A mother, Liza Long broadcast her son's bipolar disorder. Long's blogpost about her son moved him in a way that helped him cope with the stigma of bipolar disorder.
In one NPR's article, it was narrated how her blog post titled "I am Adam Lanza's Mother" shook the world. Adam Lanza was the boy who openly fired at Sandy Hook Elementary School on December 2012 wherein 20 students were shot dead. Though she was not the biological mother of Lanza, her son, Eric Walton was diagnosed with bipolar disorder.
Before his proper diagnosis, Walton could get extremely violent. He would openly throw tantrums threatening his mom with suicide threats and he even wanted to take her life. At the age of 16, Eric was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. The moment Liza shared her son's bipolar journey, things turned from a gloomy battle to a positive light.
"I really felt like a failure on that day," she says. "Here I had this child, he had seen multiple doctors, multiple specialists, numerous medications. Nothing had helped my child, he had been in juvenile detention four times at that point, every time for a behavioral symptom of a brain disease."
Long's blog gathered mixed criticism. While some gave her encouragement and help options, there were those that attacked her stating that he invaded her son's privacy. Some even blamed Liza Long for her son's condition.
Eric was eventually confined to a mental health facility, wherein his mother, Liza read him her blog post. He was able to get a glimpse of what it was like to see bipolar disorder on the outsider's point of view. His mom's write up urged him to beat the stigma of bipolar disorder as he can now openly talk about it.
During his speech with TED Talk, Eric stated that he refers to his disorder as a superpower. He then added that his diagnosis helped him cope with his disorder.
"I'm really, really creative. I'm very empathetic. I have a lot of skills that teenagers don't normally have: conflict resolution, mindfulness - just things I've had to pick up over the years because it kind of helped control myself before the right diagnosis," Eric stated as part of his speech.
According to Help Guide, it is important to recognize the early warning signs of bipolar disorder. There are several contributing factors such as stress, financial difficulties, lack of sleep and genetic factors. It is important to get proper diagnosis before heading to treatment.
