Analytical Thinkers and Bipolar Disorder

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Permalink Reply by Marcel Heyne on May 8, 2008 at 8:37pm

Uh, that is a good question.

My wife is a psychologist, we both developed the iPersonic test and we discussed the topic of personality types having some affinity with psychological disorders. Well, actually we are still discussing this. No results so far ... ;-)

As an AT I would say: there might possibly be some connection. Bipolar Disorders are 10 times more common among creative personalities. Cobain, Hemingway, can Gogh. You name it. What kind of personality types are more creative than others? All Thinkers and Idealists, with a focus on the introverted types: Analytical Thinker, Independent Thinker, Harmony-seeking Idealist, Dreamy Idealist. Plus the Sensible Doer.

Analytical Thinking is a creative process. You deconstruct processes and systems to build new ones. Sometimes you succeed, sometimes you fail. Sometimes your thinking gets the dynamic of an upwards spiral, sometimes it behaves like a downwards spiral. Both directions seem to work like runaway processes. There are moments when you believe that you understand virtually everything. Everything. And sometimes you cannot even understand yourself.

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Permalink Reply by Michael Halpin Jr on May 8, 2008 at 11:57pm

Bless your wife! :)

Cobain? He was from Aberdeen, WA, which is 20 miles north of where I live. His mother used to cut my hair. :)

And I do believe I possess creativity, but I've never been able to grasp onto it. I failed miserably in school, employment has almost been impossible. College wasn't an option because I knew I wouldn't have the ability to take it all in. It just takes me SO LONG to process everything. I mean, I can now look back at my high school years and think that I did learn everything I was taught, although mathematics were impossible, to this day. But back then it didn't seem like I was learning anything. It was after the fact that I picked it all up...after it "processed." Does that make sense?

I was diagnosed Manic Depressent when I was 14 and NEVER medicated. I was re-diagnosed Bipolar just two years ago and my therapist and I have yet to find meds for Bipolar Disorder that work. Abilify, Depacote, Lithium, etc. There's been about 6 different pills so far and none have worked. Lithium came the closest to working but there were so many side-effects they had to take me off of it. I currently take Wellbutrin, an anti-depressent that has given me energy that I've never possessed and has allowed me to function somewhat normally. Back when I used to Self-medicate, marijuana was a godsend. It gave me the ability to concentrate, somewhat, and it helped me sleep. Those are the two biggest irritations that I have with all this...lack of concentration and sleep deprivation. BUT, in most of the literature I have read about medical marijuana and Bipolar Disorder, it's not a good idea.

I also have Trigeminal Neuralgia (tic doloreaux). It's in remission right now, but it didn't help matters, mentally. I suffered from the pain of that for over 3 years before having the Microvascular Decompression procedure done.

Yeah, my brain has issues. :)

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Permalink Reply by Michael Halpin Jr on May 8, 2008 at 11:25pm

I don't have many Highs...I cycle from Middle to Low. Lows for me are not having the ability, quite literally, to get out of bed for days on end. Concentrating is extremely difficult, processing information takes me about 10 seconds longer then everyone else. I have the "racing thoughts" which is exactly that. They're random and nothing in particular, like a tornado of thoughts. My brain seems to never shut down and always seems to be in fast mode. One might think that would be a "high" mania, but it's internal and not acted out, if that makes sense. I don't sleep unless I take a pill and play music extremely loud. The music acts like a thought blocker, thus allowing me to "shut down." Explaining things is very hard. I've actually been sitting here trying to explain this for almost an hour! Not because it's hard to explain but because it is difficult for me to transmit data from my brain to my mouth or to my typing fingers. :) The only time I'm not able to control myself is when I'm in an extreme low and it feels physically impossible for me to move...it's really quite strange.

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Permalink Reply by Marcel Heyne on May 9, 2008 at 4:28pm

Oh, I know those "racing thoughts". This really seems to be an AT thing. Gabriel wrote in the "books" section here in the group "unfortunately I can't stay sufficiently focused, usually resulting in about ten unfinished books lying around..."

