Those with bipolar disorder need aid

[Phyllis]

Bipolar disorder is a chemical imbalance in the brain. Years ago, people with this disorder were called crazy. Today, after research, bipolar people are treatable. There is medication, but doctors and medicine are expensive. There are many people without money who continue to suffer. Some are moody, depressed and suicidal. Some commit crimes. Faced with a problem they can't solve, their mood changes completely. Without medication, they are in trouble.

A fund should be set up for those without money. The government could, but they won't.

I cannot understand why so many young people are bipolar. Is it the lack of proper food? Is it drugs -- legal and illegal? We have plenty of both.

I do not think prison is the solution for those with bipolar disorder who have committed minor crimes. Money spent on prisons would be well-spent if used to aid the person with bipolar disorder.

An article in the Dec. 22 edition of The Advocate tells of a program called LIFT, which helps those with mental problems. With Judge Branstool in charge, I'm sure they will succeed. I feel he is a very caring person to take on the job, wanting to help if he can. Six people is all he can handle, and that is only a drop in the bucket. How is he doing?

http://www.newarkadvocate.com/article/20090331/OPINION03/903310327/1014/OPINION

[Phyllis]

This was a commentary article as you can see. But, what do you think? Should a fund be set up for Bipolar individuals? If so, how would that work? Maybe all we need is SSI/SSDI ?  What about criminals with BP that have committed crimes large or small? Do you think they should be treated differently?

[Cathy]

I cannot understand why so many young people are bipolar. Is it the lack of proper food? Is it drugs -- legal and illegal? We have plenty of both.http://www.newarkadvocate.com/article/20090331/OPINION03/903310327/1014/OPINION

I never heard of Bipolar being caused by malnutrition before...isn't it almost always genetic? The reason so many young people APPEAR to be BP is because you get a lot more people faking it or being misdiagnosed these days than you used to which only hurts the cause of us genuine cases.

I think true cases of BP should have an easier time getting incapacity benefit. Currently it's very much discouraged. I don't know about an actual fund, that seems a little excessive. There's a difference between giving sick people the support they need and giving lazy people a free ride.

[Phyllis]

There's a difference between giving sick people the support they need and giving lazy people a free ride.

Amen to that!

[nordicnicki]

i have been turned down twice now for disabilty living allowance.......my local goverment just doesnt see mental illness as a real illness

[high maintenence]

I definitely do think that criminals with Bp should be treated differently, but how are we supposed to know if they really have the illness or not? I think most criminals are not in their right mind when commiting a crime, so there's just so many ways of thinking about this issue. I just know that I have done criminal things, not in my right mind, and don't think that I should be treated like all other criminals. I was in jail once for a night and two days and was treated terribly and it was for not showing up for a traffic fine court date and not paying the fine. I was so ill at the time that I didn't care about the damn ticket or showing up for court and didn't have the mind to do either. I wasn't given my meds while in there either and was going through withdrawals. Thank God for my mother getting me out quickly.

[Phyllis]

I think I have told this story before, but maybe not...

I had a friend who was EXTREMELY Bipolar. Her and her family went to Colorado for a little vacation. She went nuts and beat her husband.
(This wasn't the first time she had done this) Her husband called 911 and the police came and took her away to jail. She was there for awhile and was given no meds, but they knew she was Bipolar and on meds.

I don't understand why the jails don't give medication when mentally ill people are admitted into jail. Maybe it's because anyone can say "oh yeah I suffer from so and so and I need meds" I guess maybe if you are in there for a long peroid of time you could go to the medical department and see the psych or something? I dunno.

[high maintenence]

psych was there when I was admitted and I was told that they would give me my meds and my family brought the meds to the jail, but when I got out and picked up my meds, they were untouched by anyone in psych. They had actually sent my meds to a local pharmacy, where I picked them up. They told me that the meds had to be registered in through the pharmacy and that the pharmacy would in turn send them in dosage packets to the jail to be administered to me. I guess they didn't have time to do this, but they need to realize that I was going through med withdrawals on top of being in the damn jail which was devastating enough. My idea was that I should be in a psych ward and cared for differently than the other inmates. I don't know exactly what they can do to rectify this situation, but I definitely don't think that they should have traumatized me in the way that they did when I was only there for not showing up or paying a traffic violation when I was too sick to care. I feel that if I was disabled in some other way, they wouldn't have treated me the way that they did. They acted like it was drugs I was asking for instead of necessary meds.