The bipolar boom continues. Once upon a time, children were taught religious parables and national myths that placed their lives in a larger context of meaning, as well as stories that taught the value of hard work (The Little Red Hen), foresight (The Three Little Pigs) and perseverance (The Little Engine That Could). They learned about the young Teddy Roosevelt overcoming his childhood asthma through strenuous exercise, and the young Abe Lincoln reading by the firelight and then walking miles to return books he had borrowed. Today tomes such as Brandon and the Bipolar Bear, Turbo Max, and My Bipolar Roller Coaster Feelings Book teach the little ones the importance of psychotropic medication compliance.
Just over a year ago, the New York Times Magazine ran a cover story titled "I don't believe in God, but I believe in lithium," which chronicles author Jamie Lowe's experiences as a client of the psychopharmaceutical industry. At the age of 17 she was hospitalized for bipolar disorder and held down and forcibly injected with some kind of psychiatric medication (she doesn't tell us which kind) and then prescribed lithium. Now, after 20 years of taking lithium, she suffers from irreversible kidney damage and sky-high blood pressure.
