NEXT TO NORMAL Revisited - Some Spoilers — Page 2

See, I took the vast changes (from deadpan to swiping plates, to steal RentBoy's example) that Diana was probably bipolar, and that PTSD had only worsened her condition. I think a few times Dan mentioned that she was always "wild," but he just thought she was free spirited.

And, here's the weird part for me: I kind of love her voice. Like, I know TECHNICALLY it ain't what it used to be and a little weird, but I'm obsessed with it. Is that just my strange obsession?

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Lack of mania doesn't mean emotional numbness, though. She could just miss the mania without going from one extreme to another.

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Maybe she interpreted her lack of extremes as emotional numbness. She never actually uses those exact words, either. Her exact words are, "I don't feel like myself. I mean, I don't feel anything." Since that line comes from Diana and not some third party narrator, it's obvious that it's solely Diana's perspective, and from her perspective, I think it's quite possible that what she's feeling IS 'nothing' compared to the extremes of bipolar disorder. With that being the case, it certainly makes sense for her to say she doesn't feel like herself after her life has been defined by the highs and lows for so many years.

Yeah, I guess that's another question: is she actually experiencing emotional numbness or is it simply the absence of depression/mania?

Edit: Screw it, I'm just gonna keep calling it that until I'm not lazy enough to look up the term in my psychopharm textbook.

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Updated On: 4/12/09 at 02:13 AM

SHE ********* SAYS THAT SHE DOESN'T FEEL ANYTHING.

What about her being emotionally numb are you people not getting?

It's become clear that the detractors of this show will stoop the level of making something up while bashing the show.

Yeah, I guess that's another question: is she actually experiencing emotional numbness or is it simply the absence of depression/mania?

She says she doesn't feel anything. How could you not interpret that as emotional numbness?

My point was the manner in which they are executed. She seems TOTALLY crazy when she says "But my husband is waiting in the car."

That whole sequence is a delusion. She's supposed to appear crazy.

Obviously she has some sort of mental illness or something. That's obvious. And then the thrashing of the plates seems a bit...much?

Why is that a bit much? She's angry.

Okay, okay, it's emotional numbness. No need to "scream" at me! I was possibly agreeing with someone who was defending the show, not bashing it. Good Lord.

I'm honestly more annoyed with the portrayal of talk therapy than anything, to be honest. I mean, from what I heard in the cast recording.

kidmanboy: But, given that everything Diana tries ends up having horrible and even rare side effects, I think it's not unreasonable to infer that the writers maybe don't have the strongest faith in these treatments.

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Updated On: 4/12/09 at 11:03 AM

Yeah, but what I heard wasn't good, I mean.

Fair enough, though. Sorry, please understand that usually I'm not like this: it's just so hard for me to not debate something that's such an issue in the field, and I don't know if I'll ever be able to see the show on stage.

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"Fair enough, though. Sorry, please understand that usually I'm not like this: it's just so hard for me to not debate something that's such an issue in the field, and I don't know if I'll ever be able to see the show on stage."

That's understandable, since you clearly have a personal investment in the topics portrayed.

For what it's worth, I went into the show completely in the dark the mental health topics it portrays, and walked out feeling that the show presented both positive and negative attributes of treatments in a good way. I did not walk out feeling that the show was anti-medication, anti-ECT, etc. etc. It was the story of one family's case. Is this case more extreme than the overwhelming majority? Yes and that is obvious. But, frankly, to me and the majority of the audience, it was extremely compelling.


I came out of the show curious about the topics presented and have been trying to educate myself on them.

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Because adam, that would require her to actually know what she's talking about. And its easier to just bash the show when you're ignorant of the facts.

I am someone who has experience with a psychopharmocologist. I have one and I just like in the show I had to go through more then one two find the right one for me. I have experience with talk therapy etc. I think that what is good for me personally is that the people that I have worked with realize that it is possible for someone to have symptoms that are a mix and match of other things and that more often then not people don't fit into these diagnoses that are already out there. That you can treat the symptoms without having to have an official diagnoses and fix the problem that way. This is all what is going on and what I have learned via personal experience rather then just reading a book or anything like that.

That being said, I found it easy to believe that they were treating symptoms with Diana's case rather then trying to figure out what she has. It didn't bother me that they didn't name what it was that she had because at least with me and my personal experience that information at times doesn't matter. As for the whole ECT story line, I also have learned that you can use different treatments and meds that might be, for the most part, used for one thing, and be able to use them for something else. For example, I take Klonopin but not for the traditional reasons that one might use it for. I have tourette's and while that might not be the main reason one would take Klonopin, but it still works for me. Therefor I can see the logic in them suggesting ECT without knowing exactly what she has.

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Commenting on the amount of memory loss diana has is bad because she hasn't seen the show? What, does the show have a sequence at the end that shows that the loss of memory was a bad dream? It's not like she's commenting on character development here!!!!

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Ok, sorry, I just have to jump in here real quick:

"Bottom line is, if Next to Normal were about stomach ilness... this is what it would look like:

Diana has a stomach ache

The Doctor gives her stomach pills

The pills take away the pain but make her feel like she has no stomach

Diana misses having a stomach

All the other alternative treatments make her feel like she has no stomach

All her other treatments give her the worst possible symptoms.

-Sorry, but that doesn't happen-"


The thing is, I think that when you're dealing with mental and emotional issues, it's not that clear cut. With something like a stomach ache, obviously no one likes to feel sick to their stomach. It's a very simple matter where you do whatever needs to be done to get rid of the stomach ache, and that's that. With bipolar disorder, I DO absolutely believe that certain medications can make a person feel numb. I mean, remember, we're talking about a condition where you get the highs as well as the lows. A person with bipolar disorder has very extreme emotions, and although sometimes those emotions can be terrible, sometimes they are wonderful as well. So when you take away those huge mood swings, I don't doubt at all that it can make a person feel very strange. Yes, technically it may be balanced and healthier, but when you're used to feeling very extreme emotions and then suddenly you don't, it can probably feel, well, numbing.

Don't get me wrong, I DO completely understand what you guys are saying that medication tends to be a saving grace, and it's not something that people should be afraid to try. But I just think that... for some people, it can have that effect. And that's not to say that they should just give up on medication if it does have that effect. I Diana's particular case, she does, but that's just Diana's case, and the show doesn't really suggest that it's the right choice for her to have made. It's simply the decision she herself makes under those particular circumstances.


I'm getting completely rambly here, but basically my point is just that, to compare this to a simple stomach ache seems rather off to me. I don't think the two are comparable. How a person feels emotionally is too complicated to try and simplify it so much, you know? It's not a straight forward, easily curable physical ailment. It's a very imperfect science.

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