As a 17-year-old teenager, Fry’s “bad behaviour” was actually symptomatic of the condition. At one point he even went “around London on two stolen credit cards”. The soon-to-be actor, comedian, presenter, and author had bipolar, a condition characterised by “massive” emotional highs and miserable lows. This erratic side of Fry was an expression of the low side of Bipolar.
In his 2006 documentary, The Secret Life Of The Manic Depressive Fry divulged details about his diagnosis of the life-long condition in his 30s.
He said: “I’d never heard the word before, but for the first time, at the age of 37, I had a diagnosis that explains the massive highs and miserable lows I’ve lived with all my life.
“There’s no doubt that I do have extremes of mood that are greater than just about anybody else I know.
“The psychiatrist in the hospital recommended I take a long break. I came here to America and for months I saw a therapist and walked up and down this beach. My mind was full of questions.
“Four million others in the UK have it and many of them end up killing themselves.”
Bipolar, once known as manic depression, is defined by episodes of ‘depression’ and ‘mania’ feeling very high and overactive, according to the NHS.
Depression consists of feeling very low and lethargic while mania consists of feeling very high and overactive.
In the film, Fry returned to his old school where he had behaved badly.
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“In hindsight my symptoms really surfaced here, but the problem was, to almost everyone, they just looked like bad behaviour.
“I was nearly expelled from prep school, I was nearly expelled from here,” he said while at the school.”
According to the Child Mind Institute, in kids, mania can often look like irritability or aggression, consisting of tantrums or extreme outbursts.
Other symptoms of the manic phase of bipolar may include feeling very happy, having lots of energy, and grandiose plans and ideas.
Stephen Fry described feeling the condition as distressing in a 2016 documentary that revisited his bipolar.
He told a psychiatrist that when he was in mania he would describe being in touch with “the entire universe”, ideas he described as “absolute piffle” to the professional.
Fry recalled that during one episode, he said: “I think I know how Joan of Arc felt, I think I understand some of this inner radiant sense of absolute purpose and complete confidence and drive and kind of connection to the entire universe.
“It sounded like absolute piffle when you think about it.”
However, a study by Manchester University found that a significant minority of people with bipolar “do not want it to go away” as they view it as helping them have creative thoughts.
Dr. Warren Mansell, who carried out the study, said: “Knowing there is such a difference in attitude towards bipolar disorder is helpful when selecting the best treatment.
“If these patients were to find a way of getting high moods without the bipolar disorder, they would.
“But nevertheless, it may be a lot more helpful for clinicians to help them by tackling recognised problems such as anxiety and depression – rather than trying to work on the high moods.”
There are several treatments available on the NHS, including therapy and medicine to prevent episodes of mania and depression, known as mood stabilisers.
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