Jean’s bipolar disorder (EastEnders)
 

How do you feel about the way Jean tends to come across in the show? Do you feel like her illness is written realistically or does she come across as someone with another condition most of the time?

As far as I can tell Jean’s representation of bipolar disorder was most accurate during her initial recurring appearances (those special episodes in 2005 in particular were perfectly-written). Ever since she became a full-time character I feel like the lines have become increasingly blurred between her bipolar and natural ditziness to the point where she actually does come across as someone with learning difficulties sometimes. Kirkwood exaggerated that trend and did her the most dirty overall but the buck started with Santer IMO. The only time I liked Jean during his era was during her involvement with Stacey’s bipolar storyline (when she genuinely was written as a more faithful representation of someone with bipolar for the first time in a good two or three years).

She’s somewhat more tolerable now than she was during her ditziest times (Kirkwood’s Jean was the most excruciating) but until recently she still had a tendency to be written as someone with special needs. Mo in particular seemed to have a very limited understanding of her condition but that’s probably because Jean genuinely came across as more slow than anything after her first few years on the show.

I think if you analyse ALL of Jean's behaviour under "is this accurate to someone with bipolar" then you're on the road to nowhere. She is and has been more three dimensional than that.

Some of her behaviour can be attributed to bipolar and some of her behaviour can be attributed to Jean being Jean. The show has never said the explanation for everything she does is her bipolar.

Well every one different you can't just put a lable on them

You sort of can put a label on them if it’s been expressly stated more than several times that said character has a diagnosable (and severe) illness.

But not everyone with said illness is the same.

I hear that but sometimes her ditziness is so potent that it can only be viewed in pathological terms. It hasn’t been stated that she has learning difficulties or any other mental condition other than bipolar so it’s natural to attribute some of her more blatantly ‘abnormal’ quirks to her illness. Obviously when you view them in the frame of bipolar it doesn’t quite add up but that doesn’t help with the impression that there’s something more to it. That’s why I feel like it’s hard to tell which parts of her quirkiness are because of her bipolar and which are down to another condition which hasn’t been mentioned on-screen (or which is the unintentional effect of hammy writing).

I agree that not everything she does is because of her mental health regardless.

Sometimes the lines can be blurred but Jean is just Jean. The show isn’t consistent enough from era to era to continually just try and present her as someone with bipolar disorder.

She's written with a misunderstanding of what the "up" phases of bipolar actually look like, her lows (depressions) are fairly accurate from what I've seen.

I know someone with bipolar disorder whose highs are exactly like how Jean acts, I think it depends on the person but I think the representation is important even if the condition doesn't present the same in everyone who has it.

Her manic phases were written very accurately during her earlier appearances. When we saw her in 2005 she was fundamentally in a mixed state (I think she was transitioning from mania to depression and that transition was depicted perfectly on-screen) and she’s had flashes of hypomania since (in her general temperament and when she’s having an episode) that have been fairly well-done. I think what’s more glaring to me is the fact that her portrayal of bipolar overall (both the manic and depressive side) seem to be more accurate the further back you go with her (she had her moments during Santer’s era but it was most accurate during her initial appearances, when she was a much more somber/dark character).

I’m not saying that 2005 Jean would work full-time (since it obviously wasn’t intended to be her normal state) but I feel like those earlier episodes of hers should serve as a yardstick for when they do want to tap into her illness. It would be a lot more realistic that way than her token childish comedy routine that we’ve been accustomed to since she moved into the Square (that was the point at which the grit really started to slip from her character barring a few good moments).