Starts Aug. 30. Seems like more of an "Oprah"-type affair than the other new syndicated daytime talk show coming up this season, "The Tony Danza Show," which will be celebrity-driven. "On her first show Jane will share stories from upcoming episodes -- from living healthy to dressing for less, facing fears to giving your house a facelift. Plus, Jane reveals some very personal stories about her life, including her struggle with bipolar disorder. Join Jane as she embraces daytime and embarks on the next exciting chapter of her life and yours!" The first week's topics include fashion shopping mistakes, the special bond sisters share, and an hour with designer Isaac Mizrahi.

I had this on while I was doing other things, so I didn't really watch that closely, but I left the show with the impression that Jane is full of herself, nearly to Oprah-level proportions, without much cause.

Also, the first show was totally all over the place, very poorly organized and came across as pretty bizarre as a result. She'd start talking about one topic, and then a montage would start of something completely different. Clearly, it's 'about stories' and comes with alot of tear jerking and overcoming adversity, blah blah.

I will probably watch tomorrow morning, just out of curiosity of what it's like when it's not trying to do too much. Jane seems very excited about it and I generally like her, so I'm willing to give it a shot, but I couldn't get past this feeling that it won't last too terribly long. You know, kind of like "This is a trivial pursuit question in the making.."

I intended to watch this because I generally think Jane Pauley was good on Dateline and as a bipolar sufferer myself, I thought maybe she could give a new spin on things.

Despite the media banging the show over my head with a mallet, I completely forgot about the show and missed it. I think the commercials came on so frequently I just tuned out when they were telling me to watch. Just from the commercials I said to myself that it didn't look like one of those shows that will stick around. I'll set up the TiVo and see what's what, I'm sorry to hear that it wasn't good though. I hate Oprah, so I need something to watch!

I'm not able to watch daytime TV, but I have a fondness for Jane Pauley from back in her Today show days. Even though I couldn't stand the horror that was Dateline, I still held her in good favor. I hope she's successful in this venture, but this format doesn't sound promising.

I'd be intersted to know if she elaborates more on her bipolar. The only thing I've heard was her interview in TIME Magazine, and the explanation seemed really flakey. Not sure if this was a product of the condensed interview format, or her:

I certainly hope (for her sake) her diagnosis was more definitive than that, because this sounds sort of shady. The steroid thing applies to anyone; not sure how that means she is bipolar...

I watched--off and on this a.m. Did not hold my attention---too much memememememememememmeme or IIIIIIIIIII throughout the bits I saw. God,it's like she had to remind everyone who she is {was}.

Her hair looked kind of bad too--very top heavy. She was wearing a plain suit too--too plain--no style. I hope Itzak can help her. Now it does seem like she's trying to come across as an "everywoman", also, inbetween reminding us all of her real news credits and longevity. She's 54 now and started (showed a clip) when she was 25 and starting with Tom Brokaw.

Now I used to like Jane--on morning shows wayyy back and Dateline. And I love Gary Trudeau--so I wanted to like her show. But..... not so much.

A segment called, "When did it get to be okay to....?" where people complain about rude/indecent/coarse behavior mostly, had promise for generating appropriate reactions to teach people anothr better way, but there was no comment after it--Jane just went to commercial.

The show is kind of boring actually. Sorry Jane.

My interest was piqued in this show after seeing Jane Pauley's interview on the Today show. Sadly, this program isn't going to fly- the one I saw today included a segment on her sister. Hon, lure us in with some good celebrity interviews, some soft news features, and then maybe you can do a "here's my family" segment. I mean, come on- she's got a ton of contacts from her stints on Today and Dateline, and she's already having to book her family? I turned to reruns of Oprah and Ellen. Too bad.

I like Jane and want her to do well but this show is not doing it for me so far. The show today was like watching an infomercial for the most part. It is also too early to introduce her best friend (shades of Gayle King) and her sister. The only member of her family that I'm interested in right now is her husband. Wouldn't it be great if her show lasts into sweeps and they bring Gary Trudeau in for a bump in ratings.

