What do people with bipolar think of this article?

I came across an article describing a prolific liar who attributes his behavior to bouts of bipolar II disorder, and am wondering what other folks think.

Bestselling author of The Woman in the Window 'lied about having cancer' | Books | The Guardian

Thank you for sharing this article, tecomsin! Unfortunately news like this increase the prejudices many people already have towards people with Bipolar and, in general, with MI. It's often used as an excuse for any bad behavior. I don't know if this person truly has Bipolar, but frankly, by reading the article, I'm not convinced. I may be wrong, though. I'm just making assumptions. But there's no doubt that news like this are often sensationalized. Sending many hugs to everyone

bipolar doesn't make you a liar. only a liar makes a liar.

his behavior is inexcusable

I totally agree with MickeyCheeky on this. I can't say what he has or doesn't have, but I think that if he has bipolar 2 or any bipolar type, there's also something else going on. I've never heard of a situation like his in a person with bipolar disorder only, not even in anyone with bipolar type 1. At least not a delusion or lie of his type.

My grandmother surely had bipolar type 1. Or at least she had a couple severe depressions and clear psychosis that included paranoia, hallucinations, and a couple delusions. It was the case that she would sometimes still believe she had ESP even after what might have been manic episodes. However, she didn't go around advertising it. That delusion would only show itself when a topic triggered the admission. She also never stopped believing a couple hallucinations she had, as impossible as they were. But again, she didn't talk about them, unless triggered.

I have bipolar type 1. I'm not prone to lying, but when I'm hypomanic or manic I can be grandiose and exaggerate a lot. Maybe tell a few white lies. But when I'm well, that eases/ends.

I think many people in this world are prone to exaggerating even when mentally well. Lying itself is pretty common in the population, so is the odd habit of believing such lies. Perhaps self esteem (or lack thereof) can play a part in this.

The whole "I have cancer" and "I worked at [a place I never worked]" could just as easily fall into the Somatic Symptoms and Other Related disorders realm. Or something else. Maybe a personality issue? Trauma/neglect.

What was striking about the article was how strongly the person wanted to lay the reason for his extreme lying at the gate of bipolar disorder. It seems like a way of avoiding responsibility... my disease made me do it. I once dated someone who was a pathological liar who invented an entire false life story of heroic service in US special forces. He didn't have bipolar. In fact he faked having ptsd symptoms due to events he had never participated in. He would have fake flash backs.

If anything he had a personality disorder. It seems like the people who published that article were willing to take the statements of an admitted liar at face value.

The gist of it was that he didn't want to admit to having bipolar so he told people he had a physical illness to excuse his behavior. Cause yeah you tell people you can't get out of bed because your bipolar they're gonna say you lazy boy you can you tell them you can't get out of bed cause you got cancer in the brain people will give you leeway. In part his lying about this might increase the stigma but he did it because the stigma existed already. It was an extremely bad decisions on his part.

Here is my experience with this. When I was young, I was a liar. I told 2 major lies. 1 that my mother abused me and 1 that I was molested by a neighbor. However, I do and did very much have severe bipolar 1 disorder and I was very delusional at the time. I take full responsibility for both of these lies but I can pinpoint to a very moment what the lies stemmed from. The first lie, I’ll never forget a teacher who I absolutely idolized told someone right in front of me that my mom was just like her mom had been (her mom had been abusive and she had had similar responses as me in high school). As soon as she made that assumption and statement, it became true for me. And, this was a lie that I felt huge grief and guilt over later because my mom is, and always has been, incredibly amazing. The second lie, was when I was sitting with a Christian “minister” she encouraged me to focus on any tragic “memories” I may have had. Well, I thought the smallest thought and then made it up, truly wanting to believe it. The truth is, I did have trauma as a young girl, I just didn’t recognize it as such until I was much older so I didn’t know to discuss and process it (which I have now done). My pdoc told my mom I was very delusional and that she couldn’t really believe anything that was coming out of my mouth. Once I was better, I went to EVERYONE I had lied to and told them the truth. It was one of the hardest things I have ever done. When you admit to something like that, you think no one will ever trust you again.

