It takes months, sometimes years, to evaluate the interaction of different prescription drugs.

Medications alone are seldom enough to bring the condition control. Regular visits to a psychologist are necessary to sort out situations that destabilize the patient’s mental well-being. Suicidal ideations are inclusive with the other symptoms – periods of recurrence are frequent.

People shouldn’t be presumptive of someone’s public outburst. It might just be a bad day, a troubling relationship, physical pain or any combination of life’s stresses.

Hernando County is rather unique in that nowhere else have I heard with such frequency a reference to “bipolar”. Some seem to wear the term on the sleeve. Too often, the claim turns out to be self-diagnosed and perhaps the need of sympathy, straining a friendship because random reactive rants have taken a toll.

True, some of the symptoms may be evident and valid but assuming doesn’t make it true. Insomnia, tremors, panic attacks and periods of deep depression with days on end confined to bed can all be considered evidence but these symptoms are side effects from the use of other drugs.

Take for instance the use of illegally acquired drugs. Oxy’s, Roxy’s, Perc’s and Vicodin’s and other painkillers do quite a number on a person’s awareness, moods and judgment. Chasers such as Xanax, Klonopin and alcohol take the user to different levels of incoherency.

In fact, there might actually be some validity to all those undiagnosed cases where individuals insist they are living with a bi-polar depression condition. A 1999 study published in the American Journal of Psychiatry found that 5 out of 6 “incurable” and severely depressed patients were helped with the use of Oxycodone. Perhaps the attraction to the drug has merit.

Regardless, after living nearly 6 decades, 4 states of residency, living in numerous apartments and two homes, each with diverse neighbors, I find Hernando County has the distinction of being the only place where drug abuse is prominent. It's been said to be a problem nationwide but it is only here where I have been faced with the realities of the situation. No wonder local media has cause to make it a feature presentation. No wonder there's a degree of apprehension from my choice of residency.

This is a community of retail stores galore, strip malls aplenty, vacant houses to the nth degree and, now, I conclude that the illegal use of prescription drugs lies with the fact that the population is rife with a bi-polar .

As I have accepted other contentious conditions since moving to Spring Hill, I shall, for now, also take note that it could likely be about me that someone might be saying, “He must be bi-polar”.