Bipolar. Schizophrenia. Six of One Half Dozen of the Next.
Grace and peace to the brethren in the Lord, and greetings to the unsaved.
Today, I was considering the revelation that Catherine Zeta-Jones, by her own admission, has been diagnosed as having Bipolar Disorder. This term has grown in popularity in the last decade. I had never heard of it until 1998, when a friend told me that her child had been diagnosed with it.
Since that time, another acquaintance of mine has expressed concern that she too, may be bipolar. I’ve always wondered what bipolar disorder was and why there seems to be an increase of it in the last ten years or so. But, before today, my curiosity was never enough that I took the time to research it.
Today, however, I went to the encyclopedia to look for a definition for bipolar disorder. First, I looked in the Encyclopedia Britannica, 1985 edition, and could not find it. Then I looked in the Collier’s Encyclopedia, 1991 edition, and could not find it either. Lastly, I went to the Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, Eleventh Edition, which gave the following definition:
“Bipolar disorder n. (1980): Any of several psychological disorders of mood characterized usu. by alternating episodes of depression and mania – called also manic depression, manic-depressive illness.”
In other words, serious mood swings. Webster’s also gave this definition for bipolar:
“bipolar adj. (1810) 1: having or marked by two mutually repellent forces or diametrically opposed natures or views.”
This definition is highly enlightening and suggestive of the real cause of bipolar disorder. The excessive mood swings that characterize this disorder are caused by two mutually repellent forces in one person. I could stop writing now, because it is obvious where I am going with this. But I won’t.
Because I had heard somewhere that bipolar disorder and schizophrenia are the same, I decided to test this contention by looking up the definition for schizophrenia in the encyclopedia to see if it matched the dictionary’s definition for bipolar disorder. I was not disappointed.
Encyclopedia Britannica says that schizophrenia literally means, “splitting of the mind.” Do you see the similarities? If you split something, like a mind, the result will be two halves or two minds, yet, in one person. Bi-polar literally means “two poles,” yet, in one person. They are the same thing.
Now, two poles are not necessarily bad. A car battery has a positive and a negative pole, but it doesn’t explode when you turn the key. The earth has two poles: the north and the south, yet here we are. That the two forces are mutually repellent and diametrically opposed is what makes bipolar disorder problematic. That means they don’t get along. They are contrary to one another.
A car battery functions because the two poles are separate. The earth has not exploded, because its two poles are separate. Perfectly normally people are often either happy or sad. But when the two poles, or in this case, minds, are mutually repellent and are trying to come together in one person, that is a recipe for disaster. It’s like trying to touch the same poles of two magnets together. You can’t do it. They will fight each other.
I think the reason I could not find bipolar in the encyclopedia is because it is the same as schizophrenia. It has just been given a kinder, gentler name, a politically correct name. All reference to the mind have been taken out so as not to offend anyone. After all, we don’t want to offend a schizophrenic by telling him he is a schizophrenic, because he would know that he had a problem. And If he knew that he had a problem, then he might seek help. And we don’t want that, now do we?
That’s the whole idea behind political correctness. Being careful not to call something what it is. If we don’t know that something is broken, we won’t try to fix it.
We do the same thing with sin. We don’t like to call sin what it is: sin. Because if people believed in sin and the consequences of sin, they might seek help so that they could stop sinning, and we don’t want them to do that, now do we?
So, we come up with the name bipolar, because it sounds less harsh. It’s like calling a drunk an alcoholic. It makes us feel better. I could probably easily find bipolar in a modern encyclopedia because I would bet they are all politically correct. They would probably even have the term, politically correct, which, by the way, I was not able to find in my encyclopedias.
The contention that modern dictionaries and encyclopedias are politically correct is supported by the following example. Webster’s dictionary usually lists the origins and meanings for words made of foreign roots, so you will know the origin for such words. If you look up the word, schadenfreude, for example, Webster’s will tell you that it is made up of two German words: schaden meaning “damage” and freude meaning “joy.” The word literally means “to have joy at someone else’s troubles.”