But, the truth is, I am not a liar. I have not told lies since. Even when I’ve been very, very sick, I have been honest. In fact, I think when I am manic, I am more apt to tell the brutal truth. Maybe this is because of my experience? I don’t know. But, I can tell you that as a teen I lied and Mali pupated and I was not a nice person at all. I feel so blessed that I got better and was given a second chance. When I got better, I stayed that way for 8 years. Then, when I got sick again, I was blind sighted but I had no control like I thought I had when I was young.

So, I guess yes, I do believe that people with compromised minds are capable of big lies and big manipulations but I also think that some people are psychological liars too. I think his other behaviors and doctors would need to be the judge of that.

sounds like a con artist that got caught but will never admit it is his own fault .... if not bpll it would be something else ....

Bipolar is the soup du jour lately. A celeb acts like a jerk? Bipolar. Flipping out because they dont get their way? Bipolar. " I am so bipolar to day!"
"happy or sad? It must be bipolar!"
I am sick.of.it.

Mallory sounds like someone who'd do anything to be talked about, in the hope of selling more books. Agree with others, bipolar doesn't make liars. On the upside, the article makes it very clear that statements from this author aren't trustworthy, including claims of having bipolar.

Hmmmn ... no signs of hypomania, depression or mixed episodes, just vague illusions to delusions of grandeur, but no real psychosis (which the DSM V actually claims only occurs in BP 1 anyway). To me I can see no BP2 here, or BP1 really. Bereft of more detailed information I can only conclude that he is a liar, and about having Bipolar as well. There is probably a DSMV diagnosis for him but it is not Bipolar.

P.S. This really pisses me off. Not just the guy but the lack of journalistic integrity and hard work. People with Bipolar, and mental illness in general, suffer enough stigmatisation and misrepresentation as it is.

I am a liar. I dont see it as a good trait but it is simply true. I could blame it on growing up with a narcissistic mother and a very explosive bipolar father and siblings with all sorts of mental health issues. I have had plenty of reasons to lie and watched many people lie their way through life.

My lying is my own choice though. It was mostly little white lies as a child but there was one time I told the Dr that the pain I was having had not gotten better when in reality it had. They took my appendix out because of that lie, they said I had early appendicitis but were they lying too? Who knows.

As an adult I have made good progress towards being a more honest person and I am proud of that however in an episode I do revert back to a lot of lying. My lies are things like, I will go to that appointment, I wont drink, I will go back on meds, I wont SH, Im not suicidal. Very small short lies to get what I want at the time.

The lies he has made up are beyond what I can see ever being attributed to bipolar. Severe bipolar 2? With memory lapses, jobs he never had and years of fake cancer and a fake dead family. That does not sound right to me and it is very upsetting that something like that would be published.

There is definitely something wrong with that man but the only part of the story that made a tiny bit of sense was faking a physical illness to avoid telling people about a mental one. Why would he choose something so attention grabbing though, if it was because he was depressed I would think he would choose something more mild and not want to draw attention to himself. Obviously all he wants is attention and now somehow he can have all the attention he got from his fake physical illness and now attention for his most likely fake mental illness.

That's pretty F'd up.

Some axis 2 stuff for sure, don't get much of a BP vibe as others have mentioned.

That is extensive and long-standing manipulation. If there was some episodic components that'd be different but this is pervasive and consistent for what sounds like many many years which equals axis 2.

That's also my take. I find it suspicious that he is still trying to elicit attention and sympathy, in addition to the suspiciousness of the whole story. Most people with bipolar are not consistent liars. In the original NewYorker article, the author did speak to his psychiatrist and confirmed his diagnosis of Bipolar II.
A Suspense Novelist’s Trail of Deceptions | The New Yorker

but I wonder if that doctor hasn't been taken in by all his deceptions.

He is closer to a lying sociopath using whatever means to gain readers. Not bipolar.

Thanks for the link. He is compared to that sociopath Mr. Ripley, from "the Talented Mr. Ripley." And is his family involved in the con?

One doesn't have to be bipolar to be a pathological liar. I think the guy is just FOS.