I don't know. Sometimes I really love Jane Pauly and thinks she's really great. But other times, I feel kind of disinterested in her, or even spiteful toward her. I must admit there are times I just get really frustrated with her and I hate Jane Pauley. I think about that a lot. And then I get these weird headaches... but I really do love Jane Pauley.

Watched the show today for the first thing. A few thoughts:

1) Jane's hair: looks like a very thick and heavy wig. I remember when she was on "Today" and even Dateline all the weird things about her hair (she used to have the mullet style which looked hideous). she really needs to have it thinned out!
2) The show feels like a boring ladies' coffee klatch - kinda bland. Jane seems to be trying to appeal as a "middle-class gal just like you" when we know she's not.
3) Jane needs a new stylist - she dresses very boring and plain.
4) I've never noticed it before but she has something weird about her mouth when she speaks. Kinda like the way Baba WaWa's mouth has that same weird thing going on.
5) On the positive side, Jane comes off a lot warmer and nicer than I thought she would. She always struck me as very 'cold' when she was on Today and even on Dateline - kinda a 'beige', icy personality. But so far she seems far more personable and warmer than I thought she was.

And like others, I don't think this show will have legs. Maybe a season or 2. I don't know why folks think they can become the next Oprah...the only talk show of recent years to become a hit is Ellen - but then Ellen's in a whole different league since she's a comedian and just has a natural flair that comes with that.

Jane has always had problems with her hair, and claims to have invented the phrase 'bad hair day'. There was a very good review of her show in today's NY Times (free registration required). Well, it was good in that I agree with what was said, not that it said the show is very good.

Thanks, iMissEthan, for the link to the NYT article. It expressed several of the same things I picked up from the show. I laughed when I saw this quote My life as a Hallmark card!!!

Maybe Jane will learn to do this, but interacting with an audience, and bringing them along through the course of a show, is really a special talent. I wish somebody on TWOP would do a retrospective of all the daytime talk shows that have crashed and burned. It would be interesting to see a list of all the folks who have tried, and failed, at this genre. I wish Jane the best, but unless she and her crew pick it up, she's headed toward the exit door.

I like Jane, too, and want to give her a pass because it was the first show and there's always a shakedown period, but boy, that was bad. Stupefyingly boring.

Who is Jane kidding? She lives in ritzy digs on the Upper East Side, has loads and loads of money and she thinks the folks on her show are "like her"? Only if they're millionaires+.

And from the NY Times review of her show:



As the daughter of one with bipolar disorder I can tell you that it's not a "brief struggle". It's a lifelong illness that has to be ongoingly managed as it is not cured.




Agreed. While I was glad to hear her speak out about bipolar since it is very misunderstood by many, I felt like she might never had shared this publicy had it not been to market her book and TV show. And that just feels so slimmy and manipulative.




Agree wholeheartedly. It did make Jane seem much more down to earth than other TV folks since she wasn't making everything "all her her" and as the article went on to say, she never spilled stuff about her marriage or kids.

She seems like a nice gal, but I hardly see this show running for long (but then I don't understand how "Living it Up with Ali and Jack" ever made it to air - is it still on? If so, someone should just pull the plug on it, it's so bad, IMO).

This validates my suspisions posted above somewhat, IMO. Jane, if taking steroids gave you mood-affecting side effects? Not bipolar. If she's really bipolar, than I'm glad she was able to get it under control fairly easily, and is now increasing public awareness of it. If she isn't, though, shame on her for trivializing what can be a very, very tough road for a lot of people and their loved ones.

formergr, I've read several interviews in which Jane explains how she developed bipolar (and by the way, one has to already have a chemical predisposition to bipolar to even develop it - everyone who has this predisposition won't develop it, it is developed as the result of environmental or drug factors).

