Sounds a silly question, doesn't it? Are there any benefits to mental illness? Like asking someone with one leg if there are any benefits to having lost a leg. Well, I suppose there is only one set of toenails to cut, but apart from that, the benefits escape me.
But with Borderline Personality Disorder, as well as Bipolar Disorder, evidence tells us differently. Admittedly to varying degrees, and it has to be taken person to person.
The great mathematician and economist, John Nash suffered for years from Borderline Personality Disorder, to a greater of lesser extent, but during his life received many accolades and finally stated that to all intents and purposes, he was recovered from the illness. The interesting point he did make, though, was that he felt himself 'limited,' as though the condition in earlier years had somehow given him wings.
I believe I mentioned that Freud and his contemporaries promulgated that such a disease would finally pull the sufferer down until he or she had nothing whatever to look forward to apart from a gradual descent into incapacity and, presumably, the poor house or an institution.
However, papers published by various researchers between 1972 and 1995, found that between 46% and 68% of sufferers of BPD had either fully recovered, had no symptoms of mental illness, took no psychiatric medications and were leading perfectly normal lives. It would be very wrong to suggest that benefits are to be enjoyed across the whole field of mental illness. After all, how can someone with major depression possibly gain any benefit from an illness that barely allows him or her to rise from their beds in the morning?
Bipolar conditions do seem somewhat different, though, most especially when dealing with Hypomania. This is a mild to moderate form of mania that may leave some people irritable and severely anxious, while others experience a state of euphoria and, in some cases, grandiosity. It's a condition that's easily misdiagnosed, for the euphoria is easily mistaken for happiness.
So let's imagine a fence, on one side of which is the irritability and anxiety, while on the other we have the euphoria and grandiosity. There are you, descending gently by parachute and you have the good fortune to land on the euphoric side. Here we find a mental illness that may translate into increased creativity, the desire for less sleep, optimism and general 'joie de vivre.'
Now while these traits are admirable on the face of it, there are nasty traps awaiting to snap at the unwary, those who refuse to consider seeing a doctor and being under his watchful eye.
"Why should we?" they ask. Artists, writers, sculptors and the like might say; "I've never been so creative. If I'm forced to take pills, my creativity may leave me."
They suffer neither from delusions nor hallucinations, but that fence we spoke about still has a weak spot, and they may very easily fall through this and revert to poor judgment and reckless behaviour.
So the answer to the question about the benefits of mental illness is that while a person might go for years in a state, if not of euphoria, but at least one of happiness, and if an artist turn out superb work, there's always that risk of the illness turning on them, accelerating their mania and causing their thoughts to race out of control.
Mike Bond talking about the possibilities of benefits from certain Mental Illnesses. You can read all about his own experiences with various types on his website at http://www.panattack.com where you may well find yourself empathizing with him. Don't forget to listen and watch the video, either. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Mike_Bond |
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