I had to turn it off. Seeing Cindy running around in the wedding dress. 5 or 10 years ago HO would of done this story well.

I'm not really the complaining person but i feel some action needs to be taking when they keep treating this disorder like a joke.

Do they not get that treating one of the longest running characters still there like this will just get more long term viewers to turn off, if they haven't already.

Does she have Bipolar? I thought it was some sort of mental illness.

Eh? I don't understand your question, are you asking if Cindy has a mental illness or if bipolar is a mental illness? In either case the answer is yes. Well, Cindy is meant to have bipolar but the portrayal of it is stupid, nonsensical, offensive and frankly disgusting.

I don't know much about bipolar but apart from her trying to seduce Jason and seeing Rhys what is so bad about her portrayal? Jean and Stacey both had it in EE they didn't see dead people but they did react in different ways.

What do you expect from the tackiest show on tv?

Tackiest soap. There's still the Kardashians, Real Housewives Of..., TOWIE, Geordie Shore etc...

Well there's quite a lot to say on that subject but the main thing is that it seems to be being played as a bit of fun or some kind of joke, not taken remotely seriously at all. Apparently Cindy wanting to sleep with any man she happens to meet is hilarious for some reason. Bipolar is a very serious mental illness which makes life horrendously difficult for sufferers, there's a lot more to it than having lots of sex. In reality the hyper sexuality can be very dangerous; the person could put themselves in dangerous situations where they're more vulnerable to violence, or could contract an STD or HIV etc as a result.
There's also been absolutely zero mention of the depressive episodes, which make up half of the illness. No attempt whatsoever to convey what any of it really means; that the person will most likely be at great risk of harming themselves in one way or another, the prejudices of other people and what that means socially or in terms of employment prospects/holding onto jobs or anything like that. Then there's the tendency towards massive overspending and getting into debt while manic, which could cause a sufferer to go bankrupt or lose their home.
I also take issue with the way in which Cindy just suddenly decides to go off her meds for no particular reason and then instantly becomes manic, that's completely unrealistic. Of course a person might come off of a bipolar medication for one reason or another, usually horrendous side effects, but if their condition is being managed by the medication and they're stable, as Cindy was made out to be for a while, they don't just suddenly go "actually you know what, this is too easy for me, I think I'll just stop taking it and become really ill again." Even if that were the case, it certainly wouldn't happen instantaneously as it has with Cindy, medication takes a while to get out of your system, and even after it had that wouldn't mean an instant automatic manic episode.
Also on the subject of medication, a lot of medications which work for bipolar and are essential for the sufferer can and do have terrible physical side effects. Some of those side effects can be permanent, even if you stop taking the medicine. I have a friend who has permanent severe rheumatic problems that cause her terrible pain as a direct result of taking lithium. There's been no mention of anything like this with Cindy. I mean obviously there's no reason why she should necessarily have to have physical problems as a result of her condition, but the possibility could have been mentioned at some point when she in hospital, or at a doctor's appointment or something, as it's a fairly major thing to do with the illness.
Even the business of Cindy seeing Rhys seemed to me to be played for laughs, and largely as a source of embarrassment for Holly rather than there being anything about what it's actually like to have delusions, psychosis etc. Not that I know personally but I have it on good authority that it's utterly terrifying and horrific. Not to mention the indignity of ending up hospitalised and so drugged up because of psychosis that you frequently wet yourself and are too out of it to even notice. (Obviously this doesn't happen to all sufferers, but it can happen.) That picture, the real one, differs greatly from "oh how hilarious, Cindy's impersonating EL James and running around in a wedding dress."
I'm not a fan of Eastenders' portrayal either but it's certainly a lot better than Hollyoaks'. EE make is clear it's an illness and not some huge joke.

Yeah they seem to be portraying bipolar as some kind of nymphomania?

I suffer from bipolar disorder and have been in psychosis and subsequently hospitalised, for weeks I walked round unaware of the consequences of my behaviour or what I was saying to people. I did lose my job because I lost all concept of timekeeping and was off sick quite a lot whilst in hospital and then recovering. Stacey's portrayal in EE was the closest portrayal of bipolar from my perspective, cindys is just pathetic and if younger people believe this rubbish as what the illness is like it is just bringing up more younger people to laugh and discriminate against mental health, when the fight against stigma is already a big battle.

How hollyoaks have portrayed bipolar is just unforgivable, insulting and worrying that a serious, terrifying and very real illness is portrayed as a comic storyline.

I have to say I switched on last night for an episode and I was appalled, both at the acting and the writing, of this storyline. I wasn't aware that Cindy had bipolar when I was watching it, but with that information Hollyoaks should hang their head in shame. The script was AWFUL!

Totally agree and the show needs to be pulled up on it an made apologise. Berkwood needs to go. Look at the way Sienna is portrayed? She tried to kill children for gods sake and 2 years on she is still plotting and planning and has had absolutely no character development.

Mentally ill people are treated like a joke in that show.

Im actually annoyed at Stephanie Waring for agreeing to act out that part. Does she have no shame?

