Actor Jang Geun Suk Discusses His Bipolar Disorder And Army Life

Army changed him for the better.

Jang Geun Suk recently sat down for an interview with Yahoo! News, where he discussed his bipolar disorder openly. Due to the disorder, he had been serving as a public service officer rather than in active duty in the army.

He revealed that what kicked off his bipolar disorder was back in 2011, where he finally achieved one of his life’s dreams. He had successfully completed a solo performance at the Tokyo Dome, something he had dreamed about since middle school. However, the morning after, he felt an overwhelming sense of emptiness and insecurity about the future.

Jang Geun Suk revealed that he has never allowed himself to express his difficulties in public. Be it during concerts or on broadcast, he has never mentioned having a hard time for fear that people would worry about him after his company had announced his illness and service details.

However, there is a silver lining to the story! Jang Geun Suk shared that his time in the army became something precious to him.

I had to do cleaning as well as the dishes, and once I even had to adjust 50 fans. When they called for me to come over through the phone, I said yes and ran over to do whatever it was. It was completely different from the work I’d been doing for close to 30 years. However, I found out that there are many types of people in this world, through my time in the army. I realized that there are no standards for judgments. I began to feel peace of mind and my mood turned positive.

— Jang Geun Suk

In other news, the actor hopes to be able to showcase his cooking skills to fans in the future, as well as try acting in a serious romance drama.

Source: Star Today (1), (2), (3), (4), (5), (6), (7) and (8)