Interview

During this time, I continued to investigate the situation of people with bipolar disorder in China.

I conducted an interview with 7 people with bipolar disorder living in China to gather information about their current situation and distress in living in China. I also conducted an interview with a younger group of 15-30-year-olds and an older group of 30-60-year-olds to collect their views on people with bipolar disorder.

Questions for people with bipolar disorder

• If possible, do you want people to not know about this problem?
• At what point would you deliberately conceal this problem?
• on the other hand, do you ever specifically want people to know about the problem?
• do you feel that others avoid you because of your problem?
• would it cause problems for your family if others found out about your problem?
• does your family want to keep others from knowing about your situation?
• do you feel that people around you really understand you?
• do you want people to understand you?
• was there a moment when you felt you were not really understood? Would you like to share an example?
• Have you ever felt ashamed or embarrassed (lost face) because of your problems?
• Do you think the current environment in China is unfavourable to the survival of people with bipolar disorder? For example, being accused of abnormal behaviour in China, a social environment that seeks harmony and unity.

Summary

They did not find it difficult to talk about their problems and wanted to communicate with people. Still, because mental illness is not massively accepted and understood by everyone, they would hide their problems at specific times. When asked when they deliberately hide their problems, they answered: relationships/searching for a job/work and socialising/work/social work. This means that they still favor hiding their condition when they are in contact with the outside world. This means that in today’s environment in China, there is still a stereotype of mental illness or a fear that the other person will mind, and people with bipolar disorder are not able to fully reveal their condition. I’m thinking that when we catch a cold, we don’t fear that people will know, even if there is a possibility of contagion. Instead, we are more likely to tell the other person that we have a cold so that they will care for us. I wonder if this would be alleviated if mental illnesses were better publicised and bipolar disorder was made more accessible to the general public.

I was deeply touched by the answer of one of the patients because her mother did not understand her and preferred to believe that she was possessed by a ghost rather than the test results. As Chinese people, especially the older generation, are not familiar with mental illness. Also, because of cultural differences, Chinese people will always see mental illness as a ghost or a higher punishment. And because it is common for doctors in China to exaggerate their illnesses to make money, the authority of doctors is questioned.

Questions for view on people with bipolar disorder

• Are you aware of bipolar disorder?
• If so, how did you learn about it?
• Bipolar disorder is defined as, are you close to someone who has it?
• Are you close to someone with bipolar disorder? If so, have you helped them?
• If someone was experiencing symptoms associated with bipolar disorder, such as an inability to control their irritability, low mood, and lack of interest in anything. What would your first reaction be?
• If one day you develop symptoms of bipolar disorder, would you choose to tell your parents?
• Do you think the current environment in China is unfavourable to the survival of this kind of bipolar disorder patients? For example, being accused of abnormal behaviour and not being able to exercise good self-restraint in a Chinese society that pursues harmony and unity.

Summary

I received 26 responses back from the general population living in China regarding their knowledge of bipolar disorder as a mental illness. Of these, 7 were aware of bipolar disorder, 13 were not aware, and 6 were unsure if they were aware. After a brief introduction to the onset of bipolar disorder, 15 people felt as if there were similar cases happening around them. 11 people did not. However, when asked about the adverse effects of the current environment in China on people with bipolar disorder, They answered that their friends would stay away from them and define them as eccentrics and negative energy. They also said that it was difficult to find jobs and that they could not really help them because they did not really understand bipolar disorder.
This shows that bipolar disorder is not very popular in China, people don’t understand it and are not able to distinguish it. Because they don’t know enough, they choose to stay away, and even if they want to help, they don’t know how to start.