Hi all.
Today I need to ask for your help. I’ve been asked to participate in another documentary – and I’m honored to do this. The documentarian is from CB Films and is working with Channel 4 in the UK.
The thing is, he’s looking for a person suffering from a manic episode who’s in the UK. Now, obviously, this is a big ask. In my experience it’s difficult to anticipate mania and once hypomania or mania rears its ugly head, it needs to be dealt with promptly and not allowed to continue.
All that being said, the documentarion is searching for someone suffering from a manic episode who is willing to be filmed during their episode.
Yup, that’s a toughie.
Manic and on Film in the UK
I’m hoping one of my readers, many of whom are from the UK, will be able to help out with this need.
Now, please take this request very seriously. I don’t want someone exposing their personal life without carefully thinking it through. After all, if it’s on Channel 4, you can assume that everyone, every employer, every family member, every lover and even every acquaintance may have seen it and don’t forget – it will live forever on the internet.
I know of one person with schizophrenia (John Cadigan) who allowed his life to be filmed for a year for an HBO documentary and I honor this person for the contribution he has made to mental illness education in this world. I think he has made a significant difference to the way many people think about schizophrenia.
And yes, you could contribute in that way for bipolar disorder. But think about it carefully.
If you think this is you, please contact me and I’ll put you in contact with the film maker.
hi i have had manic depression in the 1980s after having my second child,I also have a friend who had it longer than me.My ECC Treatment worked but i lost some memory so did my friend.My medication after getting Different drugs were used until they found one that worked Lithium I took made me better and therapy fought off the Illness.
My best chance yet to get a response from you Natasha, but I’m not holding my breath. As I have tried to state on other pages in this blog, the UK has a markedly different system in terms of mental health treatment. In some respects we are getting a better deal – a dangerously high or low individual can be sectioned and treated in a hospital. But in other respects, e.g. disability benefits for mental illness, things are far from ideal or fair. Mind you, we are in a long-term economic mess and ATOS – one of the relevant organisations trying to limit people getting support they deserve is just making people’s lives harder by rejecting half-decent case files (and not just in terms of mental health I hasten to add).
Anyway I have no wish to participate as I have been well for several years. The main point I wish to make, and I am not the first one to do so here, is the ethics is very dodgy. Ok you have a precedent for participating in a documentary, and I can only hope that edition helped people in general. But asking someone to take part entails all sorts of dodgy ground, and you and the documentary makers could (whether directly or indirectly) be making life very hard in the long-term for a given individual – depending on how much support and knowledge they have of their condition. Channel 4 has given some excellent material to the masses here in the UK, but like any station they are not perfect and sometimes they do cross the ethical line. I doubt you will be put off by my reaction but maybe I am wrong for once.
Hi Martin,
I’m not quite sure why you are so upset with the idea or with me personally, but I agree that the ethics could be in question. I have to have faith that the producer I talked to is what he says he is. I could be wrong. And that’s why I gave a warning about participating. I don’t want anyone doing anything that would hamper their lives. I only want people to do what is right for them. No one is twisting anyone’s arm here.
– Natasha
Hi again. Thanks for the quick reply, and I don’t intend any sarcasm. I can’t say I am upset with you personally as there is no acquaintance between us or anything like that, just a few words on a page which express different sentiments. But ulitmately you have a high profile blog and if someone is going to post criticism on it, I personally believe it should be taken in the right spirit as a form of generating more education through the sharing of different life experiences.
My main frustration lies somewhere outside the online world in terms of former friends and several workplaces/ places of study which have been tough to get support from. Being ignored and cast aside was a very tough spell for me, although perhaps it was a blessing in disguise as some of my troubles in terms of justifying ongoing friendships have been solved for me – just a bit too abruptly all the same.
