Today, news outlets reported that Catherine Zeta-Jones’ publicist revealed that the actress was recently admitted to a residential treatment center in Connecticut for treatment of Bipolar II Disorder.  The publicist announced in a statement, “After dealing with the stress of the past year, Catherine made the decision to check in to a mental health facility for a brief stay to treat her Bipolar II Disorder.” 

So what is Bipolar Disorder?  Often times (e.g., in Katy Perry’s song “Hot N Cold”), the term “bipolar” is thrown around to mean quick mood swings, changing one’s mind frequently, or acting erratically.  Medical professionals instead use the term to describe a specific subset of mood disorders.  Bipolar Disorder is classically divided into two subtypes: Bipolar I Disorder (formerly called Manic-Depressive Disorder) and Bipolar II Disorder.

A diagnosis of Bipolar I Disorder requires the presence of a Manic Episode.  Characteristic symptoms of a Manic Episode include a decreased need for sleep, inflated self-esteem or grandiosity, pressured (rapid) speech, flight of ideas (very loosely connected ideas) or racing thoughts, distractibility, increase in goal directed activity, and excessive involvement in (more…)

With the release of Black Swan on DVD today, many have focused on the controversy surrounding how much dancing Natalie Portman actually did in the film.  Rather than focus on how many pirouettes Ms. Portman performed, we reflect on the portrayal of mental health matters in the movie.  For those who have not seen it, Black Swan is a powerful film that offers a dark and complex look at mental illness, blurring the lines between the real and unreal.

In Black Swan, Natalie Portman plays Nina, a young ballerina whose stress level swells under the pressure to perform.  She ultimately experiences what is known as a “first-break” psychosis, or “first episode psychosis.”  “Psychosis” refers to experiencing a break from reality.  Psychotic symptoms can include auditory hallucinations (hearing voices or noises that are not actually present), visual hallucinations (seeing things that are not truly present), disorganized speech (speech that is very loosely associated or incoherent), grossly disorganized behavior, or negative symptoms (a flattening of one’s range of emotions, very little speech, and very limited desire to do anything). (more…)