In one of the more recent shows before the season final, Deb was watching Cater, disturbed by his behavior. She then mentioned to Mark that Carter may be bipolar. This may have been away to perhaps explain some of his mood swings. Did this story line totally disappear? Or can we expect to see it show up in the future? Or do I have no idea what I am talking about? :) Please enlighten me.

-- Bridget (Bardo_Boo@hotmail.com), May 26, 2000

Answers

In the season finale when Mark, Kerry, Peter, and Deb (Chen) were talking about holding an intervention for Carter, Deb mentions that she previously thought Carter might be bi-polar, but since Abby "caught" him in the act of shooting up, she obviously was wrong.

-- AmyE (roamyn@aol.com), May 26, 2000.

I doubt will ever here the bi-polar thing mentioned with regard to Carter again. All of Carter's problems clearly are a result of the combination of PTSD/survivor's guilt/pain killer abuse .

-- Brenda (jckwfan@aol.com), May 26, 2000.

Obviously, Deb got the diagnosis wrong, since she quoted from the "DMS IV" manual. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think she should have said "DSM IV," the commonly used manual to help diagnose mental disorders. I know it's a picky point, but as someone who has had to use the DSM in the past, it stuck out. Had Deb read the right textbook, she could have discovered Carter's real problem and saved him from additional months of addiction!

-- Derek (derekmoore18@hotmail.com), May 28, 2000.

What additional months? These epis were one or two apart! Besides Deb was the only one noticing and trying to find a reason for his behavior, so for that I give her a lot of credit. And when she realized what the actual reason was, she immediately admitted her misdiagnosis, which was really only a suggestion to Mark anyway. I'm not a big Deb fan, but the character impressed me more for these things than anything ever before.

-- Diana (dilynne@juno.com), May 28, 2000.