Welcome

Introduction

The goal of iBipolar.net is to decrease the stigma around mental illness by describing the some of the variety of ways in which mental illness is socially constructed. While mental illnesses are neurobiological in nature, the meaning that we give to them is entirely social. A person can talk to himself for instance, but unless another person is around to say, "That's crazy," the action has no inherent value. Because these meanings are socially constructed, they can obviously be changed. iBipolar.net therefore focused on debunking the idea that bipolar disorder or any other mental illness is “deviant behavior.” Instead, it proposed that it was simply “different behavior” caused by differences in composition and function of the brain. Difference should be respected, and it shouldn’t be used as a tool to dehumanize the mentally ill. We are all inherently equal human beings; we all have an equal right and ability to make choices. We may be different, but we are equal. This is the heart of the matter. This is what iBipolar.net is all about.

iBipolar.net focused particularly therefore on empowering those with bipolar disorder as well as articulating this perspective as the end goal of the process of destigmatization.

Contents and Methodology

In order to highlight the more socially constructed aspects of mental illness, I have written five essays, each describing a social aspect of mental illness. The first, Labeling Theory, discusses an important theory in the sociology of deviance: the affect that being give a diagnosis – or label – can have on a person. In the second, I Am & I Have, I deal with a very important linguistic division surrounding bipolar disorder. The third, (Ir)rationality, highlights the fact that rationality, a quality that is generally not associated with the mentally ill, is a culturally-specific Western value as well as pointing out that bipolars can be rational as well as irrational. The fourth, The Discourse of Abnormal Behavior, elaborates on the idea of rationality as a culture-specific value as well as discussing some issues of psychiatric power. The fifth, Disease/Illness and Mind/Brain Distinctions describes what is at stake when we forget the mind and treat only the brain. It is in the mind in which each person has the capacity to make choices, regardless of any structure and function of his or her brain.  

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© Mallory Gill, 2009

The Discourse of Abnormal Behavior