Bipolar Disorder And Phobia

People with bipolar disorder are prone to social phobias that can make managing the disorder even more challenging.

These traits represent general features of social anxiety including fear of social disapproval*, childhood social anxiety, excessive agreeableness, behavioral submission, and somatic anxiety* that can result in symptoms such as trembling*, blushing and sweating*.

Researchers also found that bipolar sufferers were prone to some specific phobias, including, but not limited to, such social fears as fear of dating*, fear of eating** or writing in public, fear of using public washrooms, shopping fears***, fear of speaking**** and fears of unstructured social interactions*.

Understanding these phobias can guide the development of tailored treatment strategies for people with co-existing mood disorders and social phobias.

*I have these phobias and symptoms.
**I have the eating phobia of not being able to eat chicken on the bone in public!
***I shop mostly online for almost everything that I can't get at the grocery store or pharmacy/convenience store near my house.
****I can't speak extemporaneously. I need a script, or at least a detailed agenda.

In addition, I have an horrendous fear of driving to places I am not familiar with. I now use both a GPS and Mapquest directions to help me. I use the GPS even in my relatively small town! I also hesitate to go places because I'm afraid I will get confused about where to park (in the city, like downtown. I have never driven there.).

These can be totally debilitating at times. But one learns to cope. That's why I've been going to therapy once a week, pretty much uninterrupted, since 1982.


Today marks the sixth day of Mental Health Awareness Week in the United States. I dedicate this week to, thus, raising awareness here and around the world.

The week started with this revealing blip.

Laurie