It would seem - as I understand her interviews - that she went on the steroids for the hives and then got depressed so her doc put her on antidepressants. Now I know (from my mother's experience and researching bipolar and talking with her docs about it) that IF one is predisposed to bipolar, going on antidepressants will trigger it - I can't explain the chemical reasons why this is so, but it is. BTW, this is one reason why more and more Americans are developing bipolar - they have an underlying predisposition to it and since 50% of all Americans are on some type of antidepressants, bingo, many of them are having the BP triggered.

So as I understand Jane, it was the antidepressant that triggered it all - but she didn't completely explain this clearly since it does seem to imply that the steroids triggered it. However, steroids and bipolar do not mix - my roommate is a psychologist who is very familiar with meds and she said if someone is bipolar (or predisposed to BP), steroids can start a chain reaction that is not good.

I tuned in to watch Starting Over at 9am and found this instead. It was vv bad. It just seemed very faked and forced on the part of both Jane and her guests. I kept clicking back and forth to see if it would get better. I stopped watching when Jane was discussing the fact that she could not see her ass in the mirrors in changing rooms. Should be interesting to see how long this lasts...

I agree completely with The New York Times critic.

Jane Pauley has always struck me as an incredibly pretentious, phoney person. And cold, as someone here stated. I tuned in to her show to see if she would be any different in front of a live audience, but she hasn't changed. Her discussions with her guests, and just her whole demeanor, seemed very insincere, as per usual.

Ellen worked as a stand-up for 25 years before she got her talk show. She is used to working with a live audience, and it shows, day in and day out. She is always genuine, warm and affable. Oprah, when she started out, was right in with her audience asking questions of them and her guests. Her sincerity and friendliness shine through, day in and day out.

Jane Pauley's pretensions are as clear as saran wrap. And, admitting to bi-polar just days before her talk show started, if that doesn't smack of calculation, I don't know what does. I think she knows people like people who have come through some type of adversity, and she manufactured the whole thing. I don't know, of course. Maybe she does have it. But why start discussing it a day or so before your talk show premieres?

From watching her first two shows, I can't see where she's bringing anything different to daytime. Oprah is doing what Jane is trying to do, only better.

I'll be watching Jane the rest of the week, then, it's back to Ellen - and Oprah - for me.

Thanks, BiBella! That was the missing link for me, and very informative.

You know I wonder though if the person was different, if the reactions would be the same. Say it was Katie Couric instead of Jane Pauley? Personally Katie Couric grates on my last freaking nerve but for some reason is the sweetheart of television. If this were her show, practically everyone would be oohhing and aahhing over her regardless of how bad it is because she is Katie Couric. People haven't liked Jane Pauley since she told the truth when she was replaced on the Today show. Television suffers from ageism. Because she was willing to say what was on her mind she got labeled a bitch. I don't care if she's bi-polar just like I don't care if Micheal J. Fox has Parkinsons disease. The fact that a recognizable face is putting something as taboo as mental illness with her "celebrity" if you will, is what will get some attention to the issue. Just as MJF did with Parkinsons. I'm babbling now so I'll stop.

I tried to watch her show today, flipping between "Jane" and "The View". This show is just too sad; I don't want to cry at 10 in the morning. Between this show and Jenna Jameson's book, I need to buy some stock in Kleenex.

After all these years, Jane Pauley still has lesbian hair. Sure, maybe it's not quite as lesbian as it used to be, but still.

ITA! I forgot about the show on Tuesday, but flipped to it this morning - and then flipped away pretty quickly when I saw the husband of the woman with Lou Gehrig's disease crying rather openly. I cry very easily and I knew that watching their heartache played out for the hour (since I saw a preview of it on Monday's show) would make me bawl. I don't need more of that on my TV. Oprah is enough for me!

squirrelyQ, please don't speak for us all. That has nothing to do with why I've never particularly cared for Jane Pauley. Even when she was in her early days on Today, I found her cold and detached in a way that struck me as being too impersonal for my taste. Kinda robotic.

