It’s a reasonable concern to have, but I’ve spoken enough with him to know that he’s not out of touch with reality. I do think he’s out of sync with social reality, however, and as a result I also think this post is badly written and the anecdotes unwisely overemphasized. His willingness to step out of social reality in order to stay grounded with what’s real, however, is exactly one of the main traits that make me hopefwl about him.
I have another friend who’s bipolar and has manic episodes. My ex-step-father also had rapid-cycling BP, so I know a bit about what it looks like when somebody’s manic.[1] They have larger-than-usual gaps in their ability to notice their effects on other people, and it’s obvious in conversation with them. When I was in a 3-person conversation with Johannes, he was highly attuned to the emotions and wellbeing of others, so I have no reason to think he has obvious mania-like blindspots here.
But when you start tuning yourself hard to reality, you usually end up weird in a way that’s distinct from the weirdness associated with mania. Onlookers who don’t know the difference may fail to distinguish the underlying causes, however. (“Weirdness” is a larger cluster than “normality”, but people mostly practice distinguishing between samples of normality, so weirdness all looks the same to them.)
I was also evaluated for it after an outlier depressive episode in 2021, so I got to see the diagnostic process up close. Turns out I just have recurring depressions, and I’m not bipolar.
It’s a reasonable concern to have, but I’ve spoken enough with him to know that he’s not out of touch with reality. I do think he’s out of sync with social reality, however, and as a result I also think this post is badly written and the anecdotes unwisely overemphasized. His willingness to step out of social reality in order to stay grounded with what’s real, however, is exactly one of the main traits that make me hopefwl about him.
I have another friend who’s bipolar and has manic episodes. My ex-step-father also had rapid-cycling BP, so I know a bit about what it looks like when somebody’s manic.[1] They have larger-than-usual gaps in their ability to notice their effects on other people, and it’s obvious in conversation with them. When I was in a 3-person conversation with Johannes, he was highly attuned to the emotions and wellbeing of others, so I have no reason to think he has obvious mania-like blindspots here.
But when you start tuning yourself hard to reality, you usually end up weird in a way that’s distinct from the weirdness associated with mania. Onlookers who don’t know the difference may fail to distinguish the underlying causes, however. (“Weirdness” is a larger cluster than “normality”, but people mostly practice distinguishing between samples of normality, so weirdness all looks the same to them.)
I was also evaluated for it after an outlier depressive episode in 2021, so I got to see the diagnostic process up close. Turns out I just have recurring depressions, and I’m not bipolar.