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Oct. 7, 2024 - Dr. Oz Podcast
40:58
Are Hidden Chemicals in Your Family's Clothes Harmful? | Dr. Oz | S7 | Ep 107 | Full Episode
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Time Text
Are there dangerous chemicals in your clothes?
This is a sampling we sent to the lab.
Oz investigates.
We're gonna give you the results.
They're important.
See what we uncovered lurking in your favorite fashion.
So what did you find, Elizabeth?
Plus, filmmaker Spike Lee opens up about a film close to his heart.
What gave you the strength to be part of the story?
The movie starring Katie Holmes that will change your mind about bipolar disorder.
coming up next we'll save lives today We are ready to get healthy.
Today we are going inside.
We are talking to insiders to find out what you need to know to keep your family healthy and safe.
First, are there chemicals, dangerous ones, in your family's clothing?
We're investigating and taking you inside a testing facility to find out.
And we have the best ways anyone can increase their focus.
And you don't even have to give up your smartphone.
Then it's being called the movie that will change everything you know about bipolar disorder.
Famed director Spike Lee is here giving you an inside look at the important film that breaks down barriers of what it's really like to live with bipolar disorder.
And that's all coming up.
But first, our investigation into children's pajamas.
Now, how many of you have seen these labels?
Look at them carefully.
By law, children's pajamas have to meet flammability standards to keep your kids safe from fires.
And people are asking questions about those standards.
What's in those pajamas to make them flame-resistant?
Could there be dangerous chemicals hidden in your children's sleepwear?
And we don't even know it.
In fact, the opposite.
We're forced to put it in there.
Our investigative correspondent, Elizabeth Leamy, took on the case.
It was the 1970s.
42% of us smoked.
Smoke detectors weren't required yet.
And children were dying in fires.
So in 1973, the government began requiring that children's pajamas be flame-proof.
Manufacturers answered that call by adding a potent flame-retardant chemical called Tris to their fabrics.
And that resulted in a classic case of the law of unintended consequences.
Because just four years later, a scientist named Arlene Bloom showed Tris was a carcinogen.
Now the bureaucrats who were in such a hurry to prevent fires were rushing to prevent cancer.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission moved to ban Tris from children's pajamas, and manufacturers ended up voluntarily removing it.
Fast forward to 2016 and here's the question.
Tris may be gone, but the requirement that children's sleepwear be flame resistant is still with us.
So how do manufacturers do it?
Have they substituted some other mystery chemical or found another way?
We bought 28 brands and styles of children's pajamas and had them tested at a lab to find out.
This is a sampling of the pajamas we sent to the lab.
Notice there are little squares cut out where Elizabeth did a little bit of hemming to send things off.
So explain what we tested for.
Okay, well, first of all, we sent our things to Duke University.
Their laboratory is the preeminent lab for this sort of thing, plus another lab.
We asked them to look for chlorinated chemicals.
That includes tris, the one that caused such an uproar in the 1970s.
Also brominated chemicals, including another form of tris.
And then we asked them to look for everything but the kitchen sink.
Because, get this, clothing manufacturers do not have to disclose what's in their clothing.
So we wanted to cast a wide net.
Alright, so our investigation leads us to a textile lab where we find out how safe flame-resistant pajamas really are for your kids.
So what did you find, Elizabeth?
Okay, well remember, nearly 30 different samples, two different laboratories, and we did not find Tris in any of them.
Oh my goodness, that's fantastic.
So that controversial carcinogen from the 1970s, we did not find.
That is great news.
Nor did we find any and all related chemicals, any and all flame retardants.
We also came up with zilch.
That makes you feel really good.
Yes, how about that?
Now, industry insiders were not surprised.
They said these days it's actually pretty rare for clothing manufacturers to put chemicals in their children's sleepwear because of all the uproar by consumers like this all those years ago.
Good for them.
But it does take me back to the original question, right?
And the concern, of course, is how do children's pajamas, which make them vulnerable to being caught in fires, actually become safer?
What do you do to them?
If it's not chemicals, what other manufacturing tricks are making these pajamas safer today than they were when we were kids?
