MovieChat Forums > Party of Five (1994) Discussion > question about kirsten's illness (season...

question about kirsten's illness (season 3)

posted 16 years ago by rob0990
12 replies | jump to latest

So I just finished watching "Going Home", where Clauda called kirsten's parents and they eventually take her home.

Just wondering whether they mention in subsquent episodes what exactly is wrong with her. I know at the beginning they thought it was depression but at the end it seemed alot more serious.

I know depression is very serious and can affect you in a lot of way, but at the end when she wasn't even on her meds she seemed really out of it. Like they're asking her what she wants at the end and she can't even understand the question. I understand if she was drugged up but she wasn't taking anything. I've known ppl with depression and theyve felt aniexty, stayed in bed and all that other stuff but they can still talk to ppl and can hold a conversation.

Then I read a couple episodes ahead and it describes her as manic depressive, which as far as I know is being bi-bolar which is very serious. Do they ever mention what she has or is it just depression?

[–] smilin_happily 16 years ago

I'm pretty sure it was just depression. I don't remember them mentioning bi-polar at all.

(SPOILER!!!!!!

In season 6, when Kirsten, when Charlie and Kirsten are trying to have a baby, there is one moment where she is really upset; crying all the time and everything, and she's afraid that she's going to start getting depressed and is headed for another bout of depression, when she finds out that she's actually pregnant and just "Overloaded with hormones" because she's also been taking hormones to increase her chances of becoming pregnant.)

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(how do you do the spoiler codes? I would be happy to do that, but I don't see any codes anywhere. Thanks)

[–] felbertmindfoto 16 years ago

[spoiler*]type your message here[/spoiler*]

Just remove the * and you will get this result

type your message here

[–] smilin_happily 16 years ago

Thanks!

[–] dogluver1970 16 years ago

OP -

You bring up an excellent question, because as someone with an MA in psychology, I was quite puzzled myself by Kirsten's seeming lack of cognitive understanding of what was going on, when her parents and Charlie were talking to her in that epi.

Although you are 100% correct that bipolar disease is usually more serious and harder to get under control with meds (although it often is), as far as I know, Kirsten was never diagnosed as a manic-depressive - it was a fan who wrote it in one of the episode synopses. But EVEN if she were to have had a mild form of bipolarism, or what's commonly referred to as bipolar 2, it's possible that she could have a psychotic break and be that confused, but not at all likely - ESPECIALLY since she wasn't in a manic state, when patients can be very "out-of-it." The only thing (to me) that could possibly explain her not being able to converse with them and make sense, was that she had been sleeping so poorly for weeks, she might have been so sleep-deprived that she wasn't "all there!" Good observation though - I thought that that episode was poorly written and they shuld have reserched depression better (or, if she was bipolar, it should have been stated in the show).

Hope that helped, a bit :-)

[–] dogluver1970 16 years ago

bump

"Giving $$ and power to gov't is like giving booze & car keys to teenage boys." PJ O'Rourke

[–] siobanphotogirl 11 years ago

Oh that episode was so sad. My heart was breaking for Kirsten and Charlie.

She looked so pathetic and broken.

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