[Redway]

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.