Writing Assignment \"Gorilla and the Bird\" PDF

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Essay about a book Gorilla and the Bird....

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Questions for "Gorilla and the Bird" 1. Do you think Zack has bipolar I or bipolar II disorder? How do you know? What symptoms does he have that point to the diagnosis you gave him?

Zac has bipolar disorder I because he has manic episodes. Zac once met a producer at his open mic, and they became friends. The producer had an idea of filming a film with Zac, and the idea was that Zac would do anything for the film. One day, Zac finds himself in the subway naked as the police officers approach him, and try to help him taking him to the station. Zac thinks it is all part of the “film” they are trying to make and has no idea that everything that is going on is real. Also, he soon finds himself in a mental hospital still thinking it is all part of the film making. In the mental hospital, they told him he is bipolar and that he had a psychotic break. He was at the time on two medications, Depakote and Risperdal and the doctors at the mental hospital wanted him to stay on these drugs. After he was released and his mother promised to take care of him, he and his mother went back to Zac’s apartment. Once they got to the apartment, Zac had looked at himself in the mirror and saw what he hadn’t before. He realized he hadn’t slept correctly in months. He had dark circles under his eyes as if someone has punched him, and his pupils were dilated beyond belief. He describes as he was looking at his eyes that his eyes looked psychotic. He then realized he had a psychotic break and collapsed in the corner of his bathroom. He was saying how he had gone insane and psychotic, but his mother kept calming him down saying how everything is going to be okay. After that, he started experiencing his manic episodes. He did not want to be depressed, and he was trying to fight it, but he soon realized that he needed a psychiatrist. So, he got one; Dr. Singh. When he was going to his first session with Dr. Singh, he had his first suicidal thoughts in the Subway. When he got to the doctor’s office, the doctor explained to him what bipolar one is. Also, the doctor told him what the symptoms for bipolar I are:

1.

Inflated self-esteem or grandiosity.

2.

Decreased need for sleep.

3.

Intensified speech. (Loud, rapid)

4.

Rapid jumping around of ideas or the feeling that thoughts are racing

5.

Distractibility. (Attention easily pulled away by irrelevant/unimportant things)

6.

Increased goal-directed activity or psychomotor agitation.

7.

Excessive involvement in pleasurable activities that have a high-risk consequence.

The doctor also explained to Zac, that some people might have manic episodes because of smoking marihuana, and they do not need to be bipolar. He advised Zac not to smoke marihuana for a little bit, only to see if his manic episodes were because of that. Zac agreed to this. The doctor also took him off his meds and gave him Lamictal instead. He said that most patients have no side effects with this medication. Another interesting thing the doctor has mentioned was the Truman Show delusion. He explained that people with this delusion become convinced that they are the stars of their own reality TV show.

2. Describe the side effects that Zack experiences from his medications. Discuss why you think many patients with bipolar disorder do not want to take their medications Zac’s hair was falling out, he was drooling, and he was impotent. He could go for minutes without realizing he was awake, and he gained ten pounds in one week. He was told that the sexual side effects were from the medication he was using, Risperdal. Also, weight gain is common from the Depakote. Zac didn’t want to take the medication because of the side

effects, but he was told if he doesn’t use it , he will almost certainly have severe depression, and he would be in high risk of having grand mal seizures. However, Zac stopped taking his meds. Even though the seizures never came, the severe depression did. He started to drink and smoke his problems away, but it did not help.

I think the reason why bipolar patients do not want to take their medications is the same reason why Zac stopped taking them. Because of those side effects.

3. Manic episodes are frightening for people around the person with bipolar disorder, but not usually as upsetting to the patient himself/herself. Comment on why this discrepancy occurs. Illustrate with examples from the story. One of the examples in this book when Zac was having an episode, was when he and his friend Jonas were driving home. They soon realized they were going in circles and that they were lost. Zac started saying things to Jonas that made no sense. For example: J: “Dude do you know where we’re going?” Z: “Well no, but I know how to get us there.” J: “Do you realize you're making absolutely no sense?” Zac’s thoughts were cycling so quickly that he could not keep them in his head for more than a second. Suddenly, Zac jumped out of the car and started sprinting down the road. He also started stripping as he ran. As he got back into the vehicle, Jonas was driving him to the hospital, and Zac began to hit his head against the passenger side window and told his friend Jonas: “Just throw me out of the car.”. Zac was having a manic episode. Zac knew he needed to go to the hospital, but he was subtle about it. It felt normal to him to run through the street naked. However, for Jonas, it was not a normal thing to do. His friend was not acting as if he was okay and it must have been terrifying for Jonas because he did not know what to do in that situation. That is why is it worse for a person to see the other person

acting out of bipolar disorder. The person does not know what is going on, but the person with bipolar disorder feels as if it was normal at that moment.

4. What do you think Zack's prognosis is? That is, how do you think he will do in the future? How do you think his story might be different if his mother wasn't there for support? Unfortunately, I think Zac is going to keep having his manic episodes. Even though he has found a little way to calm himself by writing stuff down on a sheet of paper, I do not think it will help that much. It might help sometimes, but not all the time. His mother is a significant character in Zac’s life story. She was the one person who has believed in him from the beginning even though she knew something was not right. She always kept telling him that everything is going to be okay. Also, when he was hospitalized, his mother kept showing the doctors Zac’s old pictures, and she kept saying how that is her son, how loving and strong he is, and that he would never hurt anyone. She always stood by his side and believed in him. She knew how to talk to Zac, and she knew how to calm him down over the years. That is why Zac has always called her; he wanted to hear her voice, to calm himself down. His story might have been a lot different if his mother would not be there to support him. It might have maybe ended for Zac in suicide because he was so frustrated with being bipolar and that he did not choose to be this way.

5. Do you know anyone with bipolar disorder? What types of behaviors does that person exhibit? I do not have anyone in my life with a bipolar disorder, and I have never even met anyone who knew someone with this disorder. Moreover, when I read this book, I am glad I do not know anyone who has bipolar. I do not mean that in a bad way, but I would feel very sad for those people and I do feel sorry for Zac. I cannot imagine how hard it must have been for him

to experience all of this. I only wish there was a cure a person could take. Moreover, all of these manic episodes, bad feeling and depression would go away easily....