Bob, bipolar disorder and meth use
I'm at a place in my hyperfixation where I'm researching Meth addiction (I'd already researched Bipolar disorder) and oof what a dangerous mix for someone's mental health *insert sweating emoji*.
Meth has almost all the same effects than a manic episode has with someone with Bipolar (+ much worse physical side effects & creating dependence). From the few sources I've read it's a very unpredictable concoction that can cancel each other out or just make the symptoms of Bipolar exponentially worse. Which also makes it very hard for practitians to diagnose because of their similar effects/symptoms on mood regulation.
It opened up a lot of questions and stuff to explore with Bob's backstory (and story within the fic I'm writing). For example, I'm pretty sure Bob has never been properly diagnosed for his Bipolar. He said he's had these moods since he was young (so not caused by his meth use, which can happen) but doesn't use any diagnosis by name (let's step aside the exec reason for that). He only described what he's been feeling. His meth addiction could explain 1) Why he didn't receive a lot of good mental health care in his life, less accessible for him but also 2) why he was never diagnosed with Bipolar.
Another question that arises with that is, why use meth? He might not have consciously chosen meth as 'his drug', it could've been an unfortunate sequence of circumstances. Although he did start by being addicted to another drug in middle grade/high school. Opioids I think? (Ah if someone could find me his file from the movie in a good enough resolution. I've been searching for it!) Then he switched to meth later on. So why? Well, so far my hypothesis is that Bob has much longer and frequent episodes of depression between his manic episodes. And he might 'miss' these manic episodes, since they at least don't make him feel, well, s*******. So he might have started to take meth because it's a stimulant that recreates those highs. Thing is, it'd mess up with his body much more than that.
I'd be interested in hearing people's opinion on this.
