Do you think there could be any possibility that Lestat is undiagnosed type II bipolar? I’ve noticed the same patterns in him that I see in myself, and it makes it hard to read the books recently because he is so chaotic in such an eerily familiar way that it unsettles me.

Yes, it’s quite possible that Lestat is

undiagnosed type II bipolar (is that grammatically correct? Or would you write “Yes, it’s quite possible that Lestat is undiagnosed as having type II bipolar personality disorder”?). You might want to ask some Lestat RPers for their thoughts on this, too. 

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I don’t know enough about diagnosing bipolar to say for sure what I think, in the past I’ve written that I didn’t think Lestat was bipolar specifically, but that he might have PTSD. Now, I feel like I don’t know enough about either of those to make a definitive statement. I don’t think AR has ever addressed it in any interviews, on FB, or at a booksigning. Anyone is welcome to reblog/comment on this post.

Anon: “I’ve noticed the same patterns in him that I see in myself, and it makes it hard to read the books recently because he is so chaotic in such an eerily familiar way that it unsettles me.”

I’m sorry that this makes it hard for you to read the books recently, Anon. Does anyone else out there have bipolar, or specifically type II bipolar, and have advice for Anon about this?

@mendedpixie7 wrote about Adam from Only Lovers Left Alive; and I feel like the similarity of Adam to Nicolas (and Lestat, I think, too) seems striking, and I hope this quote helps you in some small way, Anon:

The reason I love Only Lovers Left Alive is it shows that a character (Adam) can be severely mentally ill, in this case depressed and suicidal, and still be seen as lovable and capable of being loved and loving in return without being “cured” of their mental illness, and that a mentally ill character can have other attributes aside from being mentally ill while still showing the impact being mentally ill has on his personality.

Adam from OLLA is an extremely important character to me you guys.

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galadrielles:

Do you have a message for people who suffer with bipolar disorder?

Oh, yes. You can outlast anything. It’s complicated, it’s a job, but it’s doable. One of the greatest things that happened for me was that psychotic episode. Having survived it, I now know the difference between a problem and an inconvenience. Bipolar disorder can be a great teacher. It’s a challenge, but it can set you up to be able to do almost anything else in your life. – Carrie Fisher [x]