Stephen Fry.

Totally fascinating documentary on BBC last night with the actor Stephen Fry bringing us on a journey through manic depression and bi polar disorder.

His main point seemed to be that his fear of the remedy (lithium) was greater than his fear of the depressions he goes through, and that he would not swap his mania for anything ...not all the tea in China was his exact phrase.

He was talking about the highs and lows of life, there are drugs that take away your ability to feel, but for him this "zombie" state would be a fate worse than death (and he's checked that out at close quarters a few times too)

I am in agreement with him here, although i am fortunate not to suffer with those illnesses, i do have some identification when he talks about the highs and lows of life, a guy once told me the secret to life was balance, calm, no highs or lows, just a serene calm that you felt on the inside.

I distinctly remember thinking.... how bloody boring...i'd hate a life like that, but until watching last night i actually had no idea why.... life is supposed to be highs and lows,... you can't feel one without the other... people who pretend otherwise are liars, so the feel good all the time merchants are just as buggered as the feel miserable all the time ones... the thing is... once we accept this, we can begin to work on it, we're dealing with reality now rather than some form of denial.

Some days life will feel wonderful

Some days life will feel desperate.

Otherwise it will just be plain boring.