Bipolar disorder

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Since then, hundreds of brains from state and county morgues in Maine, California, Minnesota and Washington state have been sent to the lab.

In 1999, lab officials made a deal with Maine's medical examiner to obtain brains after post-mortem work and hired Mr.

Cyr, then a funeral inspector, to solicit family members' consent.

The medical examiner's office, which operates under the state Attorney General's Office, was involved in the state probe.

Maine's Attorney General G.

Steven Rowe turned over the state's investigation of the medical examiner's office to the U.S.

Attorney's Office to avoid a conflict of interest.

Charles Dow, spokesman for the state Attorney General's Office, said he was unaware of criminal charges being filed and that the state investigation was ongoing.

He deferred subsequent inquiries to the U.S.

Attorney's Office.

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...ba href=/bipolar disorder/a/b and functions with the help of anti-psychotic drugs.

He receives second billing to the antagonist in a fascinating documentary film about his life, "The Devil and Daniel Johnston," because, in the words of filmmaker Jeff Feuerzeig, "The devil is very real to him." Mr.

Feuerzeig calls the documentary, which opens today in area theaters, "a journey through madness and creativity." The twinning of those elements, he says, is an old story, as old as - and integral to - art itself.

For Mr.

Feuerzeig, Daniel Johnston is the paradigmatic "troubled genius" - the artist who suffers for his craft, the acutely sensitive soul whose inspiration and creativity depend on some excruciating clash between internal demons and everyday reality.

A short list of the troubled geniuses of pop music - they're typically found in, but aren't limited to, the singer-songwriter genre - might include Nick Drake (a suicide), Kurt Cobain (ditto) and Tim Buckley (dead of a heroin overdose at 28).

Jim Morrison and Janis Joplin, although they weren't pure singer-songwriters, are spoken of with the same mixture of pity and awe reserved for the troubled genius.

With the recent DVD release of a documentary (Margaret Brown's "Be Here to Love Me") about another such troubled genius, the late singer-songwriter Townes Van Zandt, it's worth exploring whether "genius" necessarily depends on a "troubled" soul.

In the several years he spent researching "The Devil and Daniel Johnst...

...ba href=/bipolar disorder/a/b (formerly known as manic depression); and postpartum depression.

Overall, she said, depression typically involves feelings of loss combined with a "harsh consciousness that we've let ourselves down." Depression is sometimes anger directed inward.

Hoffspiegel said losing a job or family member, being rejected in a love relationship and even relocating can cause someone to feel depressed.

The Bay Area is also a pressure cooker for many people, she said.

"The external stresses of raising the perfect child, having a high education, earning a high salary, meeting the demands of self and colleagues (are) tremendous," Hoffspiegel said.

When a tragedy does occur, people are likely to feel shocked, helpless and in disbelief.

There may also be feelings of survivor's guilt.

Hoffspiegel said people should not over-identify with the person and ought to understand the reality that suicides do happen.

The most important thing to do is talk.

"Women do this more easily.

Talk to your friends.

Express and process your feelings.

We're basically releasing ourselves from this feeling," she said.

"We can do good deeds and help other people." Women should encourage men to talk about it, as well, if that's appropriate.

On Monday night, Hoffspiegel will also give parents tips for talking to their children about the incident if they have already heard about it.

"What you would say to a 5-year-old is very different than what you would say to a 10-year-old," she said.

A discussion w...