Mental illness and Chess

Life is sometimes hard on us.  Just imagine discovering you have a mental illness,  called Bipolar (Manic Depression) and Hear Voices that is around me that no one else can hear.

It can be Hard trying to play chess when you are manic for some people.  But I honestly play better chess and have a better understanding off logical chess and stategy.

I'm sorry to hear about that, bigboy. I can empathise with the depressive side of the condition, but imagine the manic side is problematic too. I'm glad you can identify a positive (improved chess awareness) side to it.

Chess players have always been an easy target for psychoanalysts, e.g.:

Chess is "adapted to gratify at the same time both the homosexual and antagonistic aspects of the father-son contest." Ernest Jones, "The problem of Paul Morphy" 1930

Whilst I don't entirely agree with this particular analysis of chess players, I do think many top players have "eccentric" characters, to say the least. Morphy and Bobby Fischer are both good examples.

To be honest, (and I'm only talking about myself now,) to willingly spend a life studying a game that one has no chance of entirely mastering is not exactly sane, is it?

I totally agree with you chessbot3000 and Loved your last comment.  But why do we all try.

Sometimes I think my illness is a gift,  because it helps me think very deeply.  A mental illness don't mean you are thick or a phyco or a nutter but the opposite.

One has to think posistive about life and be thankful that you are breathing and alive.  I am studying CIW in Website Design Manager.  Not very easy but enjoyable, also they allow me time off Due to my Bipolar.

So never think about you can not learn  anything or learn and play chess.

Sorry to hear about it. But often when life gives you lemons, making lemonades the best way to go. I think there may be some good out of your suffering.

I do not see my self suffering at all. Depression can be just one being fed up.

Unless your engergy is gone then it is depression.

I like your Quote about the lemon and lemonade very nice one in deed.

Never be on your own on here with any problem. I am here for everybody that needs help or just to talk privately though messages.

This site is not just Chess, but a community off chess friends, and what are friends for ?

Each other off course.

Bigboy you are right.  Chess just brings us together and chess.com helps us build a feeling of community.  Its a great site.  Wish you lots of moments of pleasure playing chess.

Thank you adeshmukh for you lovely words.

I cannot image life now without chess.com. I thank  Erik and all at chess.com team for the greatest site and free as well.

Lack off money for membership fees can never be an excuse for not learning chess now. Thanks to chess.com and off course chess.com team not forgetting the team behind chess.com for all there hard work.

And finally all our members who has joined to help make this the greatest chess community that it is.

What a real pleasure it is to be a member and a chess friend of this comunity that we all love and adore Chess.com

Thank you to each and every member and chess.com team for this great chess.com comunity

my best friend i have known for more than 30 years is bipolar and i wish he had as good of an attitude as you do BigBoy. truly life is what you make of it and i wish all of us could overcome adversity as well as you. perhaps chess(like music,math and others)is the focus you needed to keep balanced(along with the proper medication)_best wishes

 Doesn't this more aptly describe schizophrenia?

Yes Schizophrenia and Bipolar.

My Doctor says it is as well as bipolar, also it is common to have the auditory Voices with Bipolar.

I have them both. But the voices can also be something Quite Different.

  I have an appointment with my Psychiatrist on Monday.   I was going to mention my obsession with this game.  I also have depression and manic phases.  It is difficult to deal with much of the time but I have found ways to focus some of the madness.  Mainly art. 

Yes Ian,  It can be very difficult to deal with. But I find Chess helps me in more ways then one. and Chess.com helps as well. This chess site along with so my chess members in this chess community. I have met good friends on this site.

I think being apart of this chess.com community can help people like us  stay focus and really help us to feel we belong if you know what I mean.

It's good to have other interess like art too to give you a change.

I hope everything goes ok for you on Monday.  

I have played tournament chess for 21 years, and three years ago I was diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder.  I was very lucky to obtain the right mix of medications two years ago (getting the right mix of medications, or "cocktail", for Bipolar, can often take many years).

 There are a few points I want to make.  I know some of them have already been said, but I will include them anyway:

1. Auditory and visual hallucinations are well-known, if not especially common, symptoms of Bipolar Disorder.   To quote from wikipedia's page on schizophrenia, "There are several psychiatric illnesses which may present with psychotic symptoms other than schizophrenia . These include bipolar disorder,^[15] borderline personality disorder,^[16] drug intoxication, brief drug-induced psychosis, and schizophreniform disorder."  The main point here, is that you can be Bipolar and have hallucinations and it doesn't mean you have any other illness.

 2.  To my knowledge, there is no conclusive evidence that people with Bipolar, as a group, are better at anything than the general population.  Kay Redmond Jamison, the famous psychiatrist who is also Bipolar, wrote a book about the relationship between mental illness and the "artistic temperment".  The book is called "Touched by Fire" and gives many examples of composers, writers, poets, painters, etc..., who had mental illness.

3. I think that a positive outlook on life is always a good thing.  It can only help.  I don't think it is a good idea to believe that someone with Bipolar can do everything anyone else can do.  For example, a kid with Bipolar who goes to college, shouldn't think he can pull all-nighters, or drink alcohol--even occasionally.  Consistent sleep, and abstinence from alcohol or drugs, are crucial to the health and stability of someone with Bipolar Disorder.  It is not just prudent health advice that applies to anyone, it is critical treatment for Bipolar Disorder.  Strong research shows that engaging in the above activities will lead to cycling and increased, and more severe, episodes of mania and depression.

3 . People with Bipolar Disorder find it much easier to recognize their symptoms of depression than to recognize their symptoms of mania.  This is well-known, and presents a great deal of difficulty.  Depression sucks, mania can feel fantastic.  Many believe that "hypomania", a less severe form of mania, can actually be a good thing.  The problem is that "hypomania" often gradually escalates to full-blown mania.  For example, one may have energy, think clearly, feel good, and accomplish important goals in their lives.  This is unquestionably great.  So great, in fact, that the person with Bipolar thinks nothing is wrong, and nothing is wrong--yet.  The person now starts to have an above-average amount of energy, which is something most people want, but can't have without the use of drugs.  Then, they not only think clearly, they believe they are a very deep thinker, they even start to think they are a genius, perhaps start to believe they can do anything.  All of this can continue to progress so that, eventually, they have so much "energy" they don't sleep at all, start to hallucinate, find that their thoughts come so fast that they can't think straight, and their ambition turns into impulsivity.  They turn on others who think they are moving too fast--they think they are jealous dullards.  They do crazy things like spend all of their savings in two days, or destroy relationships overnight, or engage in dangerous sexual activities, or even commit violence.  When one is severely depressed, they are in danger of killing themselves.  When one is severly manic, they are in danger of killing somebody else.  These are known facts. 

I think that chess has helped, and continues to help me, with my illness.  I have always loved, taken comfort in, and been fascinated by, chess.  Now that I am aware of my illness and I am managing it, I find chess is one useful barometer of how I am doing.  For example, if I am starting to get depressed, but don't realize it yet, I might start to see my game deteriorate.  This can be a signal to stop and take a closer look for other symptoms.  One of the best ways to manage Bipolar Disorder, in addition to medication, is to anticipate the episodes and do something about them at an early stage.  The "chess barometer" is not perfect, nor is it a strong indicator, but I still find it has some use.  At the very least, it gets my attention.  It is just one of the many ways that chess has helped me in my life.

This is a wonderful forum.  Good health and happiness to all. 

Me too have many mental illness. It affects my playing style in chess. Right now I am only below 1500 on 10 minutes Blitz on chess.com. But if I have no many mental illness, i am more than 3000 I think.

The master of surrealism strikes again