Identity And Hidden Identity

Society has become very comfortable with the idea of grouping everyone. Many have lost sight of the fact that before someone is black or white, whatever culture they are, or where they have derived from – they are human. The world we live in today is being defined by a series of social connections, and we can no longer allow others to create their own identities. When a child is born, he or she are no longer simply brought into a familiar identity, but along with that comes a racial, national, economical, religious, social and historical identity – which is all determined before we even are able to push out our first breath. An identity based on the actual character of a person is developed later in life, long after those predetermined identities

Some signs and symptoms of a manic episode are: increased energy, activity, and restlessness; excessively high, overly good, euphoric mood; racing thoughts and talking fast, jumping from one idea to another; distractibility or lack of concentration; spending sprees; poor judgment; increased sex drive; and denial that anything is wrong (Nevid, Rathus, & Greene, 2006). A manic episode is diagnosed if elevated mood occurs with three or more of the other symptoms most of the day, nearly every day, for one week or longer (Psychology Today, 2011). If the mood is irritable, four additional symptoms must be present.

Several of the mania symptoms include increased energy, restlessness, euphoric mood, extreme irritability, poor concentration, sleeplessness, abuse of drugs, and heightened sense of self-importance. Depressive symptoms include sad mood, hopelessness and pessimism, feeling of helplessness, loss of interest in activities, fatigue, sleeplessness or sleeping too much, change in appetite, thoughts of death or suicide. These two episodes go back and forth between normal moods. Mood episodes with symptoms of both manic and depressive symptoms are called episodes with mixed features. While experiencing a mixed episode, a person’s state of mind contradicts itself while he may feel sad and hopeless but extremely energized at the same time

The symptoms for manic episodes are an elevated self-esteem, need for sleep drastically decreases, talkative, feel the need to keep talking, racing thoughts, attention span decreasing making it hard to focus on important things, excessive involvement in activities with bad consequences, such as bad financial investments, shopping sprees, impulsive, unprotected sex, deeply driven at work or school, and may become agitated.

Lately my mornings are spent getting up between 5:30am and 6am. I get myself ready, I never look fantastic just passable, and I go to work. Part of my morning routine is getting my dog, Donovan, ready for the early part of his day as well. We go to the yard for his bathroom routine, we go inside where I feed him his diet dog food and inject him with insulin, we go upstairs where I place a new diaper wrap around his mid-section (dogs with diabetes leak, who knew?), and he goes back to bed to sleep beside my husband. After we say our goodbyes I head to work, or school, or whatever adventure life has for me that particular day. Rinse, wash, repeat. I had no idea when I was in my teenage years that my life at 32 years old would be a tattooed, married, full time working, full time schooling, boring, Puerto Rican, animal lover. Well, the animal loving part I knew since I was maybe 2.

When in a manic state, a person will typically show behaviors that include being very high energy, feeling very “up”, having increased activity levels, having trouble sleeping, talking really fast, thinking they can do a lot of things at one, feeling very reckless, doing risky things, and more (1). These symptoms are notably different compared to the typically behavior of the person and one can tell a distinct change in behavior. The depressive episode is characterized by symptoms that include feelings of depressed mood for most of the day, loss of interest in activities/things that normally would be pleasurable, significant weight loss or gain, changes in appetite, fatigue or lack of energy, feelings of worthlessness or guilt, and/or recurrent thoughts of death or suicide

A manic episode is characterized by an abnormality of mood that is euphoric, expansive, and elevated or irritable with increased energy, along with signs and symptoms such as inflated self-esteem or grandiosity, decreased need for sleep. Pressure of speech or being extremely talkative, racing thoughts or flight of ideas, distractibility, an increase in goal-directed behavior, agitation, poor judgment and impulsive decision making are more signs and symptoms of a manic episode. A manic episode can result in unwise and potentially dangerous behavior. Destructive behaviors can often occur with spending money, sexual

In 2008, I was diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder. My life felt like it was in shambles. I was easily annoyed, depressed, mood swings, and never could keep a job. I continuously was pulling my life together and trying to prove to myself and those around me that it was them with an issue not me. I couldn’t maintain friendships and I was very nonchalant about things going on around me. My life was hitting rock bottom and it wasn’t until I went to the Hope Center for relief.

