Beth has over 12 years’ experience of providing support services to children and young people. She manages mentoring services across Birmingham which support their emotional, mental, and social wellbeing. Beth has her own lived experiences of childhood trauma, homelessness, issues with the education system, and (child and adult) mental health issues, including living with bipolar disorder. She is passionate about using these experiences to inspire others who have experienced trauma and issues with their mental health. Beth shares her thoughts on Bipolar representation in Channel 4’s new comedy Big Mood in this guest blog.
There’s something slightly ironic about having to be in the mood to watch something about mood. However, this was the position I found myself in on the release of ‘Big Mood’, Channel 4’s new comedy-drama about bipolar disorder. What kind of emotions would it ignite? What if I couldn’t relate to it? What if it was just another portrayal of bipolar which stigmatised and villainised people living with the disorder? I started to question why I was having all these big expectations of something which is in theory, just a TV show. I then quickly realised how mental illness is portrayed in TV and film is so incredibly important to get right. It has such a huge influence on people’s perceptions of mental illness and it plays such a vital role in challenging the stigma around illnesses such as bipolar disorder. We even see during the episodes of Big Mood and the influence the film ‘A Beautiful Mind’ has on Maggie and her own mental health.
Historically, portrayals of bipolar in the TV and film industry haven’t been great. For example, I watched a film the other day where a character had died by suicide and killed both their parents because ‘she was bipolar’. In my career, I’ve also dealt with professionals who whisper bipolar as if its a curse word. All to often there is this stigma that we are a bunch of ‘crazy psychos’. There’s over 1 million people living with bipolar in the UK (Bipolar UK, 2022), and whilst I can’t speak for everyone, most of us are nice people, I promise!
Watch the Big Mood Trailer here.
I was excited to hear Big Mood was a comedy. Anyone living with bipolar will tell you it’s far from being funny and bipolar is no joke. I think you would struggle to find many people who have bipolar disorder who haven’t had a long, debilitating fight to get essential support, with so many of us being gaslighted and invalidated by services, professionals and even family and friends for many years as we struggle with living with this mental illness. However, many of us with mental health issues will often use humour to mask and deflect from our experiences so I was looking forward to seeing how the writer Camilla Whitehill would approach bipolar through a comedic lens. The supporting storylines were bonkers making for a fun ride, yet the comedy never deterred from the seriousness of living with a mental illness. There were some great lines throughout the show, for example:
“Are you manic? Just because if you are, you know what comes next?”
That hit home for me as I’ve heard it all too often before. I instantly thought of my best friend and the number of times we have had that conversation. Like many others with bipolar, I love being manic. I love being on such a high, being so productive, that feeling of being able to take on the world. The show made me think what it was like for my friend when she can see the inevitable and that sudden “damn it” moment Maggie has in the show when that all-encompassing depressive crash hits.
Bipolar is far from linear and I thought the show did well in depicting various symptoms, for example, the impulsive buys, the hypersexuality, the feelings of grandeur, alcohol and drug use, impulsive decisions and risk taking, the depression, the struggle to go to work, or to just generally function. It also highlighted the more extreme symptoms of bipolar such as the self-harm, hallucinations, and suicidal ideation.
However, I wasn’t keen on the portrayal of how Maggie was accessing professional mental health support. I’m sure we would all appreciate having the direct number to a psychiatrist who wanted to help us. In reality, that just is not the case, we have the number to the community mental health team who are too often under resourced and understaffed. I only have one appointment a year with an actual psychiatrist, and I’ve not seen the same psychiatrist twice since my diagnosis meaning there is no relationship or familiarity between me and the person who is prescribing me my medication.
I was also slightly disheartened by the ending too, I felt that people with bipolar were still being stigmatised. There’s no denying that being friends with someone with bipolar can be challenging but that doesn’t mean that we can’t be good friends. We have much more to offer than just our mental illness. That being said, I’m the one with bipolar so I would say that. I would be interested to see what my friends’ opinion of the show would be.
Personally, I would have loved to have seen an ending where both Maggie and Eddie came up with a way where they could both support each other despite their differing needs. To show how people can maintain friendships when there are issues with mental illnesses such as bipolar. However, overall, I enjoyed the show, and it was a very welcomed shift towards a more relatable portrayal of bipolar disorder in TV and film.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Beth has over 12 years’ experience of providing support services to children and young people. She currently manages three mentoring services across Birmingham which support children and young people 6 – 25 years old with their emotional, mental, and social wellbeing.
Beth has her own lived experiences of childhood trauma, homelessness, issues with the education system, and (child and adult) mental health issues, including living with bipolar disorder. She is passionate about using these experiences to inspire others who have experienced trauma and issues with their mental health. In addition, Beth is also passionate about educating professionals and communities on the adversities faced by children and young people and how they can best support their needs. This is done through the development and delivery of CPD accredited training focusing on safeguarding and wellbeing.
Beth has a MSC in Child and Adolescent Wellbeing. Her thesis focused on the impact of extra-familial harms on the mental health and wellbeing of youth.
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