Mental Disorder of Robert Downey, Jr - Research Paper Example

Famous Person With Mental Disorder Robert Downey, Jr. Introduction Robert Downey Jr. was born to filmmaker Robert Downey and Elsie Ford on April 4, 1965 at New York City. He like his father also joined the film industry. Robert Downey Jr. has made his first appearance as a puppy in the film Pound directed by his father. He went on to act in five other films made by his father. It is stated that Robert Downey Jr. had done his schooling from Santa Monica High School. However, unfortunately he was unable to become a graduate. In his earlier years, Robert Downey Jr. had worked as a waiter in a restaurant in New York City. One of his earlier film works include playing a role in Greaser’s Palace released in 1972. (Robert Downey Jr., N.D.). It is reported that Robert Downey Jr. suffered from a psychological disorder commonly known as the Bipolar Disorder. To understand how the mental disorder had affected the actor’s life it is important to give a brief introduction on Bipolar Disorder. Bipolar Disorder falls in the category of depression and is a type of a Depressive Disorder. Depressive Disorders are diagnosed to hamper the normal functioning of a person’s brain. This psychological epidemic has a widespread effect. It is found that in United States alone 17.4 million adults are diagnosed to suffer from Depressive Disorders each year. Bipolar Disorder has several names like Manic Depression, Manic-Depressive Illness, and Bipolar Mood Disorder to name a few. Bipolar Disorder can happen to children as well as to adults. Kids with Bipolar Disorder get irritated easily and are susceptible to mod changes. In cases of high Bipolar Disorder, which can result to Mania the person, can have thoughts racing across his mind, will show less interest in sleep and high levels of energy and activism. Low Bipolar Disorder shows signs of depression in which the person becomes a fatigue, loses interest in life, becomes irritable and sleeps more than normal. Doctors state that Bipolar Disorders are caused due to imbalance in the Neurotransmitters of the brain. In other cases, reasons like it being a Genetic Disorder or a Traumatic Disorder are also cited. (Bipolar Disorder, N.D.). The paper in regards to the above discussion tries to find out the effect, which the Bipolar Disorder had on the actor’s life and activities. It is found that the actor’s affinity towards drugs led him to get affected by Bipolar Disorder. It is stated that his father first introduced Downey Jr. to drugs at the tender age of eight in regards to him playing a character in a film taking drugs. The actor is found to have taken recourse to illegal drugs for which he was detained several times. However, he grew up to be a professional actor to be nominated to the Oscars for his title role in Chaplin. In the year 2000 after being released from prison, he got a chance to perform in an award winning television series. However, he continued this work while being under a residential drug treatment. It is a pity that he was arrested again for his illegal drug taking and sentenced to probation. It was revealed to the public by Downing Junior’s stepmother that the actor had been diagnosed of suffering from Bipolar Disorder a few years ago. The actor’s doctor Dr. Manijeh Nikahtar also said that he was diagnosed in having Bipolar Disorder. Nothing more is available in regards to the reason behind his having the disorder. It can only be inferred that both his father and elder sister were addicted to drugs. It was further learnt though not from a reliable source that Downing Jr. practices Kung Fu to maintain his stability to the illness. (Purse, 2004) Mental Disorders related to smoking of cigarettes, consumption of alcohol and taking resort to narcotics has cost America hundreds of dollars and kills 500,000 people on an annual basis. These disorders, which are associated to taking of illegal drugs and consumption of large amounts of alcohol, are referred to as Substance Related Disorders. Substance Related Disorders affect greatly a person’s way of working, talking and his entire social living. In the respect of drugs causing these types of mental disorders the United States Administration has taken several steps to combat such but with little or no effect. The Roman Catholic Church in 1992 had taken a step to conduct Universal Catheism, which