<p>I’m surprised Tom Cruise hasn’t stepped forward and offered his advice on how Sheen shouldn’t be treated with traditional psychiatric interventions, and offered to cure him with his Scientology methods.</p>
<p>One of the most disgusting parts of this whole thing is that Charlie Sheen knows how to manipulate the situation to his advantage, so people assume it is sign of rationality. In fact it is part of his disease. For the media to rationalize their behavior by saying that Charlie Sheen reached out to them indicates a very real lack of understanding of mental illness.</p>
<p>No, I don’t think it is a lack of understanding on the medias part. Instead it just indicates exactly how sleazy and manipulative they are. They understand all right. </p>
<p>Can you tell that I not only grew up with bipolar disease in my house, but I also grew up in Hollywood. I’ve lived here since my teens and worked in the studio system. Plenty of creative people have bipolar disorder. Most crash and burn, but not so publicly as Mr. S.</p>
<p>Maybe because I grew up in the midwest, I tend to want to see ignorance instead of malice. But I am often accused of being naive.</p>
<p>Feel free to assume the worst about the entertainment industry. (they assume the worst about us and that’s why they pass off so much trash as entertainment) </p>
<p>Take care of yourself and hang in there! Unless you have experienced this sort of thing first hand, it is almost impossible to explain. Glad to hear from a fellow understanding “survivor”.</p>
<p>What do I know? Not much but I would say simply untreated drug abuse…and he’s either high on coke during his interviews, or he’s more sadly, just stuck in manic mode. He looks and sounds like a coke addict. Hyper, fast-talking, edgy, and twists everything around to say “look at me, I’m the most enviable, closest-to-god a man has ever come…”</p>
<p>I don’t blame the media. They will take anything they can get because they know so many folks will actually watch Sheen and give a hoot. They collect and disseminate what people consider ‘news’ nowadays. Sadly, far more people will follow the comings and goes of Charlie Sheen and discuss them as if ‘news’ than they will the changes happening in the middle east, the war in Iraq, or a million other far more important events happening in the world. It is the dumbed down general population to blame for actually caring one wit…and look at us talking about it.</p>
<p>teri-
Maybe Tom Cruise can teach Charlie a few pointers on the fine art of jumping on the furniture.</p>
<p>lololu and musicamusica, I’m glad you’ve survived your exposure to this. The press reaction does remind me of how Britney Spears was hounded for her bizarre behavior before she received treatment - to such an extent that I thought they wouldn’t be satisfied until she actually killed herself.</p>
<p>The press is exploiting the situation, certainly (and to an unforgivable extent). It’s sad to think there’s no one in his life who can stop this man’s free-fall.</p>
<p>How I admire Robert Downey Jr. for somehow having overcome his addiction and whatever other conditions he had (maybe even still has, but has under control). Still, his behavior didn’t endanger his child, that I’m aware of, and he never subjected us to bigoted epithets, either.</p>
<p>I just watched a few clips from the various interviews. And I have been reading and hearing about the media’s joking replays of his strange statements. This has definitely taken a “isn’t being CRAZY funny?” tenor. It is disgusting on the media’s part. </p>
<p>The only possible positive here that I see is that with this amount of recording, it may be helpful to use as training for psychology and psychiatry students as they learn diagnostic procedures. </p>
<p>Since the media attention and willingness to exploit him, Charlie’s illness is being fed. I am not a mental health professional. ( I am only a surviving sibling of a brother who committed suicide while in deep depression, which hit after a manic stage). Charlie seems to be on a real manic high right now, which often means that the next low will be corresondingly deep. That is very scary- I am praying for him right now. Without intervention this could end very very badly. My guess is that the judge was made aware of that possibility from mental health professionals and therefore removed the kids.</p>
<p>Maybe one or both of the “goddesses” can get past their own reasons for being with him and redeem themselves by convincing him to get help. Not likely, I know, but miracles can happen. I’m praying for a miracle for him.</p>
<p>He was asked directly by Andrea Canning if he is bipolar - he didn’t deny it. I think he knows full well that he is, but refuses to label it or be treated because to him a fate worse than death is to become “boring and normal” like everyone else.</p>
<p>^ABSOLUTELY typical response from a bipolar person during a manic phase. The mania involves a great deal of well being and self importance. THEY FEEL GREAT as their lives are crashing around them. You will likely get the same response from a bipolar person living in the gutter during a manic phase.</p>
