MTV True Life

h2oot · #1 07-18-2002, 12:22 PM

I saw this on my TV Digest for tonight's MTV show. Like, duh....

True Life
I'm in Therapy
9:00PM-10:00PM, Thursday, Jul 18

Mr. Nude America enters therapy to understand and resolve personal conflicts.

sigmagrrl · #2 07-19-2002, 09:36 AM

OK, I found myself mesmerized by this ego maniac last night. He's all into his body, I suspect body dysmorphia or some other disordered way of thinking. He only feels good about himself when nude/stripping, cheats on his girlfriend but freaks out if he gets it in his head that she could possibly kiss someone else WHEN HE JUST HAD SEX WITH SOME OTHER WOMAN........It was just so ridiculous, yet I couldn't turn away. He is a train wreck.

DeltAlum · #3 07-19-2002, 04:40 PM

MTV True Life.

Isn't that a contradiction of terms?

AOX81 · #4 07-26-2002, 11:18 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by DeltAlum
MTV True Life.

Isn't that a contradiction of terms?

hahahaha...good one

Did you guys watch the True Life - I'm Bipolar last night? What did you think? I think that this is the only True Life show where I actually felt bad for everyone.

Eirene_DGP · #5 07-26-2002, 01:40 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by AOX81

hahahaha...good one

Did you guys watch the True Life - I'm Bipolar last night? What did you think? I think that this is the only True Life show where I actually felt bad for everyone.

Yeah I watched that, but I can't help wondering if there is nothing wrong with these "young adults" besides the lack of good parental guidance. I don't know if my parents are just old school or what, but if I hauled off and called my mom fat or told my dad he was an A$$, that would be the first and the last time.

I think more than prescription treatment, these kids need more love and discipline from their parents.

Dionysus · #6 07-26-2002, 01:40 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Eirene_DGP

Yeah I watched that, but I can't help wondering if there is nothing wrong with these "young adults" besides the lack of good parental guidance. I don't know if my parents are just old school or what, but if I hauled off and called my mom fat or told my dad he was an A$$, that would be the first and the last time. I think more than prescription treatment, these kids need more love and discipline from their parents.

Absolutely.

AOX81 · #7 07-26-2002, 02:09 PM

From what I gathered from the show most of the parents did show plenty of love and did try to discipline their children...

...one kid ended up hanging himself.

I have a sorority sister who is bipolar. One day she is happy-happy-joy-joy and then next day she can't stop crying. I know her parents and they were very supportive of her decision to start taking medication.

I used to think that people like her did things to get attention. I have known her for six years now and I know this is not the case at all.

Hootie · #8 07-26-2002, 02:44 PM

Is bi-polar a form of depression? I'm just curious.

Hootie

LeslieAGD · #9 07-26-2002, 02:50 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Hootie
Is bi-polar a form of depression? I'm just curious.

Hootie

Bipolar disorder is the medical name for manic depression. The terms may be used interchangeably.

ChiOJenn78 · #10 07-26-2002, 02:57 PM

Bi-polar is like this:
The manic phase-the person is incredibly energetic, happy, always on the go, rarely sleeps, always getting things done(projects, schoolwork, etc), heightned sexual arousal-like the energizer bunny on speed. This phase can last from minutes to hours to days-it all depends.
The depression phase: classic sympotms of depression, only magnified-when the manic phase ends, the person crashes, and they crash hard. Sleeping all the time, crying, missed school/work, stops seeing friends, won't leave the house/bed, etc. The sympotms range from person to person in severity. The length of this phase is also dependant upon the person-hours, days, etc.

Bi-polar is hard to control with meds, because first of all-you have to find the right combonation. Second-the drugs are so toxic to other organs (liver, kidneys) that you can only titrate-or increase the dosage-very slowly. Thats the frustrating part, is that it takes so long for meds to work and get the person stabelized. Plus, the person often misses the manic phases and the feelings they experienced during them.

Sorry to go on so long-Psych Nursing took over-and plus, my best friend is bi-polar, and for her it's been a long hard road.

MUPhiMuKHap · #11 07-30-2002, 01:13 AM

Hi guys! I wish I hadn't missed the bipolar episode, mainly because I myself am bipolar. All I saw was a preview with those two dorky guys and one was saying how he saw a woman on the subway talking to herself so the other guy said oh well she must have been bipolar. I wanted to throw something at my tv because that was just so....DUMB!

