Does bipolar dull my intelligence?!


Question: Does bipolar dull my intelligence.?
So i was diagnosed as manic depressive,which is bipolar, kinda explains a lot of the things i experience like the fact that i am happy at one moment then depressed the next, and sometimes im constantly angry. I am really smart, i have an IQ of 145, but does this dull my intelligence any.? I don't know what to think anymore. Please help.


also, I am a psychology major so it seems like a really dumb question to me but i want to know what you think, that's the only reason i am posting this questionHealth Question & Answer


Answers:
Take it from a bipolar girl up at 1 am answering questions for strangers when I should be asleep so I can work in the morning... oh wait... 2:15...
Bipolar disorders 1 and 2 are actually usually found in MORE intelligent people... one theory is that the intelligence (rapid processing of information) may in fact be linked with the bipolar disorder (seemingly random, wild mood swings from despair to elation triggered by sensory input usually and usually without much warning, along with decidedly poor judgment in some cases, and along with a general frustration with one's own intelligence at times...) You find yourself saying "Wow if I'm supposed to be so smart like the tests show and like I know I can be, how can I have just been so stupid!" I"m usually either a) naked, b) in handcuffs, or c) very, very lost when I think this, and the thought usually triggers a depressive spell.

It's important to remember though that we're lucky enough to have been given the tools to survive our affliction along with the affliction itself! You have to THINK your way out of the boxes your impulsiveness, mood swings, and mental chatter tend to get you into. And you can, because of the high intelligence, as long as the depression at your own intermittent lack of common sense doesn't get you first. That's why there are so many "high functioning" people diagnosed, yet not prescribed medicine for bipolar.

Instead successful bipoles tend to slowly train themselves out of the WORST of the behaviors associated with the disease including rampant, dangerous promiscutiy, running away from problems in grand and often disastrous ways, compulsive money spending, "criminal mastermindery" of varying degrees, suicidal behavior, and other shenanigans limited only by the imagination. This is because they are INTELLIGENT enough to realize that these behaviors are dragging them down. I slip pretty often actually and do something totally off base or let myself get caught up in an emotion to the exclusion of all else, but I've gotten pretty good at setting up checks and balances to stop me from doing the REALLY destructive stuff. My husband calls me a tempest in a teapot lol! The people around me help me of course... my closest friends know that I have bipolar 2 and that I may very well decide at a moment's notice that I "just can't take it anymore" and decide that California, or hell, maybe Amsterdam would be a better place to live... They do their best to help me, but in the end it's up to me to have outsmarted myself by doing things like setting a daily spending limit on my bank card to stop spending sprees in their tracks, and like making sure that on a night like this, when I can't sleep and am feeling manic, I pour all my excess energy into something relatively innocuous and mildly productive even like this post. Even though it has no REAL GAIN POTENTIAL for me or my family, I'm satisfying my need to be working on a project without resorting to "cracktivities."


Hope that helps ya!

P.S. Cractivity: (n) the sort of behavior, often resulting from a manic, which seems perfectly logical to the person who engages in it, but makes the average bystander wonder if he or she is on crack. i.e. Taking apart my brand new blackberry curve and painting the housing purple with hobby paint at 3 am... I was SORELY tempted to do this when my husband suggested that instead I look up the INSTRUCTIONS, and while I was at it, answer a few questions on yahoo...
Paint and little screwdriver stayed put away, phone stayed under warranty.
Meanwhile I have a 160 IQ, 1380 SAT scores, and a BA in Business Administration. So... intelligent.? Yes. For sure. Smart.?.?.? That remains to be seen and depends a LOT on how persistent you are about getting your behavior under control and whether or not you use your intelligence to hide your increasing loss of control. About 5 years ago, I decided that I wanted to be an eBay power seller (never mind the fact that I HAD a job in the Navy). I spent 14k on a bunch of crap from China that in my manic I had convinced myself would sell. I was intelligent enough to think my way out of it, but does that excuse the train of thought that led to it.?.? The meds aren't the solution either. They just tend to make me feel like my head is stuffed full of cotton and make me miss out on the best part of being crazy: the creativity and random inspiration that goes with it! I've been on Wellbutrin, Depakote, and Lithium. No success. In fact I ate ALL the Lithium in one sitting... not good. Now I'm on nothing, and though I DO have episodes like this one I'm in right now, at least I can SEE them and hopefully have a plan in place. The worst that will come of this night is that I will be tired when the manic subsides... Discipline and those who love you and want to see you succeed enough to derail your wild ambitions and schemes as well as bring more realistic light to your complete misery are the solutions.Health Question & Answer

Life, head shrinking, sleepless night...Health Question & Answer

From what I've heard being bipolar drives a person to achieve amazing things when they are on a high. It makes them able to work longer and at a higher level than the average person. Obviously this is balanced out by the down times when productivity will be at an all time low. If you are just depressed then you never achieve your potential and in that way are at a distinct disadvantage. But then you know all this anyway.Health Question & Answer

I have known medical students who discontinue medication in school in order to meet the work demands of medical training. Then return to the appropriate medication when the training is completed.Health Question & Answer

No- Just rational judgment.Health Question & Answer

not at all. you might be just going through a phase homie.Health Question & Answer



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