Mariah Carey Reveals She Suffers from Bipolar Disorder and Has Known for Over a Decade.
Mariah Carey is the most recent celebrity to come out with her very private struggle with Bipolar Disorder. In the past folks have commented on her irrational behavior, her moodiness and now, it all makes sense. It's not that she just CHOSE to act out, she was suffering from an unmedicated mental health problem.
Via People:
"Although she was first diagnosed in 2001 (when she was hospitalized for a physical and mental breakdown), “I didn’t want to believe it,” the superstar singer-songwriter tells PEOPLE editor in chief Jess Cagle.Carey says she finally sought treatment recently after “the hardest couple of years I’ve been through” — years of professional upheaval, an E! reality show and romantic drama.“Until recently I lived in denial and isolation and in constant fear someone would expose me,” she says. “It was too heavy a burden to carry and I simply couldn’t do that anymore. I sought and received treatment, I put positive people around me and I got back to doing what I love — writing songs and making music.”
"One of the most successful singers of all time, with 18 No. 1 hits and more than 200 million records sold, Carey spent many of her years in the spotlight suffering in silence.She is now in therapy and taking medication for bipolar II disorder, which involves periods of depression as well as hypomania (less severe than the mania associated with bipolar I disorder, but can still cause irritability, sleeplessness and hyperactivity)."
"I’m actually taking medication that seems to be pretty good. It’s not making me feel too tired or sluggish or anything like that. Finding the proper balance is what is most important,” Carey tells PEOPLE."
“For a long time I thought I had a severe sleep disorder,” continues Carey, now back in the studio working on an album due later this year. “But it wasn’t normal insomnia and I wasn’t lying awake counting sheep. I was working and working and working … I was irritable and in constant fear of letting people down. It turns out that I was experiencing a form of mania. Eventually I would just hit a wall. I guess my depressive episodes were characterized by having very low energy. I would feel so lonely and sad — even guilty that I wasn’t doing what I needed to be doing for my career.”
Mariah Carey isn't alone in her fight, singer Demi Lovato, former news anchor Jane Pauley and "The Mother of Black Hollywood" Jenifer Lewis are all bipolar. Lewis says in her memoir that it took her years to realize that she needed medication and that her grand diva behavior was a manifestation of symptoms caused by the chemical imbalance in her brain.
Carey, the mother of 6 year old twins, Moroccan Scott and Monroe, that she had with her ex-husband Nick Cannon, is making a comeback with new endorsement deals and performances ahead. We wish you all the best of luck Mariah!