I can't STAND Katie Courie, so I'm not asking for that kind of personality either. But Jane just always struck me as impersonal and cold - and that has NOTHING to do with her telling the truth about why she was replaced. I always applaud anyone who will do that just as I have admired that Jane never talked about her hubby and family, as so many TV hosts are wont to do (to the point of nauseating people).

I really admired Jane, when she and other morning TV hosts - including Joan Lunden - were on Phil Donahue's show back in the 80's and Phil asked them about juggling motherhood and being a morning TV host. Joan pulled the "poor me" act about how hard it was and Jane said with a very calm voice "Phil, we have it easy. We have nannies and a car to pick us up to take us to work and to take us home. The women who really have it hard are the millions of moms - both married and single moms - who don't have any help and who have to do it on their own. But us? We have it so cushy it's not funny". I said BRAVO to that! Someone was willing to tell the truth (and put Joan in her place).

All that said, I do think Jane comes off a bit more personable on this show than I had seen her previously...and that said, I don't think this show will last. There's only so much room for talk shows and it takes someone really unique and brilliant to make one work today like Ellen Degeneres.

I couldn't agree more with you BibiBella.

The reason I have never liked Jane Pauley has nothing to do with the way she left The Today Show either. Her pretentiousness has everything to do with it. It's like she's always putting on an act for the camera.

Yes, TV does indeed suffer from ageism, especially where women are concerned. But, there are quite a few women on TV over 50 who are successful - Oprah, Barbara Walters (who, I think, is in her 70's), Joy Behar, Lesley Stahl, Connie Chung, Diane Sawyer, Carole Simpson. These are the ones who come to mind, I'm sure there must be many others. So, if Jane Pauley's talk show fails, do not blame ageism. Blame a lack of warmth and sincerity and a host and producers/writers who seem bent on bringing nothing new to daytime.

And, I do care whether a celebrity actually has an illness he/she purports to have. You can still bring attention to an illness if you don't have it. There are plenty of celebs who work for AIDS causes, for example, who don't have the virus.

There is just something sickening about the way she is talking about her alleged bi-polar illness now, when she is starting her talk show. Not at all surprising to me that she would do that, though, since I have always thought of her as somebody almost totally lacking sincerity. At least on camera.

O Wilde, back at you in agreement. If Jane's show fails, it won't have anything to do with ageism, just a lack of anything new and someone who is warm and sincere and sympathetic. While I think Jane does come off a bit warmer than she has been on the Today show and Dateline, it still comes off stiff and robotic.

With all the failed talk shows that have occurred over the past few years, I won't be surprised at all if Jane's show (and Tony Danza's too) fails. As I said, it takes something unique and special to make in the talk show arena today.

For me, what has appealed about Jane Pauley is her news professionalism, the way she handles a story and its sources with grace and tact. Her approach has been focused on the story- and not working in her personal beliefs or superfluous comments. (Juxtapose that with Katie Couric's interviews during the Olympics!!) She has kept herself out of the story- an approach I appreciate. Now that she has the talk show- and the autobiography- we're getting hit with WAY more personal information than we've had before. Grief, she was on Dateline last night with an almost-teary interview with Stone Phillips, going into her dad's alcoholism, touching on her bipolar disorder, etc. It's not that I mind she is a real human being, with the same types of problems, etc. as we all have, it's just that she is putting out all this personal information at one time, and in my perspective, it's a radical shift. Maybe it would be different if the book hadn't been released at the same time; the timing is problematic for me.

Decormaven, I hadn't thought of this before, but I agree, she's always been very private and now, all of a sudden, it's like she's turned into Kathie Lee Gifford, spilling all her private life.

I also don't think "spilling the details of her private life" fits at all with her general personality - I remember her saying in an interview last year how she's very shy and private -- so doing this whole 'spilling her guts' just doesn't feel sincere or genuine since it's so opposite of her real nature.