So to examine that, Elizabeth, because she knows all the things to do right, went to the Good Housekeeping Textile Test Lab, and she found out the answer.
The government requires manufacturers to conduct elaborate fire safety tests on children's sleepwear before they sell it.
So we went to the Good Housekeeping Institute's sophisticated textile lab to see how the testing is done.
First, textile analyst Lexi Sachs showed me just how combustible regular fabric not intended for kids' pajamas can be.
The swatch of nylon we test melts in just seconds.
That melting is going to get right on your skin.
Exactly.
It doesn't self extinguish and you want something that will put the fire out right away.
Then she preps a piece of polyester from a children's sleepwear set labeled flame resistant.
This time the fabric self extinguishes in an instant rather than burning up, just as required by law.
So what protected that polyester fabric if it wasn't chemicals?
Well, polyester fabric doesn't need chemical treatments on it because the structure of the polyester is flame resistant on its own.
Now, time to put some cotton pajamas to the test.
The sample catches fire immediately and is soon engulfed in flames.
So that cotton really went up in flames.
Why is it allowed?
If it's tight-fitting, it's allowed.
And that's because when it's tight-fitting, you don't have all this extra loose fabric that could easily catch on fire.
And if it does catch on fire, there's not that much oxygen around the body that could just keep that fire going.
But not all pajamas passed the test.
Last year alone, the Consumer Product Safety Commission recalled 37 sets for potentially putting children in danger.
We're with the main consumers buying kids pajamas, their moms.
So how many of you guys actually pay attention to those little resistant labels on there?
I do now.
Not so much attention, but I mean, those big yellow tags, I mean, they're kind of hard to miss.
So when you see the tags that state that the clothing is flame resistant, is that a good thing?
Is it a bad thing?
Who thinks it's a positive?
Who looks for that and buys accordingly?
None of you.
Who won't buy clothing that says flame resistant because you're worried about chemicals?
Are you surprised by our findings showing that there weren't really chemicals in there that were concerning?
Yeah, no, I am.
I mean, I think that that's wonderful because I would love to have both, you know, safe without any, safe for fires without any toxins.
And you make a great point.
Only a few years ago did the government start allowing the natural cotton as long as it is tight fitting so that people who do want that natural option have it.
So that is nice.
Alright, so after your, you know, pretty detailed investigation, what's the number one thing moms can do to keep their kids safe?
My number one tip, and I learned a lot too, is children should sleep in clothing that is designed and labeled for sleeping.
So sorry folks, baggy cotton t-shirts are out because cotton is like kindling and the bagginess means it's more likely to drape through a flame and it's got the oxygen it needs to fuel that fire.
Is that what your child's wearing right now?
Got a lot of yeses.
Not mine.
I have to go shopping.
Listen to everybody.
Ultimately, the choice comes down to the parents, right?
You guys at home making these decisions.
Let me just give you my bottom line after hearing and researching what Elizabeth pointed out today.
When you walk into a store, you've got a choice.
You can buy untreated, usually natural cotton, but it's got to be snug-fitting, as Elizabeth mentioned.
You don't want it catching fire by mistake, so no T-shirts, etc.
You can get flame-resistant polyester.
It seems to be safe.
It's how it's made, how it's woven, not the chemicals that make it flame-resistant.
So I feel much better about that myself.
They're all unstylish.
Yeah, they are unstylish.
That comes into play.
You can buy loose-fitting fabric, but then it's going to be treated by chemicals.
But you've got choices.
Now that you know about it and you're knowledgeable, you can make the wise ones.
But you've got plenty of good options.
I feel better about this.
Thank you, Elizabeth, as always.
I applaud, and I want to say this clearly, the textile industry for removing the chemicals we knew were dangerous and for labeling pajamas so parents know exactly what they're buying.
That's all we would ever ask you to do.
Thanks for making it happen.
We'll be right back.
Coming up next, are you super connected to all your devices?
Is your dependence on laptops and smartphones affecting your attention span and giving you ADHD? Find out what technology is doing inside your head.
That's next.
What happens when we die?
Does heaven really exist?
People who came back from the dead...
Reveal what they saw when they crossed over.
Plus, meet the 20-year-old Hollywood medium.
