Understanding bipolar disorders

Someone diagnosed with bipolar disorder (formerly known as manic depression) may swing from moods of deep depression to periods of overactive, excited behaviour known as mania. Between these severe highs and lows can be stable times.

Stephen Fry talks about his own experiences with bipolar disorder: having discovered how serious an illness it is, he decided to speak out about it and find out more. In a documentary that can be watched here, he investigates bi-polar disorder and meets with the singer Robbie Williams and the actress Carrie Fischer who have suffered from those disorders too.

In its most severe form, bipolar disorders can lead to serious hallucinations. Some people may see or hear things that others around them don't (known as having visual or auditory hallucinations or delusions). After a manic phase is over, they may be quite shocked at what they've done and the effect that it has had.

Some people have testified:

"I don't see pink cartoon bunnies, but sometimes when manic or hypomanic I think I see things like motion peripherally where there is none or stuff moving in the reflections in mirrors. I think I hear my name or weird unclear snatches of noise. It makes me paranoid and then I see more stuff, but I don't actually see anything. It's more like a visual or auditory twitch."

"I've had hallucinations during depression which involve seeing dead, decaying flesh on people's faces. I've also had auditory hallucinations (i.e., hearing "voices") during a mixed episode. The voices have a buzzing sound, and it seems like there are thousands of them. They are talking about me, but I can't make out what they say. And sometimes, while extremely agitated, I think I hear a voice whispering my name."

Reprieve's client Akmal Shaikh is facing imminent execution in China for carrying drugs. Reprieve has strong evidence that he is seriously mentally ill, most likely suffering from bipolar disorder.

Sally Rowen, Legal Director, Death Penalty, Reprieve has said:“For mentally ill people like Akmal Shaikh, the experience of imprisonment can be highly traumatic. So imagine the frightening effect of being imprisoned in a country where you cannot speak the language and barely understand what is happening to you. I am concerned about the wellbeing of Akmal Shaikh, and I hope the Chinese authorities will recognise that he is vulnerable and needs medical treatment.”