'Stranger Things' star David Harbour opens up about manic episodes

Stranger Things star David Harbour is opening up about the reality of living with bipolar disorder.

Harbour was diagnosed with the disorder at the age of 25 and suffered manic episodes before finding a solution.

"I have not had a manic flare-up since I started psychoanalysis with a good therapist," Harbour told Future of Personal Health. "Medication alone is only half the battle. There is not a cure-all formula, there is only hard individual work. If you can’t afford therapy, find groups that don’t charge or don’t charge much. You will improve."

Sharing his own journey, he said, "I have been in therapy since I got sober in 1999. When I quit drinking, it forced me to confront a lot of demons that rose to the surface."

More recently, the actor, who played Jim Hopper in the Netflix sci-fi show, has discovered a more helpful form of therapy.

"Only recently have I started intense psychotherapy," Harbour said, "and it has made a world of difference in my treatment."

Elsewhere, he described his manic episodes, saying, "Thought becomes disordered and chaotic. Things that have no meaning became meaningful. Names, numbers, and colors acquire a twisted symbolism," the actor said.

"There is a fundamental narcissism at the bottom of it all that makes me think I am the center of all things, for good or for ill. My manic episodes are, of course, a manifestation of my own particular psychopathy. They all share those traits, but each episode has been linked to certain fixations I had at the time," he shared.

David Harbour, who has recently also tackled the end of his marriage with Lily Allen, noted that he wanted to share his struggle to help people in similar situations.