Anyway, I thought I'd explain a little about what bipolar disorder is, in case anyone cares. Bipolar disorder is classified in to two categories, bipolar-1 or bipolar-2. People who are bipolar fall in to one of these two categories, though they may, and most likely will experience symptoms of both sides. Bipolar-1 describes the highly manic phase, people who are manic tend to be very...overwhelming. A lot of times people who are manic or when someone like myself is in their manic phase we can talk for hours about nothing, everything gets exaggerated, we can just "go" for hours w/o letting up. Bipolar-2 describes the deep depression part of the disorder. Although I know a lot of people experience depression at one time or another, this is pretty much the same thing on a little bit of a bigger scale. I myself am bipolar-2 and speaking from experience I can just say that I would never wish this feeling even on my worst enemy. Sometimes I just get to the point where I can't stand myself and I can't think of one good reason why I even need to be alive. A lot of times I will just cry and wonder why I have to feel like this and what did I ever do to deserve feeling like this? Other times, though this hasn't been anytime recently, I would get so violent, b/c on top of being bipolar, I have a horrible temper. I never hurt anyone physically except for myself I suppose. (The only incident that really remains clearly in my mind was senior year when I dug my nails all down the sides of my face out of frusteration at myself. I think I was worried about a project or something, I don't even remember now. ) And sometimes it might be one or two little things that set me off, but it can be anywhere from seeing a pretty girl and wishing I looked like that or getting a bad grade on homework. Before I started my new medicines I felt like this on a daily basis, however now that I have new stuff, these really horrible episodes only happen maybe once a week, and the REALLY REALLY bad ones happen MAYBE once a month, which I know doesn't sound all that much better, but it really is!

Neither aspect of the disease is very pleasant and many people call the switch from the manic phase to the depression phase a "crash" and honestly that's really what it feels like. Neither phase has a specific time that it will last, however depending on whether you're bipolar-1 or bipolar-2, that's the mood which you will most often feel. My brother is bipolar-1 and he does get depressed but those phases don't last as long as his manic phases, where as mine are just switched around. My mood can change from either one of these opposities in a matter of minutes. One moment I will be very giggly and hyper and then ten minutes later I am hitting rock bottom because I feel completely and utterly worthless or just feel so down that I want to cry. It's really scary to not be able to control your own emotions sometimes. I wish I could explain these feelings exactly so yall could really know what people with this disease feel, but i realize that's not possible!

As far as medicine goes....ugh, it's incredibly complicated. I have been taking different medications since I was in the 8th grade and they get switched around all the time. Currently I'm taking over 12 pills a day for my bipolar disorder. Some of them keep me awake so I also have to take prescription sleeping pills which are very dangerous for the liver, but they are the only thing that work so that kind of sucks. After awhile you kind of get used to living with this kind of affliction but it isn't easy. A lot of people I've met think that being bipolar means you're "crazy" but it's a disease just like diabetes or something.

As for those kids on MTV who someone said they needed better parenting, etc. I can tell you for a fact that parenting has nothing to do with this disease. It is a chemical imbalance, yes love and support from your parents is very beneficial, but it's not going to control whether these kids are diagnosed with bipolar disorder or not. The disease IS a serious problem whether or not people choose to believe that, and the medicines that are used to treat the disease have many dangerous side effects, so doctors will never just throw this diagnosis out casually. I am not trying to be rude by saying that, but I just know because my parents have been WONDERFUL, but I still have this disease and my life sucks on a daily basis. (My poor parents, both my brother and I are bipolar, I don't know how they managed to stay sane.)

Ok, now that I have written a novel for yall on bipolar disorder, I am going to go to bed! I hope this helps if you didn't really understand the disease. Thanks for reading all of this!

Dionysus · #12 10-08-2003, 09:52 PM

I remember several GCers saying they take Ritalin or Adderall either for all-nighters or ADHD.

I read on another forum and I just heard that there's info in this forum too (deleted) that True Life is airing a show February exploring all sides of the uses of these drugs. I think the deadline to send in info is 10/15.

Personally, I don't think I would do a show like that, even though I think I would make a good candidate.