Same happens to me. It's like a brainy version of ADD. It seems as if it's a challenge for any AT to handle this ...

Have you tried Yoga or Meditation? The latter might come a bit soon, you might try Yoga first. Both techniques have basically been developed to blend those "racing thoughts" out. Meditation gave me a lot. I think it is important to feel that you can master that continuous flow of thoughts.

"Flow" by the way is another good point. Are you familiar with the Flow concept of Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi? Once you turn the flow of thoughts into Flow everything seems possible ... ;-)

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Permalink Reply by Michael Halpin Jr on May 11, 2008 at 8:05pm

Meditation and Yoga? Have tried both and my therapist thinks it would be better to wait and try again once I'm on a successful Bipolar medication...I can't sit still long enough for yoga and meditation requires the concentration that I lack. I've even tried Hypnotherapy, but again, my brain doesn't "shut down" enough to reach a hypnotic state. Some day! :) I'll look into the FLOW concept. Danke.

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Permalink Reply by Marcel Heyne on May 11, 2008 at 8:19pm

My wife just mentioned that progressive muscle relaxation might be another alternative. Here's a link. You will find CD's with the corresponding instructions on Amazon. Might be worth a try.

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Permalink Reply by Deep Thought42 on May 18, 2008 at 8:39pm

There was an interesting article in Scientific American Mind April/May 2008 about prenatal and postnatal infections of certain types correlating to specific psych disorders. Bipolar has been linked to herpes infection and T gondii infection.

As per the specific personality types, I am a bit leery of this connection. I am an RN on a general medical floor and I have met many people with bipolar disorder and they run the gamut in terms of personality.

Deep Thought42

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Permalink Reply by Michael Halpin Jr on May 18, 2008 at 9:16pm

And because those who have Bipolar Disorder, "run the gamut," I think that's why it is often difficult to diagnose and why it is often MIS-diagnosed.
Misdiagnoses...story of my life! :) Took three years for a physician to diagnose my Trigeminal Neuralgia because, historically, it only affected older women. I was diagnosed with several other things before that.
There were a few different "personalities" in the test that I could have possibly fallen under. There were many "AT choices" that had nothing to do with me, but I had to look at the majority that DID relate to me and AT was that majority. However, I could take the test again in 6 months and end up with a completely different personality type. I'm forever evolving! :)

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Permalink Reply by Deep Thought42 on May 20, 2008 at 6:51am

Actually, there is one thing that I see with Bipolar disorder. The ones that I see enjoy their Manic phases so they don't take their meds. They end up on my floor because of the hard living their manic phases put them through. They are not on my floor because of the bipolar disorder per say, but because of the things they have done over the years during their manic phases. Their bodies are just wrecks. Their recklessness during their manic phases often gets them assaulted and into drugs and alcohol.

I am glad that you trying to get control of this because I have seen the end game and it is not pretty.

By the way, my own feeling is that ATs tend to be depressive people more than anything else.

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Permalink Reply by forensiclove on February 11, 2009 at 8:52am

i'm bipolar since 13, 32 now and an analytical thinker. what are the similarities????? As i've grown older, i don't allow stress to destroy what i've built up so my existence, i have always been "deep" and "sensitive" i even cried at Operah and Dr.Phil today, but i just got out of an engagement that ended when he choked me repeadly, and if he quit drinking i said i would take him back, and no show for court, he declined. i was't worth the sarcifice of booze. he said he wouldn't drink "when i'm around you" "BUT..."So i didn't think much of myself did I? Dr.Phil said the kids that get th most depressed are either the most severely controlled and the one's with no parental control like mine. they just thought i'd always be "psycho" and gave me no boundaries or standards. i overcame the deprssion fo ix years, i was a god step-mother, i'm in school for Alternative healing, Yoga, meditation, healthy eating, art, ect. i have never heard of the connection....please tell me more thank-you,

forensic-love
aka
Keri
xo

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