People feel they need to keep parts of their identity a secret because they feel people won’t understand and they think people will judge them. Finding your voice is a key factor when trying to find the courage to open up about your identity as it teaches you to trust the people around you and to take risks. The 2 books I read were The Hate You Give by Angie Thomas and Turtles All The Way Down by John Green. The Hate You Give is about a young girl named Starr and her journey to find her voice after being a witness to her close childhood friend, Khalil, being shot by a policeman. Starr attends a private school outside her community, so she often has to conceal part of her identity.

These episodes last for a minimum of one week, and “If untreated, a manic episode usually lasts three to six months” (Wikipedia.org). These elevated moods may seem good, but they can cause the person to make bad decisions. They may experience a shortened attention span, racing thoughts, rapid speech, and an increased drive for goal-oriented activities. Their judgement will also be impaired by the period of mania. They may feel as if they have superpowers or are “chosen” for a mission. This causes them to make decisions that could hurt themselves. People experiencing manic episodes also have a history of substance abuse. They often require hospitalization during these episodes. Hypomania is characterized by the same symptoms, but it is much shorter and doesn’t have quite the impact on the person’s life as a manic episode

In 2012, I was diagnosed with bipolar II disorder and since then have tried a variety of different medications and treatments to find a way to stabilize my moods. Recently, with the help of Lithium I have felt better and definitely more stable but far from cured and I am still always weary of having an episode. One of the hardest parts of living with bipolar disorder does not even have to do with its effects; it has to do with not knowing what causes myself and many other people around the world to feel this way and every new piece research that comes out brings us one step closer to figuring it out.

The author, Kay Jamison talks about her life with bipolar I disorder in her book, An Unquiet Mind. Jamison was a Caucasian woman who at the age of forty seven wrote this memoir. Currently she is seventy years old and dealing with her disorder. She spent her life moving around a lot because her father was an air force pilot. She grew up with an older brother who was very caring and an older sister that she bumped heads with. Kay’s father was a really delightful person. His emotions were contagious. Her mother was always helpful and caring for her family no matter how busy she was. Kay’s parents were supporting in all her interests; such as pets, poetry, science, and medicine. When she was fifteen, things took a turn and her family moved to California for her father’s new job as a scientist. Her father began to show worsening signs of depression. Around the age of sixteen, Kay realized that she was having mood swings that were very drastic. In her senior year of high school, she had her first manic depressive attack. She started her undergraduate study at UCLA dealing with her constant depression and manic episodes. As she was studying as an undergraduate, Kay began to take an interest in psychology. She pursued her PhD in psychology at UCLA again studying mood disorders. As a graduate student, she also began working in the psychiatric ward and dealing with marital problems in her first marriage. She was slowly spiraling out of control until she had a terrifying

A manic episode is a period of abnormally and persistently elevated, excitable or irritable mood lasting for at least one week and present most of the day. Other symptoms include inflated self-esteem or grandiosity, more talkative than usual or pressured speech, racing thoughts, decreased need for sleep, distractibility, increased in goal-directed activity and excessive involvement in activities that could have a high potential for painful consequences.

Many people question themselves, what is it exactly that makes them unique? What is it that defines them as a unique person that no one in the world possesses? In philosophy, these questions do not have just one answer, and all answers are correct depending on which theory appeals most and makes sense to you. In general, there are two ways people approach this question, some say that a person’s identity is the “self” that carries all of their experiences, thoughts, memories, and consciousness (ego theorists), and some say that a person’s identity is just a bundle of experiences and events that a person has been through in their life, these people deny that the “self” exists (bundle theorists). In this paper, I will be arguing that a person’s identity is just a bundle of experiences, denying the self and the memory criterion.