I agree with the private life spilling. In relation, I hav eto say it really annoys me when something terrible or an illness or something finally happens to a famous person, they make a huge deal about it and go on this crusade in the name of it. Ordinary folks deal with this stuff all the time. I mean, it's great that they can use their name to finally get some attention for it if needed, but it's really egotistical to go on and on about your "personal struggle" like you're the ony person to ever have the illness or tragedy, like ever. So annoying!

I actually set the TiVo for this only to realize that it hasn't even been picked up in my area it looks like! So I guess I can't watch the disappointment after all.

Most annoying moment from today:

Jane was talking to a teenaged girl whose sister died of AIDS. I'm paraphrasing here:

Jane: Hasn't coming on here made it a little easier?

Girl: [pauses] Well, sort of. It's really hard to talk about...

Jane: [cuts her off] Yeah, I could tell just from looking at you that it had made it easier.

Definitely a WTF moment.

My apologies, I didn't mean to lump everyone in one category. Honestly I don't really like many talk shows anymore. They just have lost that "oomph" if you will. Take Oprah for instance. I loved Oprah back in the day when she dealt with serious problems and it was for the entire hour, not half an hour of this, half an hour of that, lots of celebrity interviews cause I can get that anywhere.

I liked Oprah when she went to Forsythe, GA-ya'll remember the all white town in GA, I liked Oprah when she dealt with real issues in society-homeless kids, drug addiction(and not just to a bunch of over indulgent housewives who got hooked on prescription valium), real in the trenches gritty stuff. Her shows just aren't like that anymore. They are too "safe" for lack of a better word.

I used to watch Geraldo-there I admit it and I LIKED it. Jerry Springer bites now but it actually used to be funny because you felt that those people were real back five years ago. Montel I still enjoy. What the networks call a talk show isn't to me. Phil Donahue was a talk show, he had a panel of people with relatively the same issues. Ellen I don't consider a talk show just more of an entertainment show. Of course television isn't like it was when I was growing up either so maybe that's the problem, I'm just nostalgic.

I had an affection for Jane Pauley ever since I heard her speak about her debate experiences once. One thing that always annoyed me about her was the marked change in her conversational voice and her reporting voice. It was like she was trying to go British or something.

I always had a feeling that when Phoebe Buffay would tell people that she was "Dock-tor ReGEEEEEEEEna Pha-LAN-gee", she was always making fun of Jane. "I'm JANE PAU-lee."

I thought she was better today than yesterday. But she does this cute, coy thing that drives me up the fucking wall. I don't think I ever saw her as a serious news type: did she do it then, too? It's like she thinks she's an adorable, precocious 12-year-old. I just want to shake her and tell her that she's an accomplished, intelligent, grown-up woman, and she should act like it. Enough with the funny voices already!

I saw the dateline interview and finally, everything made sense to me. I always liked Jane. Even envied her a bit. We are around the same age. Were living in NYC around the same time.

She explained the evolution of her illness quite well, including being hospitalized on suicide watch for several weeks.

What brought it all together for me was when she revealed that in her adulthood she found out that her father was a closeted alcoholic. No one had any idea. She and her adult sister (both in their 40's) had to go to IN and get him to treatment. Little Janey has been raised in a made believe world. That is what we have all been seeing. I know, I know, it sounds like a lot of psycho mombo jombo.

Whoever said they room with a psychologist, discuss that and post later!

Oprah was a news reporter for over ten years.

Re: the Dateline interview -

I know very little about bipolar disorder - but my reaction to Jane's interview was that she overdramatized her condition. So she bought a cottage. Considering her income level, that's like me going to buy a pair of jeans at the Gap. I also found it hard to take the story of her suicide watch seriously. "I told my doctor that I now understood why that teenage girl I interviewed had thought her family wouldn't care if she committed suicide. The doctor asked if I might be more comfortable in the hospital and I said, sure."

I don't mean to be unsympathetic - I always liked Jane on Today - but I felt she was being a drama queen and the interview trivialized the severity of bipolar disorder. At the very least, I walked as a viewer unfamiliar with the disease thinking it was no big deal - which is not what others on this forum familiar with bipolar disorder are saying. I thought it was just me, but a friend who watched the interview had the same reaction.

