Dateline with Jane Pauley

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Registered: 03-26-2003
Dateline with Jane Pauley
11
Wed, 09-01-2004 - 10:31pm

I just watched the Jane Pauley interview.

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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-20-2003
Wed, 09-01-2004 - 11:11pm

I saw it, I thought she did a great job talking about things and her expresiveness was right on.

~The Worlds A Roller Coaster And I Am Not 

  Strapped In. 

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-01-2004
Thu, 09-02-2004 - 9:30am
You bet, I even passed up a chance to go to Michael's & Hobby Lobby, so I'd be home in time! I was impressed by how open she was about what happened, though I missed the details about her father other than he had a drinking problem (DD insisted on talking to me--it happens so rarely I had to listen, she refused to watch!), but I gather there might have been some BP history there. It made me feel better that while she was still contending the steriods precipitated the BP, she did see a pattern previously, just not so wild. I still love the line from her show--that she came forward so everyone would feel "safe to be sick".

Hopefully, her coming forward will help get this out of the closet and understood for the illness, it really is!

Marci

Avatar for kdvaleski
iVillage Member
Registered: 04-10-2004
Thu, 09-02-2004 - 12:25pm
I was really disappointed! Our local TV listing had the Dateline special on at 10:00, so when I turned to the channel at about ten minutes before I just caught the tail end. I had wanted to see that! Darn cable company...

Kristen

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Registered: 07-18-2003
Thu, 09-02-2004 - 12:51pm
I saw it too. I'm still confused as to how steroids caused bipolar....I understood the part where she said taking the anti-depressants (which she had to take because the steroids made her depressed, I think) made her hypomanic (been there, done that!)....but the AD's couldn't have caused the BP....so how the heck did the steroids do it? I have never heard of that before.

I thought her descriptions of hypomania were right on, too - she kept talking about being "revved up" and just having a lot of ideas, and how most people would see that as a person just being "more on".....I can totally relate to that, too. I was glad to hear her mention the extreme irritability and episodes of anger, too - I think a lot of people who haven't experienced BP don't understand it's not all euphoria and good energy.

I also thought that the whole hives thing was interesting - it sounds like she really believes that emotional stress was what kept triggering the hives, and I'd be willing to bet that, too....The body does funny things when it's stressed. It's too bad that her doctor put her on steroids when she came to him with her problems with hives, rather than looking at all the episodes and trying to address the cause, rather than just treating the symptoms.

Ok, I'm done rambling...

Jessica

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Registered: 04-09-2004
Thu, 09-02-2004 - 3:20pm
OK--I had a really hard time believing the whole "medication induced bipolar" but the Houston Chronicle had this link in it today....maybe it really is possible. Amanda

http://www.mental-health-today.com/bp/bi1.htm

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Fri, 09-03-2004 - 8:00pm

Is this the reference?


"Associated physical examination finding and general medication conditions. An age at onset for a first Manic Episode after age 40 year should alert the clinician to the possibility that the symptoms may be due to a general medical condition or substance use. There is some evidence that untreated thyroid disease worsens the prognosis of bipolar I Disorder."

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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-25-2003
Sun, 09-05-2004 - 3:32pm
Made sure to watch it...

I was a bit disappointed. Let me first say that I am pleased that Jane Pauley has decided to open up about her illness. I don't believe that this story was written for television or organized in a very helpful matter for anyone other than Jane just telling a rather disjointed story that became incredibly confusing when they revealed...the BIG secret! Her father's alchoholism (and his possibly using Alchohol to self-medicate) -- could have been left out and not effected the story much.

Being BP, I understood her progression and what they were trying to express, but to a "normie," I really think that this would be a fustrating story to watch and confusing. My DH was totally lost. There were holes in the episodes and connecting the dots was not done very well. They really should have had a third person, an articulate medical person, perhaps, to "translate" in more plain-speak Janes's explainations. The fact that her co-workers were more or less clueless for years, is not necessarily the average experience. Most of us cannot necessarily relate to buying houses on the internet but have run up credit cards or bounced checks on spending sprees, or started up odd-type businesses that we were sure would make a million, found themselves married to a virtual stranger...well...you get the idea.

Another place this story fell apart was that it served mostly Ms. Pauley herself. It left out most common symptoms for people who may not be successful, high-powered, wealthy, individuals who have staff who take care of their messes when they are not functioning very well and have a good support system to help mask their illness. It did not speak to the lower or middle-class individuals with the common responsibilities in life who bounce checks, end up in jail, or worse, and whose lives and families lives become decimated by the havoc that is results when the symptoms have carte blanche on their lives.

Hopefully, when Jane Pauley further sheds light on this in her new show, it will also show members of society at all levels and how their episodes most commonly can be experienced by themselves and the world - AND INVENT BETTER MORE EFFECTIVE WAYS TO IDENTIFY AND HELP THEM!

Kudos to the line "safe to be sick"! Love it! BP and other mental disorders give no one a reason to feel safe and everyone has the right to feel safe in this world. Danger is a prime trigger of symptoms and everything concerning "safety" is the most important issue to be monitored in mental illness in my opinion.

Anyone read Carrie Fisher's "The Best Awful"? Loved that so much!

Also, Meridith Viera's husband has had many, many, issues with depression and other health problems and wrote a very good book about coping. Forget the name, but it wouldn't be difficult to find.

loo

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-01-2004
Sun, 09-05-2004 - 7:47pm

Loo,

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-06-2004
Mon, 09-06-2004 - 4:17am
I saw it, I am beginning to think I suffer from this also. Does anyone know what hives have to do with it? I've had problems with them for years.
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Mon, 09-06-2004 - 9:37am
Hi, nice to "meet" you...as far as I know, I think that the treatment for the hives (high doses of steroids), not the hives themselves, was blamed for triggering her bipolar disorder.

I didn't get to watch the show myself, but I'm interested in what she had to say...there wouldn't happen to be a transcript or summary of it online anywhere, would there?

Thanks, hope you all have a good Labor Day,

Rose

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