The frequently visited page ‘when you leave someone with mental illness’ is a source of great frustration for me because of my previous/ongoing struggles and although by own means the people who comment on that page are totally entitled to their views, I just find that not enough balance is being projected. I know all too well the dangers that bipolar can cause, and the devastation to what seemed like secure friendships and romantic relationships, but some of the people who visit the site seem to be using your work in the wrong way to justify their reactions to mental illness in general. They also are (totally IMHO) seemingly passing themselves off as beyond reproach when it is all too obvious that the cliche – ‘no-one is perfect’ is as relevant today as it was when it was first coined.
The last thing I’m sure you intend is to expand bigotry and stigma, and perhaps if not on your site then on some other one these individuals would still express their heated views and thus cause unnecessary confusion all the same.
Clearly you are a well-educated and hardworking person in your field. I am able to admit that time mangement, thoroughness and concentration are not my best assets and you trump me there as far as I can tell. Maybe the manner you manage your condition is much more efficient than my own, and your blog is part of that effectiveness. But as I say I really don’t know you well enough.
I really hope your producer has some degree of familiarity with the field. In addition to my concern for a given individual, who still might not grasp what is involved even with a warning, I just wonder if the program would be part of a bandwagon of reality tv which Channel 4 has had its fair share of over the years (although they had the good sense to cancel Big Brother, which now wastes air time on Channel 5). I would love to be proved wrong, but having had 4 cases of mania which almost destroyed my future prospects if not getting myself seriously hurt also, I just have a strong view on this, and have no qualms in sharing it on this site.
Hi Martin,
You’re welcome to post your views here, of course, any time. Barring a few rules, anyone can.
I understand your frustration and I even understand your frustration with me. I explore all areas and facets of an illness that is unfair at its core. I do the best I can to represent topics in the best way I know how, but of course, reasonable people will disagree.
– Natasha Tracy
I am not in the UK, but if I was, that would be a definite no. Going on TV would just send me higher, and possibly into psychosis.
There are some real ethical problems with this. Better just to get an actor.
Thank you, Sarah. I do believe this has some ethical problems as well.
When someone is manic, I doubt they would be fully cognizant of the consequences – and as Sarah pointed out, could exacerbate the episode.
Watching a manic episode and its inevitable crash is really just sad. Didn’t you write about something similar?
http://www.healthyplace.com/blogs/breakingbipolar/2011/03/charlie-sheen-is-suffering-a-manic-episode-thats-not-funny/
Judy,
I agree, it could be problematic and that is why I warned people about participating. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with asking for people’s participation _if_they_choose_. I’m not trying to talk anyone into anything.
In the case of Sheen, that was a bit different in that the media was having a frenzy over a guy who clearly couldn’t make rational decisions. I certainly hope that isn’t the case with anyone who would be a candidate for the documentary.
– Natasha Tracy
Yes, I agree – the charlie sheen incident was a frenzy. The media can be irresponsible and really feed into people’s need/desire to see a train wreak – especially in the age of reality tv. Unfortunately, most people do not understand this.
What the general public sees and does not understand can lead to more misinformation and stigma.
I am not in the UK so I have no idea what channel 4 is like, but I hope they do treat the issue with some sensitivity and not a freak show.
It is a situation that can so easily be exploited.
I also wanted to add that the question of choice is a bit hazy. I would imagine that if one is in treatment and has been stable for some time, they might be able to make a rational choice compared to someone who is not. Then again, if someone is stable and medicated, they probably wouldn’t be manic. Very touchy.
Can you email me directly please Natasha. I’m in mobile and this is a bit awkward.
Thanks David, email sent.
– Natasha
When? Where? Expenses? Payment? Things like that.
I’ll try and help you with that Natasha but as you say it’s a big ask. Plus when some one is high then they tend, as you know, to not be entirely cooperative. However that is precisely what their after probably.
Anyhow, please give me more details and I shall have a word with our members. “Anyone want to go high for TV?” Lol
Hi David,
What kind of details would you like? I don’t have a whole lot of them to give but I can get them for you.
– Natasha Tracy