What famous characters could be described as bipolar?
What famous characters could be described as bipolar?
#1What famous characters could be described as bipolar?
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
Leading Actor Joined: 7/20/09
#2What famous characters could be described as bipolar?
Posted: 8/11/11 at 4:09amDiana in Next to Normal
dramamama611
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/4/07
#2What famous characters could be described as bipolar?
Posted: 8/11/11 at 7:27amThose things don't point specifically at bi-polar. They do point at severe clinical depression, however.
If we're not having fun, then why are we doing it?
These are DISCUSSION boards, not mutual admiration boards. Discussion only occurs when we are willing to hear what others are thinking, regardless of whether it is alignment to our own thoughts.
henrikegerman
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/29/05
#3What famous characters could be described as bipolar?
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
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/1/09
#4What famous characters could be described as bipolar?
Posted: 8/11/11 at 8:37amShe's just a crazy
addamsfamily#1fan
Chorus Member Joined: 12/9/10
#5What famous characters could be described as bipolar?
Posted: 8/11/11 at 8:55amPrincess Fiona in Shrek is a little bit.
showchoirguy
Broadway Star Joined: 7/14/10
#6What famous characters could be described as bipolar?
Posted: 8/11/11 at 9:15am
Candella from Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown. Mostly in Model Behavior.
#7What famous characters could be described as bipolar?
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.
When I see the phrase "the ____ estate", I imagine a vast mansion in the country full of monocled men and high-collared women receiving letters about productions across the country and doing spit-takes at whatever they contain.
-Kad
#8What famous characters could be described as bipolar?
Posted: 8/11/11 at 10:04amI agree with givesmevoice. Let's diagnose BWW board members instead.
dramamama611
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/4/07
#9What famous characters could be described as bipolar?
Posted: 8/11/11 at 10:06amI LOVE THAT! ^
If we're not having fun, then why are we doing it?
These are DISCUSSION boards, not mutual admiration boards. Discussion only occurs when we are willing to hear what others are thinking, regardless of whether it is alignment to our own thoughts.
#10What famous characters could be described as bipolar?
Posted: 8/11/11 at 10:08am^^another in a long list of reasons why I love Reg^^
Cheyenne Jackson tickled me. AFTER ordering SoMMS a drink but NOT tickling him, and hanging out with Girly in his dressing room (where he DIDN'T tickle her) but BEFORE we got married. To others. And then he tweeted Boobs. He also tweeted he's good friends with some chick on "The Voice" who just happens to be good friends with Tink's ex. And I'm still married. Oh, and this just in: "Pettiness, spite, malice ....Such ugly emotions... So sad." - After Eight, talking about MEEEEEEEE!!! I'm so honored! :-)
showchoirguy
Broadway Star Joined: 7/14/10
#11What famous characters could be described as bipolar?
Posted: 8/11/11 at 10:10am^another post that made my day :)
#12What famous characters could be described as bipolar?
Posted: 8/11/11 at 10:13amReg, but why limit it to bipolar disorder? Let's diagnose BWW board members with anything on the DSM-IV.
When I see the phrase "the ____ estate", I imagine a vast mansion in the country full of monocled men and high-collared women receiving letters about productions across the country and doing spit-takes at whatever they contain.
-Kad
SporkGoddess
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/27/05
#13What famous characters could be described as bipolar?
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.
Jimmy, what are you doing here in the middle of the night? It's almost 9 PM!
Updated On: 8/11/11 at 10:48 AM
#14What famous characters could be described as bipolar?
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
"The sexual energy between the mother and son really concerns me!"-random woman behind me at Next to Normal
"I want to meet him after and bang him!"-random woman who exposed her breasts at Rock of Ages, referring to James Carpinello
showchoirguy
Broadway Star Joined: 7/14/10
#15What famous characters could be described as bipolar?
Posted: 8/11/11 at 11:04am
Thank you for the detailed analysis BettyBoy 
Helps me understand a few of the characters :)
SporkGoddess
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/27/05
#16What famous characters could be described as bipolar?
Posted: 8/11/11 at 11:21amI 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.
Jimmy, what are you doing here in the middle of the night? It's almost 9 PM!
#17What famous characters could be described as bipolar?
Posted: 8/11/11 at 11:23amHaving only seen the show once, how soon after Gabe's death did she have Natalie?
When I see the phrase "the ____ estate", I imagine a vast mansion in the country full of monocled men and high-collared women receiving letters about productions across the country and doing spit-takes at whatever they contain.
-Kad
Phyllis Rogers Stone
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/16/07
#18What famous characters could be described as bipolar?
Posted: 8/11/11 at 12:23pm
Do we ever see or hear of her being manic?
Certainly not as played by Bernadette Peters.
#19What famous characters could be described as bipolar?
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.
....but the world goes 'round
#20What famous characters could be described as bipolar?
Posted: 8/11/11 at 1:22pmStop talking about me, you guys.
"What can you expect from a bunch of seitan worshippers?" - Reginald Tresilian
#21What famous characters could be described as bipolar?
Posted: 8/11/11 at 1:33pm
Can you hear our voices in your head, Matt?
I know you can....
....but the world goes 'round
henrikegerman
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/29/05
#22What famous characters could be described as bipolar?
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."
#23What famous characters could be described as bipolar?
Posted: 8/11/11 at 1:53pm
Augusten's mother isn't fictional either, Henrik. 
"You travel alone because other people are only there to remind you how much that hook hurts that we all bit down on. Wait for that one day we can bite free and get back out there in space where we belong, sail back over water, over skies, into space, the hook finally out of our mouths and we wander back out there in space spawning to other planets never to return hurrah to earth and we'll look back and can't even see these lives here anymore. Only the taste of blood to remind us we ever existed. The earth is small. We're gone. We're dead. We're safe."
-John Guare, Landscape of the Body
#24What famous characters could be described as bipolar?
Posted: 8/11/11 at 1:55pmThe casting call for the DC production of FOLLIES said Sally is possibly bipolar.
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