<p>And if he is bipolar, there is a difference between bipolar and addiction. Robert Downy, Jr has an addiction, but I don’t think he is bipolar. Charlie Sheen appears to have both. Many people seem to believe that the bipolar is the result of the addiction, but in fact, it is not. Excessive drug use does not cause bipolar disorder, however, many, many people with bipolar do become addicts as well. One theory is that they use alcohol, drugs, whatever to self medicate. Another theory is that bipolar disorder makes a person more susceptible to addictions of all kinds, including sex and gamboling addicitions.</p>
<p>“because to him a fate worse than death is to become “boring and normal” like everyone else” – totally agree with the bipolar comment, but I think that also fits people with narcissistic personality disorder. Their attitude is: how dare you mere mortals bring me down to your level by labeling my brilliance with your stupid diseases? I am a superior being not subject to the rules of ordinary people…</p>
<p>I haven’t watched his tv show, and am not a professional mental health expert, but I would like to comment about the NY Times article cited. I think it would have been illegal for the network to fire Sheen on the basis of his behavior in his private life. His private life is known to us because of the media, and if we stop paying attention to the nightmarish behavior of Sheen and people like him, it stops feeding the dragon so to speak. If a morals clause was included in his contract, the network of course would have had the right to terminate him for his outrageous antics involving his wives. But still that’s not their main role as his employer, is it. The problem is that people like us watch the idiot’s show and thereby we support him and his behavior. The onus is on us. Pun not intended. It’s a shame there isn’t a way to stop people like this from becoming popular. I’d give up some of my freedom of speech to see morons like this silenced.</p>
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<p>It is moronic to give up any freedom of speech, and also to disparage victims of a disability.</p>
<p>Beawinner, unless you have direct experience with bipolar disorder it is very difficult to muster up compassion for someone who is just coming off as a “moron” or an immoral drug addict. But they are mentally ill. And the illness that they are suffering from surfaces in ways that tends to shock ones moral sensibilities.</p>
<p>That is true, musicamusica, but there are also patients diagnosed with bipolar disorder who do not demonstrate offensive or menacing behavior. I think what some people are responding to is the unpleasant aspects of the behavior. There are patients with bipolar disorder who , in a manic episode, are enjoyable, creative, productive, etc. They tend to be hyper-creative and hyperproductive. They may also go on spending sprees or be hypersexual. But when their “hyper” behavior is an escalation of underlying unpleasant (negative) personality traits, I think thats what some people are reacting to.</p>
<p>“That is true, musicamusica, but there are also patients diagnosed with bipolar disorder who do not demonstrate offensive or menacing behavior.”</p>
<p>So we should only show compassion for the folks who are fortunate enough to keep the downside of mania hidden? Ive lived with this disease too long and been to too many support groups to know that inevitably “offensive and menacing behavior” does surface and you should hope to God that there isn’t the media nearby to milk it. </p>
<p>But as I have stated, the reaction of folks in this forum does not surprise me. It took me many painful years to muster up MY compassion. It’s a very tough thing to deal with. I’m just asking folks to step back and stop mocking someone suffering from a difficult and painful condition.</p>
<p>A example of a celebrity with bi-polar disorder who never demonstrated this level of negative behavior is Patty Duke. However, the society in which she grew up and came to terms with her illness is a far cry from the society we have today, in terms of behavior that is rewarded, particularly in the celebrity venue.</p>
<p>"A example of a celebrity with bi-polar disorder who never demonstrated this level of negative behavior is Patty Duke. "</p>
<p>You do not know that. You didn’t live with her. At the time that she was a big celeb, entertainment reporting was much more different. Media outlets worked closely with network and studio publicists who had a tight control over what information was leaked. What is different now, is that rampant immediate exposure in media outlets. Things have changed radically via “infotainment” With the Internet, television, talk radio, blogs, twitter etc etc, nowadays the “beast” needs to be constantly fed. The subject d’jour is now is the mad and bad Mr Sheen.</p>
<p>If my H and I see a steady stream of great information about an actor or celebrity, (for example, painting them in the glowing light of wonderful “family values”), we never make the assumption that this is the real person. Instead, we know that this person is under the control of a great publicist.</p>