How do we know if someone's trying to talk to us from the other side?
Can he really communicate with the dead?
I believe that our loved ones come through to really deliver messages of insight, closure.
And see what happens when I get my first reading, All New Oz.
That's coming up tomorrow.
Today we're taking you inside, revealing what you need to know about your food, your clothes, and now your technology.
As our dependence on cell phones, computers, even those, you know, those tablets, as it skyrockets, our attention spans are plummeting.
With more and more adults being diagnosed with ADHD, it has experts asking, is there a connection?
So I sent my friend and brain health researcher, Max Lugavere, to investigate.
Hey, Dr. Oz.
With the rise of tablets, laptops, and smartphones, our brains are constantly connected to technology.
In fact, the human attention span is now eight seconds long, which means, according to my stopwatch, you stopped listening to me three seconds ago.
We now spend an average of seven to eight hours a day looking at screens.
That comes out to 112 days a year.
You've got to wonder, what's all that screen time doing to your brain?
Silicon Valley insiders themselves, even Steve Jobs, have admitted to going low-tech at home, limiting the screen time their families have.
I myself am super connected to all of my devices, so with all of this screen exposure, I wanted to put my brain to the test to see what all this technology is doing inside my head.
Let's go.
I went to psychiatrist and brain imaging expert Dr. Daniel Amen to find out.
I was hooked up to a quantitative EEG machine which monitors your brain waves.
First, Dr. Amen took a baseline measurement as I sat still.
Then we measured my brain as I did everything from writing emails and sending texts to checking social media and watching videos online.
So Dr. Raymond, how'd it do?
You have a brain.
That's awesome.
And we found some really interesting things.
I think you're going to be surprised.
So, Max, here's in our studio.
You haven't seen the results of your stance.
I'm super excited to.
But did you feel anything differently when you're doing these different studies?
Yeah, when I had to just close my eyes, I felt like it was a good chance for me to sort of meditate, confront my inner monologue, what have you.
When I was looking on social media, I felt really absorbed by the content that I was looking at, but not stimulated.
It's an interesting observation you have.
Come on over this.
I'm going to show you what your brain scans look like.
And these are from Dr. Amen.
This is your brain when you're actually not looking at a screen.
My brain?
Your brain.
Just normally living like eyes open, staring ahead.
And I'm going to explain what you're looking at.
There are your ears, by the way.
Beautifully brown ears.
Nose is up there, so you're looking forward.
The green areas are areas of your brain where you have concentration, awareness, attention, alertness.
The places that we think are important for focusing.
And you actually have lots of activity.
Green is good.
Green is more.
Positive.
Everything's moving forward.
Now, let me show you what happened to your brain when we had you just look at a Facebook page, your Facebook page, a screen.
Notice the difference.
Blue is bad.
Blue is cold.
Blue is nothing happening.
Blue is ice.
There's no concentration happening here.
There's no alertness, no awareness, because you're distracted.
Now, you're just one person, but we're pretty sure this has happened all over the country.
Imagine, everybody, all the screen time we have right now, living in our normal lives, how much of that screen time is causing our brains to shift to this and affects our ability to focus?
And you know what it could mean also?
There might be a link between ADHD and being on screens because, my goodness, our brains are being changed so profoundly.
So to help address some of these issues, please welcome neuropsychologist and ADHD expert, Dr. Sanam Hafiz.
Thank you.
Dr. Hafiz, are researchers seeing a correlation between the rise of adult attention deficit disorder, just attention deficit disorder in kids as well, and screen time?
There definitely is a link.
Research and studies very clearly show that there's a link between ADHD and screen time and media, but we just don't know what came first, the chicken or the egg.
What did you prescribe for Max?
I prescribed a very strict 24-hour lockdown.
No screen time, no phone, no TV, no internet, no Facebook, no Twitter.
If you had to make a phone call, I said, have a friend or a relative, you know, dial you a number.
That's it.
What was that like, Max?
In the modern world, going 24 hours without any kind of technology?
Yeah, Dr. Oz, it was really hard to do.
I mean, it's astonishing the degree to which we interface with our world through screens today.
I mean, the true answer for me might be in just establishing a more healthy relationship with technology.
