The One Show: Richard Dreyfuss SWEARS live on air
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The Jaws actor, who was in plenty of popular films in the 1970s, 80s, and 90s, first figured out he had bipolar at the age of 11, although he thought the condition name was “too neutral and stodgy”. Dreyfuss, born and raised in Beverly Hills, California, said: “I have surfed my manic depression since I was 11-years-old. I enjoyed it and made it work for me and have not known the world without it, so it’s my only known existence.”
Bipolar, or manic depression, is generally diagnosed to people who experience periods of intense depression, that follow or precede periods of “mania” where they may be full of energy, or become easily distracted and delusional.
Despite his embrace of the condition, in the past, Dreyfuss questioned its cause – wondering if the condition could’ve been prevented if he hadn’t taken marijuana.
He told Piers Morgan in 2013 on his old program Piers Morgan Live: “I said to my sister, ‘I wonder what would’ve happened to me if I had never taken any drugs’ and she said, ‘Why are you asking?’
“I said, ‘Well before that I didn’t, you know, before I smoked marijuana and all that, I was pretty normal’. And she said, ‘Don’t revise history. You were nuts when you were born’… (She always thought I was a little bit crazy)… And I was.”
The effect of marijuana on mental health is controversial. Some studies have shown cannabis is linked to the development of bipolar disorder – while others play down its effect.
The University of Warwick found evidence of a significant relationship between cannabis use and the onset of mania symptoms.
Another study of 6,800 people who experienced psychosis in Denmark found almost a third developed either bipolar disorder or schizophrenia over the next 20 years.
Other studies have found cannabis can make bipolar symptoms worse later on.
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However, on the other side of things, some researchers believe cannabis can improve bipolar symptoms.
Dreyfuss may have doubted the causes of his bipolar disorder, but in later interviews, he talked about how he was against the Bipolar Disorder’s “stigma” and concluded it was something he was born with that he doesn’t feel guilty about.
In a documentary alongside Stephen Fry called “The Secret Life of the Manic Depressive”, he said, “Stigma is silly; stigma is stupid; stigma is what other people think about you.”
He has even recalled a sense of relief about finally having a reason for some of his unusual behaviours.
“It took away all of my guilt because I found out it wasn’t my behaviour — it was something I was born with,” Dreyfuss said on the TODAY show in the US.
Dreyfuss has described the symptoms he developed as a young man.
“Every once in a while, when I was talking, I would find myself getting up and talking louder and faster and louder and faster and louder and faster, until my friends would say, ‘OK, OK. Let’s get the big circus cables and throw them around his ankles and pull him gently back to Earth,” Dreyfuss said.
The health body recommends talking about the condition, whether to friends or helpful organisations.
“Many organisations run self-help groups that can put you in touch with other people with the condition,” states the body.
“This enables you to share helpful ideas and helps you realise you’re not alone in feeling the way you do.”
Some organisations the NHS recommend are Bipolar UK, Carers UK, Mind, Rethink, Samaritans, and SANE.
It also points out there are courses available for people who feel “distressed” or “uncertain” about their condition. The organisation Self Management UK runs such courses.
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