What to know about bipolar disorder…
“Lizzie McGuire” and “Revenge of the Nerds” star Robert Carradine has died at the age of 71, with his household confirming that he took his own life amid a battle with bipolar disorder.
“We want people to know it, and there is no shame in it,” his older brother Keith Carradine told Deadline.
“It is an illness that got the best of him, and I want to celebrate him for his struggle with it, and celebrate his beautiful soul,” he said. “He was profoundly gifted, and we will miss him every day.”
His household described his practically two-decade-long expertise with bipolar disorder as a “valiant struggle.”
Robert Carradine died this week at the age of 71. His household said he had bipolar disorder, and the “illness … got the best of him.” Getty Images
Carradine’s older half-brother, fellow actor David Carradine, died of asphyxiation in Bangkok in 2009, which the youthful Carradine had said contributed to the decline of his own mental health, according to GWN. Soon after that incident, he was identified with bipolar disorder.
In 2017, GWN reported that in 2015 he had been in a car crash as a end result of being in a “psychotic state,” which he claimed was due to his being taken off his medication.
It’s estimated that 7 million Americans are bipolar, which carries one of the best suicide charges of any mental sickness.
What is bipolar disorder?
Formerly identified as manic depression, bipolar disorder is a mental sickness that causes “extreme mood swings,” according to the Mayo Clinic. Emotional highs, also identified as mania, are often accompanied by extreme depression.
The temper swings themselves can have an affect on other components of a particular person’s life, from the standard of their sleep to their quantity of power and their means to assume clearly.
Carradine is best identified to millennials as the dad on “Lizzie McGuire.” ©Walt Disney Co./Courtesy Everett Collection
What are the three different varieties of bipolar disorder?
There are three classifications of bipolar disorder: bipolar I, bipolar II and cyclothymia.
Bipolar I is characterised by a manic episode that comes before or after a major depressive episode, and is believed to have a close genetic affiliation with schizophrenia. The Mayo Clinic provides that, in some circumstances, “mania may cause a break from reality. This is called psychosis.”
Bipolar II, however, is characterised by a major depressive episode that’s paired with a hypomanic episode — less extreme than a manic episode — but no historical past of mania.
Cyclothymia is outlined as being less extreme than major depression, but includes “many periods of hypomania symptoms and periods of depressive symptoms.”
The Mayo Clinic provides that bipolar II disorder “is not a milder form of bipolar I disorder,” but a separate diagnosis. “While the manic episodes of bipolar I disorder can be severe and dangerous, people with bipolar II disorder can be depressed for longer periods of time.”
He also starred in the “Revenge of the Nerd” motion pictures. ©20thCentFox/Courtesy Everett Collection
Who is at risk for bipolar disorder?
Carradine had said his mental sickness was triggered by his half-brother’s death. In some circumstances, major life occasions can lead to the development of mental health problems like bipolar, anxiety and depression.
The Mayo Clinic states that bipolar and associated mental health problems could be induced by “certain drugs or alcohol, or due to a medical condition, such as Cushing’s disease, multiple sclerosis or stroke.”
Unless triggered by an event later in life, Mental Health America says bipolar usually begins in adolescence, though it’s often misdiagnosed.
While no genetic hyperlink has been found, it’s thought that bipolar runs in households, and people can inherit a tendency to develop the sickness, according to Mental Health America. It could be activated by environmental components, such as the misery Carradine skilled after the loss of his member of the family.
What are the symptoms?
The two defining symptoms of bipolar are mania (or sometimes hypomania) and depression. Under those umbrellas are a vary of attainable symptoms.
Mental Health America lists the potential symptoms of mania as: “excessive energy, activity, restlessness, racing thoughts and rapid talking (also called ‘pressured speech’)”; excessive high or euphoric emotions; being simply irritated or distracted; decreased need for sleep.
In more extreme circumstances, mania can also contain “unrealistic beliefs in one’s ability and powers,” lack of judgment main to recklessness, “unusual sex drive or abuse of drugs,” aggression and psychosis.
Hypomania is described as a “less severe and more brief” type of mania.
The symptoms of bipolar-related depression embrace “persistent sad, anxious or empty mood,” modifications in sleep habits and urge for food, irritability, problem focusing and fatigue. In more extreme circumstances, suicidal ideation and makes an attempt could also be a symptom.
What is the treatment?
Many bipolar sufferers rely on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and a vary of drugs to handle their symptoms.
The most generally prescribed drugs embrace lithium, anticonvulsants and temper stabilizers, while antipsychotics, benzodiazepines and beta-blockers could also be prescribed relying upon the severity of the diagnosis.
Certain lifestyle habits can supplement the scientific interventions, like better sleep and cautious consumption of issues like caffeine, alcohol and other medication. Meditation can also be a helpful follow for people with bipolar.
While bipolar is a lifelong diagnosis, it’s starting to be better understood by clinicians and practitioners and is often manageable with the proper of help.
What other celebrities have bipolar disorder?
Kanye West’s very public battle with bipolar disorder has introduced more consideration to the sickness. Most just lately, he addressed a 2025 bipolar-related incident, calling it a “four-month long manic episode of psychotic, paranoid and impulsive behavior” that “destroyed” his life.
In an advert that ran in the Jan. 26 version of the Wall Street Journal, the rapper opened up about how his bipolar I disorder was doubtless tied to a traumatic mind injury he incurred in 2002 and was initially misdiagnosed by “the so-called best doctors in the world,” whom he said chalked his symptoms up to autism.
Gucci Mane, another rapper, has also been vocal about his schizophrenia and bipolar diagnoses, stating that he’s looking for therapeutic and medical treatment.
Other celebrities who have spoken about their bipolar embrace actors Faye Dunaway, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Mel Gibson, and singers Mariah Carey, Bebe Rexha and Demi Lovato.
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