Doctor Reacts to Queen Charlotte | Treating The King's Madness and Lunacy 

We have carried out chemical testing on his tissues and he had high levels of arsenic present. It is thought that the arsenic in his system, probably introduced in his make-up, caused enough liver damage that he developed acute porphyria as a result. This leads to a build up of porphyrins in the blood stream at unnatural levels which in turn causes one's nervous system to temporarily go haywire.

​@@hoathanatos6179 Lots of people back then used the same kind of make-up, but there wasn't a staggering number of cases such as the king's, which makes me think there must have been some other way he got exposed to arsenic. Dubious treatments for something are quite plausible, actually.

@@oana-mariauliu5828 Yeah. It could have been used in medicines given to him by these "doctors".

Exactly! At least the first doctors were honest about their treatments 🤣🥴

Just finished the series yesterday and that's exactly what I've been saying.

From saying he only uses his voice.

The doctor went from 0 to 100 with his power tripping. When he eas initially introduced, he acted like he was different to the other doctors and knew the solution. He cured him for a moment by just using words and was made the king's doctor. Later, the king was starting an episode and the doctor decided to just slap him. It worked but was still a bit shocking. Then later, the doctor changes even more by saying the king needs to only listen to him and also to truly be cured needs to start torture classes. Like, wth?? Doctor was obsessed with gaining authority and subjecting him to torture to boost his own ego and the king's mother just let it happen.

That makes sense, mental illness today, even with all we know, can be several things and hard to narrow down to clear 1-2 things we can then treat.

I agree with you. It seems like multiple disorders in one. However, I have to give credit to the show runners who didn't just go for the easy way and shock value and maintained a certain consistency with it. More respect than many other shows with "mental illnesses" in it.

I had no idea there was a book. What is the title?

@@kunglaoshat1250 Queen Charlotte by Shonda Rhimes and Julia Quinn. It's the companion book to the show.

@@iole15 Thank you! I’m going to check it out

This... among other things ..the shame etc

As someone with bipolar who read the book and saw the series it really is a good description of bipolar for me. Dissociation can happen as well as "word salad". The racing thoughts in my head are frightening and I am most grateful for a much better treatment nowadays. He must have suffered a lot.

I also believe it was a huge amount of anxiety mixed with abandonment issues! The shaking can be seen as panic attacks.

Yeah, exactly! I believe so too! 💕

This is why I think one of his conflicting diagnosis were D.I.D. (Dissociative Personally Disorder) And when he start talking about the stars that's or farming he really is just "Farmer George" or completely Dissociated to his one safe haven the stars. Because we see when he comes to im bed he has no memory of these episodes. An the torture only made it worse along with deterioration of the mind

Absolutely! It was hard to watch. I definitely felt like that. Just wanting to rescue him.

Yes.

I think it’s important to remember that the show literally gives us a disclaimer that it’s fiction based on fact so certain liberties don’t bother me. Also people are STILL debating what the real King George’s diagnosis would be so the show not presenting a clear cut set of easily diagnosable symptoms isn’t an issue for me. Some people may find the way George is presented as manipulative, but as a person living with bipolar disorder I found parts of his journey very relatable. The fear of an episode that led to him socially isolating and causing him to push away someone that he actually wanted to be close to. The deep sense of shame he experienced surrounding his illness. The complicated relationship with his mother who was simultaneously protective and overbearing. And leeches may not be a treatment in modern times, but people still seek out unproven treatments to “cure” themselves that can do more harm than good. I don’t think George in the show or irl was bipolar (obviously I don’t know), but as a person living with a recurrent mental illness I appreciated his portrayal in the show. Edit: Wanted to add that a show like Bridgerton has always been dramatic and even over the top in its portrayal of love and relationships. I think the writer and director were keeping with that style of storytelling while also telling a story about being in a relationship with someone with a severe mental illness.

@kunglaoshat1250 Fair perspective. My point wasn't that drama has no place in Bridgerton. Obviously, it does. It's just usually quite simple, clear, and manageable.. but over blown as people quite often make mountains out of deeply emotional little mole hills for the plot. It adds context/subtext to why falling in love was simultaneously meaningful and strenuous for them. They had that here, too. But with how they chose to blow up something that was no mole hill back story to start with, the king was actively in a living hell, he was hiding from his wife for half the season and away getting tortured for most of the rest with him lost in his condition for a sizable chunk of what little screen time they actually had together to build any connection. Those relatable plot points exist. They're valuable. And, as I said, they felt shoehorned into the corners of the episodes. My point was, they could have shined more and the tone could have felt more gratifying if they stayed more (more not only) focused on the relationship dynamics rather than trying to display the king as tragicly as possible.