So we did a little experiment on you, Max.
We had his brain studied some quiz tests and tests before and after his 24-hour screen lockdown.
And the results, well, they're remarkable.
When we come back and reveal those results and give you the inside scoop on how you can increase your concentration without giving up your smartphone.
Stay here.
Coming up next, will less screen time equal more brain power?
Max's test results are in.
It was a visual attention recall test.
How anyone could improve their focus without giving up technology.
Now this is really impressive.
Coming up.
We're back and Max Nugavir is helping us investigate whether technology is to blame for our widespread lack of an ability to focus these days.
Earlier this week, neuropsychologist Dr. Haviz put Max through a 24-hour screen lockdown period.
He didn't let anything touch his life.
That meant no tech for 24 hours.
Even his cell phone wasn't allowed.
And she tested his attention, his reaction time, and his problem-solving skills.
And these are the results.
Dr. Haviz, take it away.
We'll start with visual attention.
So, here, I tested Max, where I basically gave him a cardboard box with holes in it, and I poked a pencil through it, and I said, Max, watch me and do this right back to me.
So, it was a visual attention recall test, and he did okay.
Fifth percentile, not so great, but remarkably...
Fifth percentile?
Well, because I think his attention sort of shot from all that screen time.
That might be the case.
Yeah.
So it was very visually, like he had to visually watch me do this.
But post-test, it went up to 9th percent.
Oh, it almost doubled.
Yeah.
So he did much better the same time around.
So this is the kind of attention, like when we look at a recipe or we look at a phone number, how well we remember it on a daily basis.
Next reaction time, obviously being able to respond.
Processing speed, how fast we do something.
So here I asked Max to...
Connect, in ascending order, letters and numbers.
And he did okay, 40 seconds pre-test.
It was okay.
The reaction time was decent.
But post the lockdown, it went down to 25 seconds.
Oh, that's fantastic, Max.
So this is the kind of thing we do every day, how effectively we work, how well we multitask.
This is obviously very important.
This is Olympic level, Max.
This is good.
It's really good.
And how about problem solving?
Something that's probably the most impactful in our lives.
This is absolutely the most important thing because we problem solve on a daily basis.
We get thrown something novel or unusual and how quickly we resolve that issue.
And here Max was very bright to begin with.
He did 63rd percentile.
He looked at a bunch of graphic images and patterns and figured out what part was missing.
But post-test, this went from average to high average, 84th percentile.
Now, this is really impressive.
These are huge changes.
Like, let's say Max is looking at a map, how you figure out, navigate where you are on the map, how to get somewhere.
That's the kind of problem solving he did here.
So, Max, 24 hours is a long time to go with our technology, but these are dramatic changes, improvements.
Yeah, I mean, I think when you're using technology, there's a high cognitive cost occasionally, you know, especially with our constant inundated lifestyles with notifications and social media.
And you have to ask yourself, like, what's the benefit?
And so this, I mean, I don't doubt that, you know, I came in refreshed and able to really focus on these tests.
So what are you going to do differently in your life, day to day?
Because I don't think you're going to give up all your technology.
Yeah, I'm going to impose in my life what I've come to calling mobile moratoriums, where I'm going to set aside certain parts of the day where I'm not going to touch my technology.
For example, when I go to the gym, normally in between sets of exercise, for example, I'd be checking my phone.
I'm going to leave my phone at home.
I'm going to leave my phone at home when I go shopping for food at the supermarket.
And I'm also going to limit my use of technology at night, because that affects your sleep.
Thank you very much, Max, as always.
Let me share thoughts with everybody, things you can do right now.
Here's how you can increase your focus without giving up your smartphone, which I think most of you aren't going to do anyway.
So the first little tip, sort of what Max is talking about, but very concretely, you're going to look at your social media for no more than 10-minute bursts at a time.
These little vacations, these 10-minute blocks will help you a lot and train you not to need to go to it all the time.
Step two, you're going to shut off the alerts on your phone and your apps.
I almost drowned in alerts once.
I turned on.
We have six million people on Facebook.
I turned my alerts on, and I had to push these out of the way, right?
Because they disrupt your attention.