Though Webster’s lists the origins and meanings of many words made up of foreign roots, it doesn’t do this with the word schizophrenia. If you look up the word schizophrenia, Webster’s will not list the root words and their meanings, but will merely give you the definition for the word. If you look up the root schizo-, however, Webster’s will tell you that it is a Greek word meaning “to split,” and if you look up the root –phrenia, Webster’s will tell you that it is a Greek word meaning “mind.” The word schizophrenia literally means “split mind.”
Webster’s Dictionary Eleventh Edition is also politically correct with the word entertain. If you look up the word entertain, Webster’s will tell you that it is derived from the French word entretenir, which Webster’s says is formed from the words entre + tenir. Interestingly, Webster’s says that tenir means “to hold,” but it doesn’t tell us what entre means. But if you go to Webster’s Encyclopedic Dictionary of the English Language, International Edition, Vol. 1, (p. 291 “Entertain”) you will learn that the word tenir means “to hold or maintain.” To entertain literally means “to hold between or suspend.” Click here for the spiritual significance of this word.
Why doesn’t Webster’s list the meanings of the two roots that make up the word schizophrenia? Could it be because the politically correct powers-that-be do not want you to know that schizophrenia literally means, “split mind?” You bet your boots it is. Because if you knew that schizophrenia meant “split mind,” then you would know that you had a problem. And if you knew that you had a problem, then you might seek help. And we wouldn’t want that, now would we?
Think about it. If someone went up to a Bible-believing Christian and said that they had been told that they have a split mind, then the Bible-believing Christian might remember that the Bible says,
“a double-minded man is unstable in all his ways” (James 1:8).
Then the Christian might tell the person that
“God has not given us the Spirit of fear, but of power, of love, and of a sound mind (READ whole mind)” (2 Timothy 1:7).
Then the person would realize that his problem was spiritual, not mental. Then, with his eyes wide open, the person might ask the Christian, “What Sir, shall I do?” Then the Christian might say, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.” And then the person might get down on his knees then and there and accept the Lord Jesus as his Saviour, and he would then be delivered from the DEMONIC ACTIVITY that is causing his problems.
Then the person, set free and wanting to let somebody know about it, might go and tell someone else he knows that is suffering from the same thing, and then that person might accept Jesus and be set free. And then that person goes and tells somebody else, who tells somebody else, who tells somebody else, until there are no more bipolars or schizophrenics. How would the psychologists and psychiatrists make a living? They might starve to death! And we wouldn’t want that to happen, now would we?
So they come up with a kindler, gentler name for it, and say, “Take this pill and call me in the morning…and the morning after that…and the morning after that…And so we follow the politically correct spin-doctors who make us feel better about ourselves instead of telling us that something is broken so that we can get it fixed. And we let them do it. For shame!
Did you know that doctors don’t have a clue what causes bipolar disorder? Did you know that according to doctors, bipolar disorder (schizophrenia) is not a disease, but a syndrome? Why, then, don’t they call it bipolar syndrome? Why, because you might look in the dictionary and find out that a syndrome means,
“a group of signs and symptoms that occur together and characterize a particular abnormality or condition” (Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, Eleventh Edition).
That means that a syndrome is not a problem, but a sign that there is a problem. So, they call it a disorder, meaning that something is “not in order,” or out of whack. You already know that!
They’re being politically correct again. They don’t want you to know that something is broken, and they can’t tell you why, because if you knew that something were broken, and that they couldn’t tell you why, then you might seek help elsewhere, perhaps even from Jesus.
And if you sought help from Jesus, then you would find it. And when you found it, then you would get better. And when you got better, then you might tell somebody. And we surely wouldn’t want that, now would we?
Schizophrenia. Bipolar. Six of one, half-dozen of the next. Both mean that something is broken that needs fixing. Both mean that a person does not have a whole mind. Jesus says he can make you whole. If you, like Catherine Zeta-Jones, have been told or suspect that you are bipolar or schizophrenic, or know someone who is, know that Jesus Christ can make you whole, if you would only ask Him. Why don’t you give him a try?
If you want to be whole, click here.
By the way, Bipolar Disorder is often a result of a generational curse and even affects many Christians and their families. Read here about generational curses and how to get free from them.
We have produced a companion audio podcast of this teaching which is available for free at the iTunes Store. You can get it by clicking here. For your convenience, it is also available below.
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As always, be encouraged and look up, for your redemption draweth nigh.
The Still Man