%0 Journal Article %@ 1096-4673 %A Mandla, A %A Billings, J %A Moncrieff, J %D 2017 %F discovery:10047103 %I TAYLOR & FRANCIS INC %J Issues in Mental Health Nursing %K Science & Technology, Life Sciences & Biomedicine, Nursing, Psychiatry, PREVALENCE, SPECTRUM %N 10 %P 858-864 %T "Being Bipolar": A Qualitative Analysis of the Experience of Bipolar Disorder as Described in Internet Blogs %U https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10047103/ %V 38 %X In the light of debates about the nature of bipolar disorder (BD), the current article presents a thematic analysis of Internet “blogs” by self-identified bipolar sufferers. Extreme and frequent fluctuation of mood was considered the principal feature of BD, along with a broad range of other problems. BD was often invoked as an explanation for life difficulties or lack of achievement, and was mostly regarded as a brain disease. Most bloggers emphasized the importance of drug treatment, along with the self-management techniques. The blogs present a “bipolar identity,” which is much broader than traditional definitions, are based on a medicalized model of the disorder, and are connected to the moral function of enabling people to externalize unwanted aspects of the self. %Z © 2017 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. This version is the author accepted manuscript. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions.