Youtube Video Review: ‘Cutiepieforeverc’
Highly Recommended Resource.
Main topic: Bipolar.
Another brave testimony by a young US American lady. In 16 minutes, ‘Cutiepieforeverc’ describes her experience of bipolar disorder. Her first clear problems came when she went to college (away from home). In common with many people who receive a bipolar diagnosis, her first symptoms were lack of sleep (something it appears that she had always faced to some extent). This led to a period of 2-3 weeks where she hardly slept and indeed felt very little need to sleep*. During this period she engaged in a variety of ‘reckless’ behaviour including shopping sprees and late night runs (from which she was regularly picked up by the police). It appears that she did not seek help at this point, this had to wait until the ensuing depression, which lasted around 6 months, led to her getting to ‘breaking point’ and contacting her mother, leading to her hospitalisation. Although I don’t have research evidence to support this more generally, many of the young people I have worked with (or done research with) have experienced their first serious problems at college/university, and often in the first year.
‘Cutiepie’ details her hospitalisation as ‘the most horrific experience of my entire life’, which is not an uncommon description, even from those who believed that they needed to go to hospital. She worked out that in order to get out of hospital, she could lie and cover up her depressive symptoms (that hospital may have made worse), which worked. Again many people will recognise this catch 22 situation, of being stuck in a hospital that does not seem to be working for them, and needing to pretend that all is fine to leave the hospital. She then goes on to discuss her journey to find a medication treatment that worked for her. At the point the video was made, she describes feeling very settled and content with her life and medication. She ends the video with some advice for people going through similar experiences:
- Don’t ever settle for a medication that does not feel right and does not make you feel right.
- Don’t ever settle for a doctor that does not want the absolute best for you.
Excellent Advice! In my opinion, health professions should absolutely encourage their clients/patients to take control of their own treatment and encourage them to seek out (with guidance), what works best for them.
Overall, this video was a very clear and concise description of one young person’s experience of bipolar disorder. ‘Cutiepie’, describes experiences that many people with a diagnosis of bipolar disorder or similar will be able to relate to, and as such this video would make an excellent resource for therapy groups or interested individuals.
*Sleep abnormalities are becoming one of the most convincing traits linked to bipolar disorder diagnoses, and emerging evidence suggests that early sleep problems may be a risk factor for the development of later mood disorder symptoms. When I get time, I will try and provide some links to the latest research.