I couldn't focus at all, and I can only imagine how it is for most people if they haven't figured out to turn those darn alerts on.
If you're playing with your kids, play with your kids.
Be really there.
Those alerts take you out of that moment and mess up all the ways your brains are supposed to be alert and functioning.
And finally, use the tech you have for good, not evil.
You can utilize music as an example.
It's scientifically proven as an attention booster.
So use the music part of your phone, stop playing in social media all the time, and it'll allow your brain to regain that ability to focus and pay attention to what really matters.
I'll be right back.
Next, iconic filmmaker Spike Lee joins me to discuss his ratings.
He gave one of his film students the chance of a lifetime.
Next.
What happens when we die?
People who came back from the dead reveal what they saw.
Plus, can you really communicate with the dead?
How do we know if someone's trying to talk to us from the other side?
That's coming up tomorrow.
He is one of the most iconic filmmakers of our time.
Spike Lee has made his mark on the movie industry with his fearless and sometimes controversial films.
Today, he's breaking down the barriers of what it's really like to live with bipolar disorder, along with director Paul Dalio, whose personal struggle is reflected in their new film, Touched With Fire.
Filmmaker Paul Dalio, who understands the subject matter firsthand.
Diagnosed at 24, Dalio struggled for the next 12 years with mood swings that ranged from psychotic manias to suicidal depressions.
Determined to break the stigma that holds back the 6 million Americans who suffer from bipolar, Dalio began to write a screenplay based on his own journey with the disorder.
He approached Spike Lee, one of his professors at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, who quickly agreed to executive produce and mentor Dalio through the process of making his first film.
If the filmmakers have their way, Touched With Fire could become a landmark in our understanding and acceptance of bipolar disorder.
Paul Daly is driving along with Spike Lee.
Thank you both for being here.
Thanks for having us.
Thank you.
So, this movie has really touched my heart.
It's been touched by fire as well, but I saw it early on.
It has influenced a lot of what I've done on the show since then.
And Paul, I want to dive into your story a little bit.
About a dozen years ago, you were diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and you've been plagued with labels and being labeled since then.
Could you explain to everybody what that means?
Well, when you get the diagnosis, you come from being a completely normal person to suddenly being told you have what is simply a disorder, and that's going to go on for the rest of your life.
And you try to figure out what this thing means, and every label you have to choose from is in some way a defect in your humanity.
You know, what do you have?
You have manic depression, bipolar, mentally ill.
And the thing about it is this thing is woven into the...
DNA. I mean, this is basically the way God made you.
All the way back in your family tree since the origin of your being.
So how do you deal with that?
How do you try to understand that?
Spike, you see brilliant students every day.
You're a professor, a teacher.
Tenured.
Tenured professor.
Tenured.
But so am I. It's hard to do that.
Well, I teach at...
I'm an artistic director at New York University Graduate Film School, so it's a three-year program, so I didn't get to know my man here until his third year.
What was it about Paul that captivated you?
His energy, but I didn't even know anything about the other stuff, so...
You didn't know he was bipolar?
No, I mean, they knew about it, but it didn't get to me because I teach a third-year students, and so...
Until he looked regular to me.
From the outside.
But the thing about this was that I like, I would say a lot of Americans are ignorant, ignorant about these issues.
And so for me, it was a great learning experience because until Paul shared his story, I had no, no idea.
What have you learned about bipolar just by being involved in this process?
Well, that Number one, when you hear manic depressive, bipolar, I wasn't, you know, before I was ignorant, so I just thought, these people are crazy.
They're nuts.
And it's sad, and I have to admit that I had that mentality, and so this has been a great enlightenment to me and try to discover it.
And then also, when he told me he had a litany of great creative people who also You know, we're bipolar, magopressor.
Paul, let's go on that a little bit.
There is this remarkable connection between incredibly creative souls and being bipolar.
And there's a lot of misunderstanding about what's going through their minds that allows both those things to coexist.
I'd love if you could just explain that to everybody.
Well, it's a condition defined by emotional extremes.
You have extremes of emotion that are connected to the arts, which is based on experiencing emotion.
What it means to be human, you know, the things that define us as human on a deeper level than many people experience.
