Could someone have Bipolar Disorder or Multiple Personality Disorder or Disassociative Disorder and never notice? How could that happen?? Wouldn't someone notice and at least tell them?
2006-09-29 13:28:40 · 10 answers · asked by Cheshire Cat 6 in Social Science ➔ Psychology
Sorry. Left out context: Watched "Man on the Moon" and wondered... what if Andy Kaufman never let anyone in on his jokes? What if he became someone else in one show and then nobody realized it wasn't a seperate person?
One of my students also asked me the same day if is was possible to have multiple personalities in the context of Personality Type (so it is a little Jungian discussion too) , which got me thinking about the corpus collosum and... Well, anyhow, it boiled down to this question because it seemed to me sometimes a second personality might be rationalized by some theories as a subset of the first instead of a seperate entity... Sorry. Still like the variety of answers so far!
2006-10-02 06:04:33 · update #1
Zebrarain: I believe you're talking about hallucinations, which is more of an aspect of schizophrenia. I'm most interested in the idea of how someone learns of a second personality of which they are not aware (let alone how the heck they manage to compartmentalize each personality so that they are mutually unaware of one another in the first place).
2006-10-02 06:27:40 · update #2
October girl (not sure how you got the hearts on there, but they're cute):
everyone has multiple roles to play (Shakespeare - or watch "The Madness of King George"), but it is a matter of role-playing, not mental disorder. Real multiple personalities is a matter of mutually exclusive identities - sometimes not only incompatible, but would actually hate one another if they knew (see "Fight Club").
2006-10-05 02:47:51 · update #3
I'd think someone could at least have bipolar disorder and not know - all they might know is that when they were happy, they were very happy indeed, and when they weren't happy, things were pitch black.
There are some families where the very suggestion of someone having a mental disorder puts people in a tailspin. It's taboo, a forbidden topic, something that "doesn't happen in our family", so problems don't get discussed. "Oh, well, Uncle Chester has always been a little eccentric," someone may say dismissively of Uncle Chester's habit of standing by the road and shaking his fist at passing cars.
There are also families whose members aren't terribly introspective. They just sort of plow through life like human bulldozers and don't think much about how they feel and why.
You'd hope people would pick up on the other disorders you mention, but unfortunately, I'm beginning to suspect that many people live in a state of denial. I personally know several people who are more interested in publicly maintaining a fictional narrative about themselves and their families than they are in addressing and solving problems.
2006-09-29 13:44:21 · answer #1 · answered by IrritableMom 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Yes,
It is possible to go through life never being diagnosed with a disorder if nobody around the person is any saner than they are. Many of these things are hereditary. And, many people are just a little moodish. So unless you are around this person 24/7 for a while it is doubttful that you would make such a diagnosis. You are more likely to think they are just having a bad spell.
2006-10-01 01:14:57 · answer #2 · answered by LORD Z 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It could happen I bet. Yep.
What if it's not really "dissociative" or "multiple" but they just have not figured out how to be all the things they are at once? Or they have something with their attention span that makes it hard for them to "multitask" all they are, they have to focus on one thing at a time? Maybe they just know appropriate ways to behave, and sometimes are too shy, but usually are just reacting to the environment and their feelings, what needs done, what is alright or acceptable?
And maybe they are sensitive to seasonal changes and hormone shifts. If they're not very mean to people all the time, like bipolars are noted for, then any other "symptoms" that DO match are not proof of bipolar disorder. I'd bet they are NOT bipolar.
2006-09-29 23:08:53 · answer #3 · answered by *babydoll* 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Those kinds of labels are very dehumanizing. You are you and can understand your life without these so-called diagnoses.
Everyone has parts of themselves that are confused or hurting or anxious. Being aware of what's going on around you in the present moment is more help than any label of disorder. Try getting away somewhere where you can be immersed in nature for a week or two. You'll come out of it feeling much more whole.
By the way, when most people first read about these so-called illnesses, they see themselves in the descriptions of symptoms.
2006-09-29 20:43:28 · answer #4 · answered by beast 6 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Erhm, nope. People only tell you about your problems once they get drunk, when they're in no state to diagnose anything, they just get angry and resentful of your problems, which they can't help talking about. People are not generally skilled in the Jungian psychoanalyst department, because they're busy conforming or just trying to survive. Plus the mind is a scary thing to try cming to terms with, so lots of people steer clear, except a lot of comedians - they think about what annoys them for a few seconds, then behave outragously as a form of expressing their outrage.
2006-09-29 20:34:33 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
Yes this is quite possible. Some learn to cover up symptoms and others people around them just think they are playing or it is just them being them. How many times have you heard somthing like that? For some people it is that no one realizes what they are really like.
2006-09-29 20:37:26 · answer #6 · answered by gem753 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
i think its possible, mainly if they did not know such a disorder exists. like, i never knew that i had OCD, i had never heard of it, but i read an article about a girl who had that, and i knew i had to have this disorder. i was so amazed that there were other people like me in this way, i would have never known
2006-09-29 21:26:57 · answer #7 · answered by ƎIΝΟƆ 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
yes. the positive people of the world try to think things aren't as bad as they seem. they are naive the negative ones think things like that are funny. and as for someone noticing...what if different personalities came out when around certain people. how would they know that Joe was just Pete?
2006-09-29 20:34:42 · answer #8 · answered by i-care 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
My father was diagnosed as bipolar when he was 43. I think one reason why he didnt know was because people were too afraid to mention it....
2006-09-29 20:31:41 · answer #9 · answered by gradflutes 2 · 3⤊ 0⤋
i think i may have the same problem
2006-09-29 20:36:34 · answer #10 · answered by allforuoncam 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