The Unreal World: ‘Homeland’ and bipolar disorder

Los Angeles Times:

Sgt. Nicholas Brody (Damian Lewis) returns as a hero to the U.S. after spending eight years as a prisoner of war in Afghanistan. Carrie Mathison (Claire Danes) is a mentally unstable CIA officer who is convinced that Brody is an agent of Al Qaeda. She gets antipsychotic medication and lithium from her sister, psychiatrist Maggie Mathison (Amy Hargreaves), but she fears she’ll lose her job if she gets medical treatment through normal channels. In this episode, Carrie is hospitalized after being burned and bruised in a briefcase bomb explosion. She hasn’t taken her medication in several days and is becoming increasingly manic. Saul Berenson (Mandy Patinkin), her mentor at the CIA, is alarmed by her behavior, and Carrie admits that she is bipolar. Her sister arrives and gives her a ramped-up dosage of lithium as well as clonazepam to “level her out.” When she is discharged from the hospital, Carrie tries to run away and is nearly hit by a car.

Read the whole story: Los Angeles Times