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Jenifer Lewis Gets Real And Opens Up About Her Bipolar Disorder

Mental Health

One of the most popular stage and film actress of her time is Jenifer Lewis. She is widely known for being a part of several Broadway musicals and of course being a part of the films such as Sister Act, Beaches, What’s Love Got To Do With It, The Wedding Ringer and more, which is why she is dubbed as the Black Mother of Hollywood, she even released a book this year with that as a title and it contains her experiences in life and career and one of the major things she talked about is her bipolar disorder and what exactly it is like to live with it.

LEWIS ON HER MENTAL HEALTH

The triple threat actress talked about her mental health on her new memoir as she suffers from the good and bad days while living with bipolar disorder. She is of course not the only one or not the only actress who is actually struggling with it, however, the 60-year-old stage and film actress actually thought that the symptoms of bipolar disorder such as severe mood swings, getting addicted to different kinds of things, having dramatic outbursts and more, are actually just part of her personality.

Lewis revealed in her new book that she has been living with her bipolar disorder ever since she was at the age of 20. In fact, she even considered it as an insult when her therapist told her about it. The triple threat actress thought that just because she was suffering from a mental illness, it automatically made her mentally unstable which is like being insane and would need to be in a mental facility of some sort.

She even described how she gasped when her therapist basically explained to her all the symptoms she’s been experiencing, such as being able to talk and walk really fast, creating drama out of nowhere that would end up with her fighting with people. The singer and actress thought that it is just who she is and that it is a part of her, she never thought about herself being mentally ill.

BEING IN DENIAL

What Lewis focused on was the fact that she was indeed in denial and it even reached to the point that she actually haven’t taken any form of treatment or medication for her bipolar disorder despite her diagnosis. In an interview with the Root, she even said that mani is exhausting and that the medications are only for those who are getting treatment for the serious psychiatric disorder. She admitted that she believes that the manic episodes could totally ruin someone’s life as well as their family’s life because of it.

Lewis also admitted that writing this book nearly killed her since it is was that difficult especially trying to recall all those feelings and experiences that are simply giving her nostalgia. She even had to read through her 63 journals that she has been keeping ever since she was in the 7th grade. Writing this book was apparently the biggest challenge she had to face since there are numerous times that she just wants to stop it all and quit. However, her aim to be able to share her story and be able to inspire people got the best of her that’s why she managed to finish it.

WHAT EXACTLY IS BIPOLAR DISORDER LIKE?

There are actually a lot of types of bipolar disorder and this is all according to the National Institute of Mental Health. It would all depend on the graveness as well as the symptoms so it is always best to check with your psychologists if ever you think you are becoming bipolar. People may become impulsive, irritated, and are losing sleep more than usual according to the president of the Brain and Behavior Research Foundation, Dr. Jeffrey Borenstein. The most common types of bipolar disorders are bipolar I and II, with the bipolar I, there may be episodes of mania as well as depression whereas those who may have bipolar II may experience a more severe kind of depression especially with the feeling of hopelessness and having difficulty sleeping or staying asleep most of the time.


Lewis wrote her book to be able to encourage and inspire people who have a bipolar disorder or the people who know someone who is suffering from it. It is indeed far from easy, which is why she is using her social status to be able to spread awareness when it comes to this matter.

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