@@rachelsarmientotack Sorry in advance for the novel I’m going to write lol. Also sorry if I’m misunderstanding your point. Anyway I think it’s probably one of those ymmv situations when it comes to opinions about whether the show was manipulative in its portrayal of George or whether enough time was spent developing his relationship with Charlotte. Watching it I didn’t feel like the mental illness stuff or the romance was pushed to the corners. I felt like they were linked and fed into each other. The severity of his illness being the primary obstacle their relationship faced got me super invested because it’s not a problem that’s easily resolved. There wasn’t as much build up to them falling in love, but I don’t mind. I viewed this season as more about fighting for love as opposed to falling in love. I wouldn’t necessarily want that dynamic every season, but I found it a nice change this time around. I admit that I’m not super knowledgeable about the treatments that the real George underwent, but I think that showing his torturous treatments in the show was to make a greater point about the struggles mentally ill people faced during that time. Due to the time period things like George’s extreme treatments, his secrecy (partially due to personal shame and partially to protect his position as king) and the weight that put on him didn’t feel overblown to me. In many ways the real George was a tragic figure due to the degenerative nature of his illness and the lack of knowledge on how to treat him. Personally I found that the tragic aspects of his story added to my investment in the romance because you just want the poor guy to have some happiness while he is still mostly lucid. I didn’t find it manipulative in the same way I didn’t find the flashbacks of Simon’s dad emotionally abusing him or flashbacks of Anthony having to immediately care for his mother and siblings after his dad died manipulative. And thank you for your respectful response. I enjoy having these kinds of discussions even if I disagree with someone, but sometimes people get so defensive or rude it’s hard to have a reasonable conversation.

@kunglaoshat1250 lol As you see, I have a habit of long comments too. I can't be frustrated with someone else trying to express their many thoughts on a topic we're mutually invested in without being a total hypocrite 😅 On that note, maybe "over blown" and "manipulative" were the wrong words to use. I can see how such language may feel offensive to someone who relates to these social challenges and deals with people trying to minimize their plight by saying they're just being overdramatic all the time. It makes sense that you couldn't help but to disagree and point out that the screen time investment on the illness itself was meaningful to get across the point about the mental health and social tragedies that people have faced and still do to a degree. It WAS the major backdrop for this whole story. I think those words just came to mind as a way to express that it seems, to me, that it wasn't handled very thoughtfully and there was so much of it in comparison to those moments that DID hit close to the heart. And that their attempt to make the audience cry in sympathy for a tragic character had more of the "Yikes! What am I watching? This is more insane than King George's condition itself." effect. Which also wasn't quite thoughtfully solved by just saying, "Let him just be 'crazy' and not do anything to help him cope other than holding his hand and hoping for the best." Obviously, that didn't help much long term. Or even short term. I understand that in those times without the medication and education we have today, there wasn't much more that could be done for him compassionately.... but talk therapy and grounding techniques seemed to be working periodically to work past those anxiety triggers before it spirals into a full manic or disassociative episode. If they could have drawn out the time in which those methods were used to increase those precious lucid moments between the main characters, maybe even shorten the hiding and shame in the first half by an episode or even half, then perhaps the pacing of the relationship development wouldn't have felt so disproportionate. It's fair if you're not of the same opinion. This is just me expressing my own thoughts, how I came to my opinion, and what I would suggest to have made it better.

@@rachelsarmientotack Oh don’t worry I wasn’t offended by your comments. Also I was not prepared for “this is more insane than King George’s condition” 😂 My mental illness isn’t nearly as extreme as what was portrayed in the show, but I still can’t help wondering what my life would look like without medication, therapy and a strong family support system. I related to parts of what was portrayed so I sort of jumped into defending the show. I came into the show with low expectations and ended up loving it more than the regular seasons of Bridgeton. That said I can totally see how some of your suggestions could have been incorporated into the show to build on the relationship between George and Charlotte. I think part of what made this season feel different is that Shonda Rhimes wrote the episodes instead of just being a producer like she is on the main Bridgerton show. She is known for writing ensemble shows with big dramatic moments (Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal, How to Get Away With Murder) where romance isn’t necessarily to end all be all of the story. Julia Quinn is a romance writer so the love story is always going be prioritized and S1 and S2 are based on her books. Both women are talented so I’m not saying one style is better than the other. Just a theory about why this series might have been structured differently than previous seasons

he didnt have autism. the issues started very long in life with memory loss

I'm sorry, what?

At the beginning of the show there is a disclaimer that while these are historical figures, this is a fictional retelling of terror story and that inaccuracies are deliberate. Basically, their telling the story they want. It is not a documentary.

@@safirestudio Sorry, I was complaining more about other programs. Pretty much nothing beyond some of the place and people names and some of the wardrobe in Bridgerton is historically accurate.

It’s not a fu** docudramas so why are you even complaining about ?

​@@Here4Years Yes because it's an uchronic "period" drama

Yeah, leeches bred in a steril facility used as a localized blood thinner vs a likey diseased tool to bleed someone dry or to intentionally trigger anxiety is drastically different... but the action is similar. Apply creepy, bitey, water bug. Let it eat it's fill. Watch the patient squirm because they're creeped out and uncomfortable as heck.

Rachel - but there are many different forms of bi-polar in addition to comorbidity with other disorders. My husband was mixed-state bipolar. As it is left untreated, get gets worse and can start to resemble schizophrenia. Think it is dangerous to generalize based on one person we know with a disorder.

@@elisabethlavery4473 I don't disagree with you, I've only known people with type 1 & type 2 Manic. My husband doesn't want treatment because he thinks the Ned's don't work & will turn him into a zombie lol he has also said that he doesn't like the way they make him feel, but he is also a narcissist which made it very hard to live with him. I am away from him now lol

The twitching e.t.c. is just an interpretation of the actor and the show creators, as far as I know. This is a good show that has some inspiration from history but is very much fiction. For instance, George's first episode was 4 years after his marriage, and he organised his marriage to Charlotte, not his mother.

Isn’t adhd regularly treated with caffeine?

never seen pimples before?