A new book by Army General Gregg F. Martin entitled Bipolar General (2023) is a memoir of a very smart officer (West Point, MIT) with bipolar disorder, previously called manic-depressive disorder. He managed to get huge amounts done during his manic phases, mostly conceal his depressive ones, and thereby get promoted to a very senior army rank. Now he’s written about his experiences. Reviews of the book are available in several places.
If this sounds odd to you, it certainly would have to me too, if I hadn’t known a similar individual some decades ago. The fellow I knew was physically large, played varsity football in high school and college (offensive line), turned down an NFL offer, got a doctorate, taught Ed. Administration at a state university, did OD consulting, married and divorced, was arrested but perhaps never convicted, and more.
Like General Martin my friend found ways to harness his manic phases to be effectively supercharged, as though he were taking meth or cocaine (which he definitely wasn’t). He could sort of trigger the manic phase, play football on an adrenaline high, then crawl into his dorm room and have a depressive “hangover.” Did the same in grad school, and in later life.
He said he felt invincible when manic, like he couldn’t be hurt or stopped (or arrested). As a big, burly dude he was close to right, except 3-4 sheriff’s deputies did take him in. The problem he encountered was in unstructured situations (unlike football), he didn’t always show wonderful judgment when manic or depressed.
The main drug they had for his condition was lithium which worked but left him feeling lightly sedated, which as a smart guy he hated. His dilemma was take his lithium and feel dull and blah or not take it and sometimes get in trouble.
I think his university eventually let him go as medically disabled. I lost track of him some decades ago and a quick web search shows he died ten years ago.
