Karzai calls mood swings story ‘funny’
By IANSMonday, October 11, 2010
WASHINGTON - Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai doesn’t suffer from mood swings and termed as “rather funny” a story that said he did.
Veteran Washington Post journalist Bob Woodward in his book titled “Obama’s Wars” cites US intelligence reports and says that Karzai has been diagnosed as manic-depressive.
Manic depressive refers to mood swings from overly “high” (manic) to overly “low” (depressed). Another name for manic-depressive illness is bipolar disorder, which refers to a person’s mood alternating between poles of mania (highs) and depression (lows).
“He’s on his meds; he’s off his meds,” Woodward quoted US Ambassador Karl Eikenberry as saying about Karzai.
“The only medication that I have taken is an antibiotic called Augmentin,” when suffering from a cold two years ago, Karzai told CNN’s “Larry King Live” programme in an interview.
He said from time to time, he also takes vitamin C, multivitamins and Tylenol, “when I have a headache or when I’m tired”.
