What famous characters could be described as bipolar?

[MadonnaMusical]

Posted: 8/11/11 at 3:16am

Saw Follies and after hearing that the character of Sally spent days in bed, cried for no reason, camped out at the doors of her son's houses... it made me realize that Sally was bipolar. Bipolar disorder really just came to light in the last 25 years or so... it made me wonder...

What other famous characters in theatre or opera were really just bipolar.... maybe could have used some Prozac?

I'll start...... BAAL, from Brecht's play, BAAL.

[hairspraydude1962]

Posted: 8/11/11 at 4:09am

Diana in Next to Normal

[dramamama611]

Posted: 8/11/11 at 7:27am

Those things don't point specifically at bi-polar. They do point at severe clinical depression, however.

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 8/11/11 at 7:47am

Actually, OP, manic depression was far from an unknown condition in the 1970s.

Although I'm not entirely sure Sally fits the profile of a bipolar individual. I tend to agree with dramamama Do we ever see or hear of her being manic?

Don Quixote may have been bipolar; arguably he was manic although more likely simply delusional. Still, his violent behavior and the fact that he didn't exhibit any delusional symptoms until his 50s are also interesting features. His retiring qualities and his condition of gentlemanly repose in his non-manic stages perhaps suggest that he experienced depression, but that may well be a huge leap.

Then again, neither Cervantes nor Goldman wrote lifetime television movies. They were not intending to create characters who represented clear psychological syndromes. Instead they simply imagined people and gave them certain behaviors and qualities without regard to them fitting a profile.

Having said that, I find your question intriguing and not to be an invalid one. In fact, there would seem to be relatively few characters in literature one can readily identify who exhibited both mania and depression. Perhaps Goethe's Werther and some other characters who fall in love and can't cope with their not being lucky at it, but I doubt it. Usually their romantic longings are consistent with non-manic erotic awakenings rather than hysterical ones.

Then there is Madame Bovary. Quite possibly manic in her spendaholism and clearly capable of depression, though in her case the depression is arguably situational - though her life wasn't all that bad, she felt it was and not irrationally - rather than organic.
Updated On: 8/11/11 at 07:47 AM

[chewy5000]

Posted: 8/11/11 at 8:37am

She's just a crazy

[addamsfamily#1fan]

Posted: 8/11/11 at 8:55am

Princess Fiona in Shrek is a little bit.

[showchoirguy]

Posted: 8/11/11 at 9:15am

Candella from Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown. Mostly in Model Behavior.

[givesmevoice]

Posted: 8/11/11 at 9:27am

No, she's just flighty. I might be wrong, but it was my understanding that manic and depressive episodes last longer than the period of time covered in that song.


An interesting topic, but I'm always leery of diagnosing fictional or historic characters with a mental disorder.

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 8/11/11 at 10:04am

I agree with givesmevoice. Let's diagnose BWW board members instead.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 8/11/11 at 10:06am

I LOVE THAT! ^

[D2]

Posted: 8/11/11 at 10:08am

^^another in a long list of reasons why I love Reg^^

[showchoirguy]

Posted: 8/11/11 at 10:10am

^another post that made my day :)

[givesmevoice]

Posted: 8/11/11 at 10:13am

Reg, but why limit it to bipolar disorder? Let's diagnose BWW board members with anything on the DSM-IV.

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 8/11/11 at 10:48am

Re: Bipolar I, a manic episode has to last for one week unless the person in question is hospitalized. But Mood Disorder NOS or Cyclothymia are possible diagnoses if a person exhibits mood disturbance and does not meet the duration criteria.

Can you tell I'm currently studying for my psychopathology qualifying exam? Haha.

Updated On: 8/11/11 at 10:48 AM

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 8/11/11 at 10:53am

As a clinician, I think its quite impossible to diagnose (rather than describe) a stage character as bi-polar unless the character self-identifies as such. bi-polar disorders take sometimes months or even a year to accurately characterize and even then it can be an ill-fitting label.

I actually don't think Diana was bi-polar. She was given that diagnosis at the beginning of the show, but it is clear by the end, she was a woman crippled by grief who then had her brain chemistry and body tampered with with medications and shock treatments. I think the show is pretty damning of labels and most clinicians hate diagnosis and labels and only dole them out so insurances will pay for treatment. Most therapists just look at the person and help them cope with their collection of symptoms.

Sally doesn't strike me as bi-polar either. Depressed, yes.

Candela would most likely be histrionic, not bi-polar

[showchoirguy]

Posted: 8/11/11 at 11:04am

Thank you for the detailed analysis BettyBoy Helps me understand a few of the characters :)

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 8/11/11 at 11:21am

I agree that Diana doesn't necessarily have bipolar disorder, but I think that she warrants some type of mood disorder diagnosis. Her reaction to her son's death was far beyond bereavement or an adjustment disorder. However, we don't know enough about her history of depressive or manic episodes to determine which one would be the most appropriate.

[givesmevoice]

Posted: 8/11/11 at 11:23am

Having only seen the show once, how soon after Gabe's death did she have Natalie?

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 8/11/11 at 12:23pm

Do we ever see or hear of her being manic?

Certainly not as played by Bernadette Peters.

[tazber]

Posted: 8/11/11 at 1:11pm

It strikes me as weird to discuss a fictional character's psyche as if they had one outside of what the author provides.

But since we are, the ultimate bi-polar character is Tevye.

"One the one hand....but on the other hand..."

One man's indecision is another man's bi-polar.


And what about soliloquies? Does that qualify as talking to oneself? Because if so, then most of the characters I know from musicals are schizo.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 8/11/11 at 1:22pm

Stop talking about me, you guys.

[tazber]

Posted: 8/11/11 at 1:33pm

Can you hear our voices in your head, Matt?

I know you can....

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 8/11/11 at 1:51pm

With the caveat, of course, that diagnosing fictional characters is obviously a mere lark, Gena Rowlands' Mabel in "Woman Under the Influence" and Myrtle in "Opening Night" suggest signs of both mania and depression. In any event, Rowlands is brilliant in both roles.

Then there's Augustin Burroughs' mother in "Running With Scissors."

And although she's not fictional (or is she?), I keep thinking of Joan Crawford in the rose garden in "Mommie Dearest."

[AC126748]

Posted: 8/11/11 at 1:53pm

Augusten's mother isn't fictional either, Henrik.

[ljay889]

Posted: 8/11/11 at 1:55pm

The casting call for the DC production of FOLLIES said Sally is possibly bipolar.