"I saw his instability and I saw that he was bipolar and he would get mad out of nowhere. " -Sitora Yusifiy
That's what the ex-wife of Orlando shooter, Omar Mateen, said about him after the horrific events at Pulse Nightclub on June 12. While Mateen was clearly a troubled individual, he was NOT officially diagnosed with bipolar disorder. There is no medical evidence to substantiate Yusifiy's claims, and yet she chose to describe him as "bipolar" because he "would get mad out of nowhere." After she made this statement, the media (and the rest of the world) ran with it, and suddenly Mateen became the crazy bipolar person who went on a shooting rampage.
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Unfortunately, Yusifiy is one of many individuals in our society who think the term "bipolar" refers to a person on an emotional rollercoaster; that it describes someone who can't control their moods and changes their emotion on a dime. While the essence of that statement is accurate, true bipolar disorder is not about ever-changing moods. Often those with bipolar disorder do not experience rapid emotional cycling as is stereotypically assumed, but are rather stuck in one emotional state for weeks or months.
Bipolar disorder is characterized by periods of mania (or hypomania) and depression that occur in varying lengths of time. During periods of mania, individuals often sexually act out, spend ridiculous amounts of money, and genuinely feel invincible. Being in a manic period can honestly feel amazing to the individual experiencing it; their self-esteem is inflated, they don't need sleep and are never tired. They have endless amounts of energy to accomplish anything they want to. While those in a manic episode can be irritable and agitated, mostly this phase looks like an individual having a ton of fun, never stopping to rest, and doing wild things that we would all do if we had no inhibitions. The other side of the coin of bipolar disorder is crippling depression. Individuals experiencing a depressive episode often sleep most of the day, have trouble finding the motivation to do anything, lose or gain excessive weight, and experience fits of crying or anxiety. Neither side of bipolar disorder is characterized by violence, and in fact, many individuals with bipolar disorder never demonstrate violence. As a general rule, the violent individuals are those with substance abuse problems or personality disorders, NOT those with bipolar disorder.
There are over 200 categorizations of mental illnesses, and on top of that, there are people that are simply violent due to unknown reasons. That's over 200 possible diagnoses (!), and yet every single time there is a mass shooting or terror event, the individual is either labeled as "bipolar" or "schizophrenic." Those odds just don't seem to add up. When there are so many other reasons for an individual to be violent, why do people so quickly label a person as "crazy", "mentally ill" or specifically "bipolar?"
So was Omar Mateen, the Orlando shooter, "bipolar?" That fact is unknown and his ex-wife, Sitora Yusifiy, had no right to use that word to describe him. What is known is that he was a troubled individual with unknown motives to perform a horrific attack on innocent people.
Call him a terrorist...he performed an act of terror.
Call him a murderer...he killed innocent people in cold blood.
But do not call him bipolar, when we truly do not know that he was. That is unfair and disrespectful to the population of people struggling with this devastating illness every day.
In order for us to stop mental health stigma once and for all, we need to change our vocabulary. We need to stop targeting an already vulnerable population of mentally ill individuals every time a mass shooting occurs and instead start focusing on making changes to our country that will prevent further acts of tragedy.
Some things to remember:
"Bipolar" is NOT synonymous with "moody" or "emotional."
"Depressed" is NOT synonymous with "sad" or "down in the dumps."
"Anorexic" is NOT synonymous with "skinny" or "thin."
"Retarded" is NOT synonymous with "dumb" or "stupid."
"O.C.D." is NOT synonymous with "picky" or "tidy."
And the words, "psycho" and "crazy"....those are just not nice words.
Eliminate them for your vocabulary, and you may just make a difference in this world.