Before, there was just correlations, because you see 38% of Pulitzer Prize-winning poets were bipolar.
There was the correlations with all kinds of artists like that.
And Van Gogh's...
Van Gogh.
Humanity's most beloved image of the sky, seen through a sanitarium window that now hangs up in the MoMA.
This is it, yeah.
Story night.
So not everyone knows that.
They've just found studies on the genetic level, the correlation between the creative gene and the bipolar gene.
And it's knowing this that changes you from seeing these people as defects to seeing the gifts in people.
So when we come back, Paul's going to reveal the truth about manic highs and depressive lows while you're living with bipolar disorder.
It's a very personal story.
It's going to change your minds about this condition.
Stay here.
Coming up next, Spike Lee and Paul discuss the stigma behind mental illness and how the film will change the way you think about bipolar disorder.
Plus, Paul's own candid experience living with the disease.
Eventually, I just snap.
Next.
That's a powerful clip from the new film, Touched With Fire.
It's a movie that's going to change everything you know about bipolar disorder and its connection to the creative mind.
So, respect, why do you think there's such a stigma around mental illness after all this conversation?
Because people don't understand it.
So, when people don't understand it, you know, you have ignorance.
And it's so easy as human beings to label people.
I did not discover I was dyslectic until my son...
I said, wait a minute.
When he was diagnosed as dyslectic, I said, wait a minute, that's what I got.
This next year?
Yeah.
I didn't even know it until my son found out on him.
So I knew something was off, but I didn't know a medical term for it.
And I was born in 57, so there's a whole lot of stuff...
That was not diagnosed when I was in school.
And what was it about the diagnosis that he had of dyslexia that awakened you?
I got the same thing.
You're reading the same way he's reading.
Yeah.
The interesting thing about mental illness in general, bipolar in particular, is that we have elements of it, all of us.
It's just louder in some than others.
The reason that bipolar is such a...
An interesting problem, condition, is that it does link to the creative mind a lot.
When you were first aware there was a problem, what happened?
You were going through life fairly normally, and what suddenly pushed you over from having a little bit of this creative stuff going on to this full-blown bipolar condition?
Well, like a lot of people, it happens in college.
You're pushing yourself, you know, to work hard.
And I was studying screenwriting at NYU. And so, you know, you're doing the creative activities and you're experimenting with drugs, doing things, you know, that stir up the brain.
Marijuana actually spurs you into a creative state if you're bipolar by genes.
So it's very deceptive.
And then you can go further and further and eventually you could just snap, you know, and just go full bipolar, which is complete insanity.
Which is what happened with me.
I was at the Standard Hotel in West Hollywood.
I was going out to get a job with a producer out there and, you know, I just snapped, you know, like that.
Like, in one second, I looked around the room and all contemporary man-made meaning to every object around me vanished.
Thank you.
and at first it was magnificent but then but then as i ran around i started connecting the meanings i spiraled into a mythic story of the bible and the apocalypse you know and while there was truth in it it was symbolic truth and i took it literally so that led to a full misunderstanding which is i was in the the hotel of the hospital lobby and there was some glass case and i had some delusion of the apocalypse that they were going to put me in there and all this crazy stuff
and i threw a steel case of the glass case and out of complete misunderstanding i told the guy at the front desk you know i'm sorry but they tackled me to the ground and they blamed it on assault because they totally misunderstand i was cursing at the cops thinking that they were part of this conspiracy and so they put me in a jail with for the criminal insane and so i think about how many people are in that jail who were just misunderstood like me who were just agitated.
And it was rated one of the 10 worst prisons in the country.
And they set the sentence for six months later, you know, with these abusive guards.
And so that's the thing is, it was full of people who were just misunderstood.
And I hear the story of the tragedy of being put in jail, waiting six months to even be heard officially.
I mean, Spike, what's it like working with a creative force that carries the bipolar label?
Well, if I may be honest, Paul's a little hard-headed.
I don't know anything to do with mental disorder, but...
No, I just...
That...
We just had a talk.
We had a relationship.
And so I just had to do my research and understand how I could best express myself and understand Paul.
And it was not a big thing.
I mean...
We just were honest with each other and just made it happen.
