Next to Normal and its depiction of bipolar disorder. — Page 2

This is very interesting... I'm really looking forward to seeing it. When I found out about it (and it played at Arena Stage before Broadway where my family had season tickets growing up!) I was so excited. I'm hoping that it helps destigmatize mental illness.

I am being neither disingenuous or melodramatic. I felt I was watching a Lifetime movie set to music while I was in the theatre. I didn't care for the production and thought it highly over rated. Yes there were parts that were spot on others that were overly simplified. One person's sophistication is another's made for TV movie.

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I will say that it was the music that first drew me to the show, that Kitt and Yorkie were able to write a song that would fit well in the context of the story and make sense. But, at the same time can just stand alone as a great song.

But, as I have said earlier I do have mood issues, something similar to bipolar. But, my doctor is one that isn't quick to place a label on something.

In any event, when I saw the show the first time, I connected to it right away. I looked at the characters and saw my family through them. I was able to see one character and say "that's my mom" or "those are my two brothers." It really hit home. I was worried that they were going to take a serious topic and sugarcoat it. But, I am glad that they didn't do that. I think that they handled it very well.

Furthermore, I think that there is a big difference between saying what is accurate on a topic (in this case mental illness) because you worked on it and learned about it in a classroom verses being a person who is impacted by it and has to live with it on a daily basis. Sure, there are people who talk about how they know because they have a brother or family member who has one. But, still there is a difference between having one and living with someone who does.

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Those of us who learn about mental illness in a classroom though have to be able to recognize it in everyday life and differentiate between numerous diagnoses that could all fit the person's symptoms. A good part of this is based off only a 60 or 90 minute interview with the person, plus various other assessments.

Also, much of what we learn is based off of research with large sample sizes, as opposed to one person or a few people.

Edit: Not that I'm saying either type of insight is better--they're just different, and IMO equally valuable.

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Updated On: 7/8/10 at 12:42 PM

For the record, I'm a clinical social worker, so I own my bias.

I think N2N is a very solid depiction of mental health issues and how they impact a family system. I believe they do very well under the constraints of trying to entertain, be under 3 hours, etc.

Actually, I walked away from the show thinking it was a show about grief and loss issues and not really about bi-polar disorder at all. I kind of felt like "bi-polar" which is in all the press notes and materials about the musical is really more of a smoke screen than truly what Diana suffers from.

Diana presents as a puzzle that gets labeled as bi-polar with delusions. The complex truth is that she misses her son and everything she knew, including herself and her husband, that changed after his death.

She probably has manic episodes as evidenced in the opening number with the sandwiches, but I really love the line where she sings, "what happens if the cut, the burn, the break, was never in my brain or blood, but in my soul." That spoke volumes to me about her journey. She was rushed out of her grief by a type-A husband who quickly got her pregnant and tried to erase her grief. The implications from that are huge.

So I really see it as a show about grief and loss more than anything else.

I also like the theories I have heard that since Gabe died as a baby his incarnation is Dan at the age when Gabe died, making the end more poignant as Dan makes peace with his younger self that tried to brush over the past without grieving it.

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Carrie Fisher kind of took issue with the way electro-shock therapy is depicted in the show when she was on Rosie's Sirius show recently. She said that the way they do it now is much less invasive. I don't think she said that she disliked the show, though.

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Why does winston think he knows more about bipolar disorder- which he admits he doesn't even have- than medical professionals who learned about it in a classroom?

The world may never know.

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For me, Next to Normal hit very very close to home. My family has lost a child and another brother of mine has suffered with pretty severe mental illness for about 8 years now. He has been prescribed almost every medication listed in "My Psychopharmacologist and I" and a lot of things Diana said about her state of mind are very similar to things I've heard him say.

The problem with asking "is N2N true to real life?" is that, every person and every situation is different. That's why treating it can be such a battle. What is true for one isn't true for all.

I could talk about the show forever, but overall...I really enjoyed that mental illness wasn't just a gimmick again. It was the punchline of a joke or a ridiculous dues-ex-machina to wrap the plot up. It was an integral part of a deeply moving story.

SPOILER


One HUGE criticism I do have for the show is the way it ends with Diana running away. SO many people think they can just run away from their problems. It's a bad message to send. The same goes for her taking herself off medication.

That's a huge problem in the bi-polar community...people take meds, they start feeling better, they stop taking meds because they feel so good, they get worse and become angry/depressed. And this goes on for years and years and the anger/depression gets worse every time. The endless cycle of ups and downs leads to anger, frustration, and even suicide. My brother has very nearly attempted suicide twice because his life is an endless battle against his own mind.

It makes for a very heroic ending..."All I need is me and my inner strength" and all, but it glorifies unhealthy and self-destructive and behavior.

Radioactive, I don't view the ending as happy or even one with closure, but it is real and doesn't neatly tie things up-yet another reason I think people respect the musical. I also don't think Diana is viewed as a hero. She clearly tells her daughter, "Im dancing with death, I suppose. But really who knows?"

She may very well take her life or even go back on meds, but what she is doing is removing herself from a family system where other people were putting their lives on hold to take care of her. In essence, she is assuming complete control over her decisions and putting an end to the guilt and pressure put on her to "be well for others". She is taking excuses away from her husband and daughter.

So from my perspective, she is actually facing her problems. Her family was avoiding their lives and issues by distracting themselves with her. in an interesting twist, I kind of feel like Dan and Natalie are the protagonists and Diana is more of a supporting character that propels them forward by the end.

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I didn't address it to you, silly, because I knew I'd get precisely the kind of passive-aggressive non-answer like the one you just gave. I realize, at long last, that you will think everything I post is a viscous attack on you and I will think that everything you post is written by someone not dealing in reality. Alas, neither one of us will really ever know if we're right. I think an informal BWW straw poll would be inconclusive.

But really, I didn't call anyone's opinions on this musical disingenuous or melodramatic, so who is really the one looking to fight in the thread? I know people say this to you all the time, but you clearly don't take it to hear (and coming from me isn't gonna make it any more palatable), but I just can't believe you truly don't realize how you come across on here a good lot of the time. How someone of your intelligence can have such a block when it comes to self-awareness is rather staggering.

Obsessions can be detrimental to one's physical and mental health.

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Updated On: 7/14/10 at 10:56 PM