Does anyone else have any thoughts on the interview?

I thought she was minimizing. Believe me, no matter who you are, you do not end up in a hospital for three weeks without cause, no matter what kind of money you have. A doctor has to explain why he is keeping a patient in the hospital.
The fact that she also discussed not being ready to return home made me think that there was a lot going on that she is not disclosing. Frankly, who would want to do so.
Mental health issues will turn a person's life upside down. She does not come accross to me as a drama queen, on the contrary, I think she is one of those people that smiles and works hard and says all is fine while her life is going to shit. I do believe that the mixture of menapause and medication brought this on.

When she talked about her father being an alcoholic I was not surprised, I thought there had to be some metal health history.

As far as the buying of the cottage, I think it is a big deal. It is not about the amount of money it is about the compulsivity of it. I have been to homes of mental health clients that had bags and bags of stuff from Target, rooms full of crap. Just out of control buying -that's why when I look at those TV shows about cleaning up your lives the first thing that I think of when they show those housefull of crap is "MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES ALERT".

Menopause has nothing to do with manifesting bipolar illness. Medication - such as being only on an antidepressant - does as does genetic predisposition. If one is predispositioned to bipolar, then going on an antidepressant alone will trigger the bipolar. Anyone with BP MUST be on what's known as a stabilizer drug; lithium is the most common, although there are others that are used.

BP is also triggered environmentally (but again, one has to be geneticially predispositioned for this to occur). By that, I mean that one's life goes on overwhelm at some point - it's like a computer being overloaded and crashing.

Most folks with BP have some history of mental illness in their family - depression, someone with BP who perhaps was never diagnosed, etc.

As for the genetic predisposition, BP is similar to the alcohol gene now known to exist. It doesn't mean that everyone with the BP genetic link will manifest it - that happens via medication or environmental/life pressures that push one over the brink, just as everyone with the alcoholic gene doesn't become an alcoholic.

And yes, it's the compulsiveness of Jane's purchase of the house that is a sign of BP behavior. Often it is also accompanied by spending loads of money one doesn't have, even when one is very, very wealthy.

And given that Jane achieved major, major success in her field at such a young age (she was 26 when she became the Today show co-anchor), that's another sign of BP in the making. Look at folks who achieve unusually early success (by the age of 27 or so) and you'll often find a person with BP. Their 'mania' is what gets them there at such an early age.

Famous folks with BP:
Patty Duke
Carrie Fisher
Ted Turner
Winston Churchill
Howard Hughes

If you want to understand BP really well, read the book "Moodswing" by Dr. Ronald Fieve, a leading doctor in the treatment of BP. It is excellently written in a way that lay persons can understand it and he explains the two types of BP that exist: BP I (full blown manic depression) and BP II (known as 'bipolar lite' since it's not as full blown as BP I - this is the type that Jane has). Even though BP II is not as intense as BP I in terms of the 'highs' and 'lows', it is still just as debilitating and destructive to a person if not treated with proper medication.

Thank you BibbiBella, very well put. In no way did I mean to imply that menopause would bring on bipolar disorder-just another variable.

monica53, you're welcome. But menopause is not another 'variable' in terms of why Jane's bipolar illness developed. I don't mean to sound dogmatic about this, but I don't want folks to think this is a contributing factor when I know it is not and by saying it's 'another variable' could be interpreteted by some as a possible cause of BP.

BP is very misunderstood and having a mother with this illness, I've learned more about this illness than most folks will ever know (I guess that's the journalist in me - very, very curious, so I read a lot and have talked with psychiatrists who specialize in BP), so I like to clear up misperceptions and wrong information whenever I can. BP is way more common than folks realize and it's one of the fastest-growing mental illnesses there is (including among children which is really sad, IMO, since it can be such a tough illness and one that has to be managed via medication and other things throughout one's life). Thus, the dire need for really good information to be put out there. I was hoping Jane would help in this effort but from all I've read and seen, she seems (JMO) to minimize this illness and skimcoat things.