Paul, in the middle of all this, it wasn't just a long tale of recovery.
There were moments where you actually contemplated taking your life.
Yeah.
Which is, unfortunately, 50% of bipolar people contemplate suicide.
So what happened for you?
What stopped you?
It was putting...
My family through the hell.
At some point, I was working at a job at this warehouse in the Depression because it was a way to get my mind off the suicide.
I would kind of drill and saw and just kind of focus on that task to get my mind off of it.
At some point, I was sawing a piece of wood and I was just thinking to myself, it's not going to get better than this.
It's not going to get better than this.
And slowly, my hand was moving closer and closer to the saw and I was just imagining if I just pushed it through, it would be all over.
And, you know, I'd be somewhere that was better than this.
And I just put the saw down, called my dad, and I was trying to convince him to let go of me.
I was like, please, just like, you know, and he was doing everything to get me to hold on, saying, I'm going to get a divorce from your mother.
It will destroy us.
Anything to get me to hold on.
And he came running in a panic.
And he saw me and that look on his face remained forever imprinted in my brain.
And so when I finally came out of the depression, I just couldn't do it.
So I just couldn't put him through that hell anymore.
So I just resolved all my family.
Yeah, a lot of brothers too.
Yeah, all of them were tortured by it, you know.
So I resolved to living an unhappy life basically on the medication because I didn't know That I could live a happy life at that time.
So we've been doing a series of shows with Charlie Sheen and his resistance to a diagnosis like bipolar is because he believes, like many, that if he's put on a medication and in his own words says, what else is it going to fix?
Isn't there a deep fear that you'll lose all that creativity that makes you special?
There was, but not anymore.
Not anymore.
I feel it much richer and deeper than I've ever felt it, the creativity, the emotion.
And this is something that Kay Jamison told me would happen.
And so...
I didn't believe, I wasn't sure at the time, but it takes a long time to get there.
It takes patience to get there.
Now, the emotion is not only deeper and richer than I had before bipolar, so much that I would consider it so much a gift that I wouldn't want to cure if I was offered it, but it's more meaningful emotion because it's tied to things that matter, like a wife, children, you know, things that sustain.
How many kids?
Two kids now.
Two, yeah.
I'm always amazed at how one person can change the way we see the world.
Up next, I'm going to introduce you to the woman who changed Paul's life.
I just mentioned her briefly, but I want you to meet her in person, plus a special message from the star of the film, Katie Holmes.
Stay here.
Coming up next, meet the inspiration behind Paul's films.
It's the best portrayal of the illness.
How she found the surprising connection between bipolar and artistic genius.
Plus, what the movie means personally for Katie Holmes.
Next.
What happens when we die?
People who came back from the dead reveal what they saw.
Plus, can you really communicate with the dead?
Paul knew Oz.
How do we know if someone's trying to talk to us from the other side?
That's coming up tomorrow.
We're back talking with director Paul Dalio about his new film, Touched With Fire, talking the truth about what it's like to live with bipolar disorder.
I want you to now meet psychologist Kay Jameson, author of Touched With Fire.
A great book.
It was the foundation of what the movie is built on.
What does that mean, Touched By Fire?
Well, it means a lot of different things, actually.
And I think that one of the wonderful things about the film is that it really portrays the spectrum of when a bed of fire can be enormously helpful in terms of being creative and a rich perception of the world versus getting completely out of control and destroying your life.
And so I think one of the things that many people who have seen this, who've I've seen the film who have this illness or have it in their families have said is it's the best portrayal of the illness that anyone's seen and also a remarkable portrayal of the families because families are well-meaning.
They're not vilified at all in Paul's film and it's just a wonderful portrayal.
It's very hard to portray.
So since it is difficult to explain what it's like to be manic, I want everyone to look at this image of a person's brain.
This is what happens when you're manic.
See how it's all colored in?
All those yellow and red areas?
That's the brain literally lit up like it's on fire.
Not just touched by fire, lit up like it's on fire.
Your brain is working so hard, it's hard to keep the energy at that state.
Now let me compare that to what happens in your brain in a depressed state.
Now, the fire's extinguished.
See all the yellow's gone?
Red's gone?
