If Florence Was Still Alive

[floyjoy678]

I might get my head bitten off for this: but I really do believe Flo had an undiagnosed bipolar disorder. The way Mary and Diana have written about her rollercoaster moods and how one minute she'd explode about something then after exploding she'd act like nothing was wrong.

[midnightman]

I might get my head bitten off for this: but I really do believe Flo had an undiagnosed bipolar disorder. The way Mary and Diana have written about her rollercoaster moods and how one minute she'd explode about something then after exploding she'd act like nothing was wrong.

As someone who loves Florence Ballard, I agree she was probably bipolar. It explains her mood swings. Both Diana and Mary wrote that they couldn't deal with her mood swings. You definitely won't get your head bitten off for that. All three women dealt with issues their own way. All three were VERY YOUNG when they became instant superstars in 1964 and dealt with success their own ways. It was harder to deal with for other people [[Flo) than others [[Diana & Mary in their own ways).

[RanRan79]

I don't know if it was bipolar. Nothing has been written about Florence having mood swings until about 1966 when everything began to spiral out of control. I'm thinking that her mood swings had something to do with the diet pills she often took during this time. What does seem apparent is that Florence suffered from depression off and on which seems to have kicked in after her rape. When her life got hectic- and the Supremes in 1966 was on an almost entirely different type of schedule than that of the Supremes of 1965- and the drama with Gordy and Ross started up, she started self medicating. Diet pills which cause heavy mood swings, depression kicking in because of the deterioration of her relationships with Gordy and Ross, and then alcohol mixed in just exacerbated all of the problems.

It's hard to diagnose someone years after they're deceased, but Flo's life reads to me like a woman depressed who found herself addicted to alcohol. What bothers me is the comments that are sometimes made that paints this picture of Flo as someone who didn't want to be a singer or didn't want to be a star or a woman who didn't have the drive to put in the work, and the events of 1966-67 are usually what is pointed to in order to back up the claim. But if you know anything about depression, depression often won't allow a person to enjoy what they once enjoyed or be as motivated as they once were. Not because it's not in them, but because the mental condition takes over. Some folks depression is so crippling that they find it hard to get out of bed. Every account of Florence prior to 1966 is a woman who managed to make it to every show, every recording session, every photo session, every interview, same as Diana and Mary, until about 1966, which is when her depression symptoms really seem to ramp up. Then on top of it she becomes an alcoholic. It's difficult to be yourself when you have a mental issue and a substance abuse issue beating on your back. Had Flo gotten psychiatric help as a Supreme or consistently after she left the group, I think her story, both personal and music career, would've been extremely different.