You probably would have grounds under discrimination. If it wasn't linked to bipolar (such as Sienna's mental illness hasn't been mentioned) that wouldn't be an issue but it's clear that the comedy is stemming from her bipolar and that the audience is being encouraged to laugh at it.

Complaining might draw attention to other flaws in the show.

This.

I have bipolar and their portrayal is embarrassing, insulting and ignorant.

Bi-Polar is a mental illness.

Symptons can include delusions and hyper sexuality which Cindy is displaying now she if off her medications.

But whilst the symptons cn happen, i agree it is being treated far too flippantly and could easily be seen as insulting and offensive.

I am so glad I don't watch this awful show because i feel offended purely by reading the comments on how the storyline is being done.

I'm presuming Stephanie is a lot like the Corrie actors & just thinks of the pay check they receive rather than challenging TPTB about their characters. It's a shame because Steph is such a good actress & when she broke down in the police station that was very good acting on her behalf, amongst other things.

It is such a shame how Hollyoaks have portrayed this story, aswell as the abuse one with Maxine & Patrick, it should have ended a year ago at their wedding & since then Patrick has left Maxine for dead & she's nearly committed suicide. As much as I like Patrick I can't wait until his MND finishes him off & we can put the story to bed, well knowing Kirkwood Maxine will be framed for his death & the story will drag on for yet another year.

Bryan Kirkwood is genuinely just a crap producer. When he took over EE one of the first things he did was turn Jean into a panto joke because he had no idea what bipolar was. The difference in the material she was given as a character from Santer to Kirkwood was just baffling. So its no surprise he is doing the same thing on Hollyoaks.

Sorry to butt into this thread since I've never seen an ep of HO in my life, but if they are really portraying Bipolar Disorder in the way that you and others are saying on here, then yes, EVERY ONE of you should complain, both to the show itself and to Ofcom. Surely we have to draw a line in the sand somewhere?

It's odd - his stint in 2006 was fantastic! I was only 11 at the time and the fire epsiode in which the Burton twins died really upset me. The show was in a really strong place during that period and reading back, BK got a huge amount of praise. A lot of people were saying he made HO unmissable. So why this era is so different is beyond me. I wouldn't say Hollyoaks is exactly bad at the moment though. It has a few saving graces. The Lovedays storyline is really intriguing. And Holly's drugs storyline seems like it could be potentially good. The GHK storyline is probably my favourite. It has me hooked and it's clever how we are seeing darker sides to characters. At the minute, I think Tegan is most likely (because of her threatening Leela and Ziggy) but a few weeks ago I began to suspect Lindsey. Can't believe we have to wait until October to finally know!

The bioolar storyline, I thought stood out last night. I thought Stephanie Waring's portrayal last night was incredible - the way she broke down in her wedding dress was really harrowing to watch. That was the only part of the bipolar story I liked. With the whole "Mason" book that Cindy was writing, it felt like they wanted the audience to think Cindy was hilarious. And I'm saying that as somebody who has no clue about bipolar, I only know about it because of Jean and Stacey in EastEnders (handled by phenomenal actors).

BIB - Quite. And that's because depression is neither 'sexy' nor 'funny'.

Ofcom wouldn't do anything, you wouldn't get a response from ofcom, and in the pre Big Brother days when they did reply to complaints of this nature, the reply would have likely just told you to stop watching the show if it's upsetting or annoying you.

Berkwood is an utter disgrace. The way they have portrayed this mental illness is downright disgusting. People suffer delibilitating mood swings, psychotic breakdowns and heightened sexual desire during their episodes. However, the way it has been portrayed as some sort of comic nymphomania is sickening to say the least. Does this ignorant fool not realise that younger viewers will believe this is how bipolar truly is and thus making genuine sufferers a laughing stock? So much for mental health charities wanting to eradicate stigma when you have idiots like Berkwood in top positions on tv.

This came just days after Nana McQueen said..

'I hope my taxes aren't being used for THAT LOT'

'That lot' being a mental health therapy group. That episode finally showed Sienna getting therapy after 2+ years, only for it to be turned into a comedy episode.

Sienna should be a character we feel sympathy for after being abused by Patrick and raised in isolation, she was desperate for a family and she got one, all because of a undiagnosed (we still don't know what mental illness she has) mental illness.. But they just kept making her do more and more unbelievable things and then she was taken off screen and we never saw any therapy, until the joke episode last week. It's just a excuse to keep her in the show and have her get away with everything she does. I love Sienna's character, mostly because of the actress and her first year in the show, but I hate the writing.

I don't think HOs could try any harder to make mental illness look like a joke and something to be disgusted by. Do they realise that they are actually encouraging their viewers to laugh at people with a mental illness? As shown by a lot of messages on Twitter last night.

It's really shocking that they would actually do this, I know HOs has a bad rep, but I didn't believe they would cross this line.

The charities involved in these storylines should be ashamed to support them.. It does them and everyone with a mental illness no favours.

And for a show that in it's peak has incredible episodes (the early Patrick/Maxine abuse, JPs rape before he went to jail, Ste's HIV diagnoses.), it's shocking how low they can go.