Talking bipolar: Honey Singh's confession bring celebrities to forefront

Yo Yo Honey Singh’s confession that he’s suffering from a bipolar disorder has brought to the forefront celebrities who suffer from mental illnesses and how it affects their lives — both in and out of the public eye.

While Honey Singh may be one of the few Indian celebrities to have come forward about it, a number of international celebrities too have openly spoken about their struggles. Most notably, singer Demi Lovato, and actresses Catherine Zeta-Jones and Linda Hamilton also suffer from the illness, also known as manic depression.

While the term “bipolar” is loosely used to describe anyone with mood swings — particularly someone who gets angry very often — the actual disorder itself is nuanced and, sometimes, misunderstood.

“The characteristic feature of this disorder is that the person swings between intense happiness and intense sadness. Some people can be very depressed for a few months, not wanting to work or interact with people, the next few months they can be very productive, energetic and creative,” says clinical psychologist Pulkit Sharma.

There’s also no fixed duration for these bouts of happiness or sadness: Some can remain stable for years before spiralling downward again. “If the doctor doesn’t check the person’s medical history or ask if he or she has also had highs at times, this can lead to a misdiagnosis,” explains Pulkit.

Speaking about her own battle with the illness, Demi had revealed she would take up a lot of work during her manic (high) phase, but then “would come crashing down” and be “more depressed than ever”.

With more and more celebrities willing to talk about their mental health issues, dealing with it can become much more easier. As Terminator star Linda said in an interview, “Somebody needs to come out and make this okay for people to talk about and get help and take advantage of the resources.”