Richie is My Name's video: : : Bipolar Disorder: Would You Judge Me

"Would You Judge Me?" ((Richard D. Olson)) © 2019. Performed by OLE. Taken from the CD “GOD & GOMORRAH” © 2019. All Rights Reserved. [Vocal: Rik / Guitar and Arrangement: Leo de Leon / Production: David Dow (Recorded July 2019)] What is Bipolar? Bipolar Disorder is a psychiatric disorder that carries a high burden of stigma and misunderstanding. There are different faces to Bipolar. Not everyone experiences the same symptoms or shows the same signs. Regardless of age, gender, race, ethnicity, culture and socio-economic background, anybody can develop Bipolar Disorder. Bipolar Disorder is highly heritable but there are additional risk factors that are not inherited - for example a history of substance abuse and addiction; stress and anxiety; psychological trauma and physical and sexual abuse. Psychiatric comorbidities such as schizophrenia, anxiety and depression, PTSD and ADHD can also play a role in the development and expression of the illness. Bipolar Disorder follows a chronic course and has no cure. It has a high morbidity and mortality. A correct, validated diagnosis is key to ensuring a good clinical outcome and successful management which, for many sufferers, includes an individualized balance of medication, psychotherapy and lifestyle modifications (yoga, exercise, avoidance of stress and triggers, positive and goal-directed behaviors). The mainstay of treatment is to improve quality of life by preventing relapse and achieving a long term, symptom-free remission. People with Bipolar Disorder can lead normal, happy lives and be productive, contributing members of society. Mental illness is a tricky thing. We know it when we see it, but when we see it, we're unsure of and maybe even frightened by it. My family history is replete with the shame and silence of mental illness. As a boy I witnessed firsthand its randomness and cruelty. I remember mother, my uncles and cousins as bright, funny, creative, gregarious and charismatic people, yet for their good looks and seeming bright futures, all would succumb in the coming years to a life of substance abuse and addiction. How could it happen? How could a whole family be wiped out in a span of two decades? Sure, there were clues that couldn't be ignored but clues don't predict destiny. There had to have been something else, something that predisposed them to a life of poor choices and appallingly bad judgment. It was like each family member had been given his own road-map, but without knowing how to read and use a map, each predictably fell into the same pothole they were warned countless times to avoid. None of it made sense. I always imagined mental illness was a silverly, ghost-like apparition that plopped itself on our family room couch, proud as you please, grinning back at me menacingly with a "fuck-you - there’s nothing you can do to me” defiance. "What a bitch," I’d say under my breath. "That fucker never goes away." And so too it goes for mental illness. Never going away. Like a lie. Like a crime. Always getting away with murder. "Would You Judge Me?" ((Richard D. Olson)) © 2019. Performed by OLE. Taken from the CD “GOD & GOMORRAH” © 2019. All Rights Reserved. [Vocal: Rik / Guitar and Arrangement: Leo de Leon / Production: David Dow (Recorded July 2019)] Credits and acknowledgements (music): special thanks to Leo for his arrangement and David for his production; (video/digital animation): Richard D. Olson / Jacob + Katie Schwarz / cosmiccontinuum / GhoulishGallery /Josu Relax / Zach Lieberman (visual artist and programmer) and Bailey Anglin (dancer and movement artist) from the online NYT article, "Heroin Addiction Explained: How Opioids Hijack the Brain" (Shreeya Sinha and Jennifer Harlan, 2018). Background and Sources: National Institute of Mental Health, American Psychiatric Association, National Alliance on Mental Illness, JAMA, Anthony Busti, MD, PharmD. For more information on Bipolar Disorder visit the website for the National Institute of Mental Health at https://www.nimh.nih.gov.