“Bipolar Makes Me a Bad Mother”: Performative Dialogue about Representations of Motherhood

Abstract

This essay explores representations of mothers who have bipolar disorder in popular media through a performative and autoethnographic narrative. I examine the television shows ER and Dr. Phil in regard to their representation of mothers who have bipolar disorder. This critical analysis concerns the manner through which these women come to be constructed as “bad” mothers. The structure of the narrative, like the representations themselves, is intended to be a montage of abutting pieces that come together to create a whole.