I didn't see the Dateline show, but I did see Letterman interview her Friday night. They've known each other for over twenty years, and it was an informative, well-handled interview.

I wish her success with the daytime thing, but I won't be taping it to watch in the evenings. Maybe if Oxygen picks it up like they did for Ellen D. I'll give it a try.

Is that what that is? I always thought it was annoying (referring to the person, not the hair) middle-aged female anchor hair, as sported by Felicia Taylor on NBC in NY, Janet Davies on ABC in Chicago, and Leslie Stahl on 60 Minutes (although she is a decent journalist).
I'm surprised Ann Curry hasn't adopted this look.

I completely agree that this show is mind-numbingly boring. I hope that when it gets canceled, all the stations that dumped Starting Over for this garbage get what they so rightfully deserve.

I agree its incredibly boring. I'm watching right now, my 1 year old niece got the remote and that's where the channel went. I don't even know what it's about because it's so damn dull. Sorry Jane, but I just don't think you're warm or genuine enough for the talk show circuit. Stick to Dateline. Blech.

monica53and BibbiBella - thanks for the perspective and additional information. Set in that context, the Dateline interview makes a lot more sense to me.

On Today, she had Kindergarten-teacher hair. Then she went to Dateline and got the lesbian hair. It's like Romper Room went Billie Jean King.

Do tell, what is "lesbian hair"? I mean, I know the horrific hair Jane has, but how is that termed lesbian hair? Many thanks!

Even if she does have bipolar, why did she reveal it a day before her talk show premiered and her book came out? And why reveal now that her father was an alcoholic? Why all the revelations now?

A calculated move, obviously. Ellen has come through a lot in her life. As has Oprah. Guess Jane had to think up something too, as viewers might think of her as just another rich New York socialite, who has had a pretty easy life, which she has.

With this bipolar tie-in to her talk show and book premiere, any respect I had for her, which was next to none since I have never, ever liked her, has gone out the window. And her bloody talk show is B-O-R-I-N-G.

BibiBella, I'm assuming "lesbian hair" would be that short pixie thing she started doing on Dateline. Stereotypical, yes, ugly, more.

BibiBella,you have my true apology. I don't know what the heck I am talking about. Have been home for two weeks (post surgery sick leave, on meds).

I am in the mental health field, and do see a staggaring increase in the amount of the diagnosis of bipolar disorder. I must say, though, that I often question it as being "in vouge" since people use the term "bipolar" without a true diagnosis.

As far as children are concerned,...Don't even get me started!

monica53, no problem. I can understand your suspicions since there are always certain illnesses (ADD, ADHD, bipolar, etc.) that all of a sudden start being applied to people who don't really have it. And that's a real problem.

That said, I know many folks who need to be properly diagnosed as BP but who aren't because so many docs miss it. One usually goes into a doctor for depression (the low of BP) without even realizing that the highs are not normal. So the doc puts them on antidepressant which triggers the BP way, way worse. Anyone with BP thinks the 'highs' are just that they're feeling extra great, having an extra wonderful week and that it's the rest of the world who's dull. And then when they crash into a low, they just think they're having a bad week.

I saw my mother go through about five docs in 3 years before she finally got the proper diagnosis and the right medication. It was a living hell....and totally amazed me how many docs missed the correct diagnosis. She said her current doc said it's because so many psychiatrists are not trained in treating BP which is almost its own field in terms of specialization, etc.

And there is a huge number of children who truly do have bipolar who need meds - in fact, many of these kids are misdiagnosed as ADD or ADHD. Our way overstimulating environment is one reason why these kids are all developing these illnesses - it's like being assaulted every day with too much stimulation and kids just can't handle it the way adults can (and even adults get stressed out from it, so imagine what it does to kids).