Nosferatu is an allegory for bipolar disorder

I watched nosferatu and as someone suffering from bipolar disorder, i really related to ellen during the movie. It got me thinking, so heres my take on this movie (i know this isnt the official meaning but the movie is very open to interpretation i feel). I feel like orlock is the personification of bipolar disorder.

First off, ellen suffers from hysteria, a “catch all” disease that many women back then were diagnosed with (including bipolar women). Also, the way people viewed her made me relate to her a lot. Ppl tend to view bipolar ppl as crazy or they feel sorry for them and pity them, kind of how ellen is treated during the movie. Moreover, this leads to not being taken seriously and being brushed off as “unstable”, just like ellen is in the movie.

Also, when count orlock possess/ torments her, its portrayed as being an episode, much like how bipolar presents itself (except we dont switch vibes by the hour). But either way, a lot of my episodes feel like something evil is possessing to make me do crazy stuff that i would not do in a normal state of mind. On top of that, i sometimes get incontrollable bursts of rage due to depression or mania, and it kind of makes me act like ellen towards the end of the movie when orlock possess and shes like shaking and throwing stuff. These bursts feel like someone else is controlling me almost, as i do my best to control it, similarly to how ellen is trying to ward off orlock.

Later on in the movie, ellen talks about her past, and it really sounds like a life with bipolar. She talks about feeling great melancholy, but also how her father saw her naked in the forest or something (i don’t remember exactly what she did). But these 2 intense contrasts lead me to think she has bipolar. Especially when she did the thing with her dad, it sounds like hyper sexuality and/or just reckless behaviour during mania.

And for the overall meaning of the movie, i feel its kind of learning how to live with the disorder. You might be able to ward it off with pills, but at the end of the day no matter what you do, you are stuck with it forever. I feel like in ellens case, it represents how a lot of the time bipolar people will intentionally stop their meds bc they think they are cured, or simply because they want to feel the highs again. However, if left untreated, bipolar will consume you and you can often destroy those around you, just like orlock with ellen. He destroys those around her by killing them, and driving sane people like friedrich to madness. And for the ending, it shows how you can die to this disorder just like ellen succumbed with orlock. You can never “kill” bipolar disorder, because it is part of you forever,, just like the pact stated.

Anyways, i know this is long i just felt like sharing my theory. Would love to hear what you guys think!