Bipolar Frequent Flyer Speaks Out

Posted on December 13, 2005 in Bipolar Disorder Journalists & Pundits Terrorism

The Air Marshals did the right thing. And for the first time since I started studying terrorism that scares the living hell out of me.

-dan, scenes from a wasted life

In all the hooplah following the shooting of Rigoberto Alpizar, reporters sought out law enforcement experts, the heads of national organizations for the mentally ill, academics, and psychiatrists. Nobody sought out the views of bipolars, which is like talking about AIDS in Africa without talking to any Africans who have AIDS or the War in Iraq without talking to any Iraqis. In other words, the media reaction has been all too typical.

Bipolars have been reticent to speak, I think, because doing so exposes them to stigma. I have had no compunctions about nor have the people who appear at the end of this article. Many others, however, fear for their jobs and the respect of those around them. An exception is one S. Bell who wrote a letter to the Miami Herald. Bell identifies her/himself as both a sufferer of bipolar illness and a frequent flyer. S/he levels some serious charges against American Airlines, noting several common circumstances which might trigger an episode:

• Being treated rudely at check-in or bumped off a flight through no fault of your own.

• Being confined in a seat that is simply too small and then having the person in front recline all the way back.

• Being ignored or rudely treated by flight attendants and therefore being too afraid to ask for help — even for a cup of water.

S/he goes on to say:

I believe that American Airlines’ poor level of courtesy and inadequate seating could well trigger an anxiety attack in a bipolar-affected person — one that would make a man want to run off a plane, have a distorted view of reality and do almost anything to be clear of all those around him.

Bipolar-affected people can be some of the most gentle in the world. But when put into a difficult or adverse situation with no way to control one’s surroundings, a chemically imbalanced person can ”lose the plot.”

In other words, in our extremely broad modern society, pointless culture noise causes us to crash. The lack of kindness and denial on the part of the so-called sane (who deal with their problems by self-medicating) adds to the pressures we feel. Bipolars are “the canaries in the mines”, the ones who show symptoms before anyone else.

By some counts, we may form as much as 6% of the population. If so, there’s an epidemic. And the disease will spread — not by bacteria or virus — but by the shock waves of unemployment, congestion, loss of essential services, bad health, propagandistic fear, and efficiency measures designed to benefit corporations over people.

Too many pundits write about affairs in Washington without placing them in the context of what happens in Temecula, California or Plainview, Texas. To know what politics and corporate takeover is doing to us look at the eyes and the shaking hands of bipolars. Look at the airstrip in Miami. That is the state of the nation.

Some who have written about last Thursday:

• dan (scenes from a wasted life)
• Jil (wild abandon)
• Kathryn Cramer (not bipolar)
• Nicole (Bipolar Princess)
• Shrinkette (psychiatrist)