declared taking resort to drugs and alcohol as sins. It needs to be understood in this context that substance related disorders caused due to high levels of involvement to illegal drugs and alcohol totally disturbs a person’s behavioral patterns. The treatment of these types of disorders turns out to be highly costly and victimize the patient more on financial terms. (Durand & Barlow, 2005. p-387). The Bipolar Disorder in case of Robert Downey Jr. is a Substance Related Disorder, which emerged for the actor’s strong involvement with illegal drugs. It needs to be said that drugs can hugely affect the behavioral traits of a normal person to make him erratic. Downey Jr. had been prosecuted a number of times owing to his drug abuse. However, it is found that the effect of being prosecuted lasts only temporarily. It does not have a prolonged effect. The effect of imprisonment also failed to deter Downey Jr. from taking resort to drugs. Moreover, illegal drugs like Marijuana are found to be easily accessible in America that has led kids and teens enjoy its use. The case of Downing Jr. also excites moral sentiments. Imprisonment of the actor in order to deter him from suffering himself calls for a social outlook to the cause of arrests. It is because Robert Jr. had never hurt or assaulted anyone in his state of intoxication. (Bandow, 2000). Robert Downey Jr. though had taken resort to illegal drugs did not however show any signs of violence. Rather he is referred to as a charming and an active person. Downey Jr. had first taken to drug rehabilitation in 1920. He was arrested for charges of taking illegal drugs like cocaine, heroin and marijuana in 1996. Though the judgment gave him an opportunity to avoid imprisonment yet it is reported of him having escaped the rehabilitation and court drug tests. It is felt that Downey Junior’s acute depression was the fallout of his falling finances and his divorce. Experts in this case have mentioned that Downey Jr. did not try enough to change his drug habit. He on being diagnosed for depression had been put on medical treatment. Downey Jr. had for long not disclosed his psychiatric illness, which had made the matters worse. (Horn, Figueroa & Scelfo, 2001). Conclusion Robert Downey Jr. turned out to be a promising actor in his times. It is found that he had started his life as a waiter serving in one of New York’s restaurants. However, his father made his way in joining the Hollywood film industry. Sad, enough it was again his father who had induced Robert Jr. to taking drugs in order to fulfill a role in one of his films. Thus started Robert Junior’s habit of taking drugs, which broke the barriers of the law. His taking to drugs cannot be said to be a turn out event. His father Robert Downey and his elder sister had taken resort to drugs long ago. Robert Downey Jr. however did maintain his act of restraining himself from any type of violent activity in his state of addiction. The above cause however did not deter the United States Government from detaining him for several times. The government of the State defended that his fleeing from rehabilitation camps and his not meeting the drug tests led to his imprisonment. He was subjected to residential treatment for years. However, of late Downey Junior’s stepmother said him being a patient of Bipolar Disorder. The reasons of Downey Jr. suffering from the disorder relates to his continual imprisonment even in the days of his helm, his active involvement to illegal drugs like cocaine and moreover of his recent divorce. The depression had affected him far before. His negligence to an effective treatment only worsened the effect. References 1. Bandow, D. (2000). The Robert Downey Jr. Problem. Christian Science Monitor. 93 (12). 2. “Bipolar Disorder”, (N.D.). Nemours Foundation. Retrieved on September 26, 2010 from: http://kidshealth.org/teen/your_mind/mental_health/bipolar.html# 3. Durand, V. & d. Barlow. (2005). Essentials of Abnormal Psychology. New York: Cengage Learning. 4. Horn, J., Figueroa, A. & Scelfo, J. (2001). ROBERT DOWNEY JR. TAKES ONE DAY AT A TIME. Newsweek. 137 (7). 5. Purse, M. (2004). Robert Downey, Jr.-Actor. Retrieved on September 26, 2010 from: http://bipolar.about.com/od/actorsandactresses/a/downeyjr.htm 6. “Robert Downey Jr.”, (N.D.). Legacy, Retrieved on September 26, 2010 from: http://www.legacyrecordings.com/artists/robert-downey-jr Read More