The New York Times (12/28, A17, Carey, Subscription Publication) (12/29, A17, Carey) reports “the actress and author Carrie Fisher brought the subject of bipolar disorder [BD] into the popular culture with such humor and hard-boiled detail that her death on Tuesday triggered a wave of affection on social media and elsewhere, from both fans and fellow bipolar travelers.” Diagnosed with BD at age 24, Fisher often spoke “about her lifelong struggles with both addiction and bipolar disorder and her desire to erase the stigma of mental illness.” Partly due to Fisher’s “example, the language of bipolar and mental disorders has swept into the shared popular culture.” During Fisher’s lifetime, “the definition” of BD expanded, and “by the 2000s, doctors were diagnosing the condition in groups of people who had never been identified before, mostly young children.” In the article, the Times points out, “The American Psychiatric Association’s latest diagnostic manual discourages applying the label” of BD “to young children.”
Related Links:
— “Carrie Fisher Put Pen and Voice in Service of ‘Bipolar Pride’,”Benedict Carey, The New York Times, December 28, 2016.