bipolar disorder and poker

11ofhearts · #1 10-18-2007, 03:03 AM

I have bipolar disorder aka manic depression. how might this affect me as a poker player? should i play lower/higher not at all if my mood is up/down? im pretty sure i make more mistakes at the table while depressed, and i probably would be able to multitable more easily while manic. any thoughts?

peachy · #2 10-18-2007, 10:04 AM

You should get medicine for this. Definitely stay away from higher limits in either extremes of depression or mania (in manic states people often become frivolous with money, therefore if you move up limits you could go through an astronomical amount of money and it not bother you at all - so you will continue to burn through money until nothing is left). Bottom line is try and get something (like lithium) to aide you in controlling it and defiantly always stay in your normal limits. Id even say move down a few limits if you know you are having an extreme depressive or manic phase (although sometimes this is hard to acknowledge to yourself). I can imagine this is a hard disorder to have in general, let alone if you play poker. But my best advice is to just become more self aware and take some medicine for it ASAP. Its definitely something you shouldnt feel bad about seeking meds for, it is a receptor problem in your body that you can do NOTHING about without the help of meds. And I am not one to push meds alone on people (I believe that most meds in these situations should be coupled with therapy) but with bipolar the best option is defiantly medication with maybe a little therapy (definitely let them tell you what type of bipolar you have, there are numerous types with combinations) on how to cope with the disorder, but for the most part the meds do wonders for people with bipolar.

Brad1970 · #3 10-18-2007, 10:35 AM

[ QUOTE ]
I have bipolar disorder aka manic depression. how might this affect me as a poker player? should i play lower/higher not at all if my mood is up/down? im pretty sure i make more mistakes at the table while depressed, and i probably would be able to multitable more easily while manic. any thoughts?

[/ QUOTE ]

Two words: Dutch Boyd

hallo! · #4 10-18-2007, 11:53 AM

wow seriously, I think Poker is not for you. It gives me depressions how bad must it be for someone who already has manic depressions..

11ofhearts · #5 10-18-2007, 02:48 PM

this is very helpful ty, i was a little embarrased but felt like it would be good to tackle this head-on since i am aware of it, i also figured there were lots of psychology majors and such who would enjoy the discussion. to give a little background im in my 20s and was diagnosed bipolar-1 over 10 years ago. i spent about 7 years on meds but at one point was severely overmedicated, i also had a drug problem in my teens which made things a lot worse.

when i grew up and got a job and a family i felt like i wanted to try life withought the meds so i stopped them all (against medical advice) about three years ago and havent had too much of a problem since, having responsibilties to my family and staying off drugs has kept me pretty much under control. however, i still cycle regularly and have clearly defined manic days and depressed days. I do have a problem with moving up limits which im trying very hard to stop, and i also find that im far more loose-agressive while manic and might lean towards loose-passive while depressed although im always aiming for TAG. I also am very likely to pull an all-nighter and play too tired if very manic

11ofhearts · #6 10-18-2007, 02:54 PM

[/ QUOTE ]

Two words: Dutch Boyd

[/ QUOTE ]

really? awesome! and yet somehow not surprising

[/ QUOTE ] wow seriously, I think Poker is not for you. It gives me depressions how bad must it be for someone who already has manic depressions..

[/ QUOTE ]

i appreciate the sympathy but i really like poker. and so far i've won a little more than i've lost

CrAcK_N_CoKe · #7 10-19-2007, 12:08 PM

11ofHearts , i think i got the same problem , but i think you should just play when manic , but when depresse im sure u feel like theres nothing else to do.

Do you compared your wins/losses from depresse to manic?Im winning more when i feel high.When depresse im always losing.

11ofhearts · #8 10-19-2007, 02:29 PM

hi there, i do think a manic state is more suited to winning play especially for tournaments. i think i have more losing sessions while depressed due to a lack of confidence mostly, but the few really big losses ive taken were when i was manic (i once bought in for 80% of my bankroll and threw it all away in 2 hands!). overall i would say the best time to play is when feeling reletively stable.

Lucere · #9 10-19-2007, 03:10 PM

Most people don't know that one of the prominent symptoms of a person diagnosed with bipolar disorder, when going through a manic period specifically, is not only impulsivity but especially impulsivity pertaining to spending money. For example, people who aren't poker players who are going through a manic period will typically go max out multiple credit cards on shopping sprees. The take home point is that playing poker is especially risky when you're going through a manic period, and it's not much better when you're depressed. So, unless you can sufficiently control its symptoms with medication, I'd recommend staying away from poker.

jediandimaster · #10 10-21-2007, 09:27 PM

i am not bipolar, but as i started to play poker i was a looser in the game because my emotions influenced my decisions. now as i learned a little bit more about the game i
do have the oppinion that if you are able to keep your emotions out of the game you should be able to play ev+, if you cant seperate gamedecisions and your feelings ,i would suggest to avoid the game, bipolar or not.