There's very little energy happening.
You've cycled through.
And that's what it's like with someone living with illness.
When, Paul, you say you crave for any emotion, even pain, because you felt nothing, because the brain was on hold.
Complete shorted out.
There are many moments throughout the film that illustrate these manic highs that people who have bipolar disorder live with.
And I thought this was maybe the best.
It catches you a little off.
Yeah.
That's Katie Holmes, of course, the star of the film.
I have a statement from her, Paul, that she wrote to you.
She wanted me to read it on set.
When I met Paul, I was so inspired by his passion and the fact that he's bringing his story to the screen to shed light on the incredible highs and the incredible lows of bipolar.
It was an amazing creative experience for me.
It's a much longer letter, but it's only an hour-long show.
So what does that mean to you, to have her comment and be able to portray what you were living through so accurately?
It means so much because she embodied it.
She did so much work and put so much of her passion and talent with such a sense of a need to get it right.
She did it in a way that was so authentic.
It was almost like she wasn't acting.
And she did it in a way that brought the audience in.
It was the first time I could see a portrayal of someone who's bipolar where you're not looking at them from the outside.
You're not looking at them like they're...
something's off.
You're in her skin.
You're feeling what she's feeling.
And that's such a hard thing to do.
And that's so important to be able to get people to empathize.
And she achieved it on such a high degree.
How do you cope day in and day out?
Extreme health habits, extreme discipline over a long period of time.
You know, I meditate twice a day without fail.
I go to sleep 10-11 p.m., sleep eight hours, light box in the morning.
I eat very little in the day and drink a lot of green juice and, you know, go for long one-hour walks, two-hour walks, you know.
Just everything that makes anyone healthy I did to an extreme degree out of desperation to get out of it.
But it's only when things are so dark you can't see any hope.
And your soul feels so cold you don't even know if it still exists when there's a desperation.
To get out, you blaze so bright that by the time you finally do get out, you're shining more than you ever would if you were just sunbathing the whole time, never going into the darkness.
And I know that I'll always be walking a tightrope, but the tighter the rope and the higher the stakes, the more disciplined and the stronger you're forced to become out of pure necessity in order to survive.
And that in itself is a gift.
Because of who it makes you.
And so I will always be careful, but I feel the rich emotion that I would have never felt had I not become bipolar.
And I am a stronger person for it that I would never become had I not gone through it.
Well, the beautiful insight you share.
You're okay if you're not bipolar.
Congratulations, Paul.
You've been beautifully written.
You can see Touch With Fire in theaters now.
down.
I'll be right back.
Can our phones cause brain cancer?
How much radiation are you really exposed to?
And does a case make it worse?
It increased the radiation exposure 16% That's coming up Friday on Dr. Oz Our lives are defined by the people we meet.
Today we met a young man with bipolar disorder.
Just recently, President Obama proposed to Congress an unprecedented amount of $1.1 billion for healthcare services to combat the addiction epidemic in this country.
Now we need your help.
I'm here with Jim Hood.
Come on up, Jim.
One of the wonderful people I've been able to meet.
I've learned about addiction.
He's the founder of Facing Addiction, and we are joined by a lot of other people, over 60 people in recovery in the audience behind me.
Wave your hands up there, guys.
We've made it really easy for you to send a letter to President Obama letting Congress know at the same time that you support the budgeted amount to win this fight against addiction.
This is a wonderful investment of our resources.
Now here are a few reasons why you should go to our website and sign the letter to the White House.
Addiction directly impacts over 45 million families in America.
Someone you know is affected.
Drug overdoses have now surpassed car accidents as the nation's leading cause of accidental death.
And an astonishing 90% of those in need of treatment do not receive it.
Nine out of ten people.
We can change this.
It'll take you about a minute to sign this little letter, right?
Just a minute.
That's right.
Less.
Less, if you're good at it.
I encourage all of you to go to our Facebook page and sign the letter.
Please ask your friends and family to do the same.
Your voice will be heard, and it'll go a long way to help the 23 million Americans who...
The 20 million plus people who are in recovery.
I'm proud of all you.
Thank you very much.
Sign the letter.
Remember, happy and healthy starts at home.
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