Some psychiatrists would prefer to classify it as a mixed state. 2 While 12% to 24% of patients with bipolar disorder experience rapid cycling (a total of 4 or more mood episodes in a year), ultradian is characterized by multiple episodes in a day. Ultradian can be difficult to recognize, even for psychiatrists, and it can be a controversial diagnosis to make. Pluses and minuses aside, it is heartening to think that viewers will see and sympathize with Lexi’s condition. Unfortunately, many patients will not be able to relate. She is super productive and euphoric with no impairment or mixed symptoms. Lexi’s mania, however, looks as glamorous as a Hollywood movie. Crumpled on her bathroom floor in tears, hopeless and terrified, Lexi is a realistic portrayal of many patients’ experiences. Hathaway’s portrayal of Lexi’s depression makes you feel empathetic. As a portrayal of bipolar disorder, the episode has its strong and weak points. Lexi almost had no baseline or a euthymic phase. What was unique was the portrayal of a high-functioning lawyer with ultra-ultra rapid cycling (ultradian) bipolar disorder, an uncommon diagnosis for even psychiatrists to make or witness. The episode illustrated how the stigma of mental illness keeps people from getting the help they need. She needs to give everyone a chance to know the real her. When Jeff walks away, she decides that things need to change. However, by the time he arrives that night, she has flipped again, going from dancing around her apartment to sobbing uncontrollably on the bathroom floor. While she does manage to wake herself up for the date, she appears slow, dysphoric, withdrawn, and unkempt, making Jeff wonder if she has a twin.Ī few mornings later, she wakes up, euphoric again, to the sound of birds chirping and calls Jeff for another date. As soon as Lexi reaches home, she abruptly sinks into depression and curls up in a fetal position, almost catatonic in her bed. The scene breaks into a flash mob dance reminiscent of the movie La La Land. She is instantly drawn to a man named Jeff and lands herself a date with him that week. She sports loud makeup, sequins, and bright clothes. The episode starts with Lexi (Hathaway) during her manic high at a supermarket. In the television series, Terri is played by Anna Hathaway, the Oscar-winning actress who takes you through the roller coaster of bipolar highs and lows. 1 Then an entertainment lawyer, Terri wrote about her struggles with ultradian bipolar disorder, revealing how she hid her condition from her friends before ultimately going public. The episode that struck me was “Take Me As I Am, Whoever I Am,” based on the essay written by Terri Cheney in 2008. I had been an avid reader of this section, where individuals reflect on the intricate nature of human relationships. When Amazon Prime decided to stream selected stories from the “Modern Love” column of The New York Times, I was excited.
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