Six Ways to Build Stability in an Anxiety-Inducing World

Anxiety is a reality of our times.  Sometimes it comes as a vicious attack with no clear cause, and sometimes it’s raised by the news on TV or the news from neighbors, friends and our own kids, parents, and partners.  Whatever brings it on, battling anxiety can be a lonely struggle, often with no end in sight. In an anxiety-ridden …

Six Important Things to Manage Bipolar

Here’s an interview published by the website BP Hope, a colleague site of Moodsurfing.  This expert researcher who also experiences mood disorder gives her top six coping strategies for dealing with bipolar.  Her insights are both sharp and encouraging: there is a lot anyone can really do to make a life with bipolar be a better life. Kay Redfield Jamison, …

Gardening Therapy – Nancy

Can gardening play a role in mental health recovery and maintenance?  A growing body of evidence and experience is showing strong positive results in getting people to make a closer connection with plants and growing things as part of treatment for a wide variety of conditions.  From just taking Alzheimer’s patients on a walk through a garden to a six-month …

Spring Forward?

Those of us in the United States tried to remember what happens to the clock with daylight savings time using the phrase “spring forward and fall back.” In California daylight savings time has been accompanied by a week of the sunniest weather in a couple of months. For whatever reason, in our practice at Gateway Psychiatric there has been a sudden uptick …

Neuroplasticity – Nancy

Can you change your brain?  Recent research in the field of “neuroplasticity” suggests that the human brain continues to change and adapt throughout life.  Furthermore, there is  clear evidence that an individual can affect the changes to their own brain structure by how they pay attention to stimuli around them. The implication of this research is that, for example, a …

Religious Faith and Mental Health – Nancy

More and more studies are finding a link between religious and spiritual practices and improvements in mental health, including significant reductions in anxiety and reduced risk of depressive illness. While it is somewhat difficult to study this field, due to the wide variety of definitions and practices in the field of religion and spirituality, researchers are beginning to find ways …

A Social Media Resource – Reader Contribution

Moodsurfing continues to monitor developments in the field of online help for mood disorders and mental health generally, we have looked at several newly available resources here and here.  Of course, there are negatives as well, but overall, we are observing a trend of more and more useful and useable online programs and communities.  Here, we share a reader’s recommendation …

Surviving Christmas Holidays

Survival Strategies for the Holidays Reviewed

Why should you need survival strategies for the holidays? Aren’t they supposed to be fun? That’s part of the problem of course, there are so many expectations and hopes wrapped up in holiday season that it’s easy to end up feeling disappointed. If things haven’t worked out for you in a relationship or someone close to you is passed away this …

Support Groups – Nancy

Having a group of friends to talk things over with can mean the difference between success and failure in almost all areas of life, and it can be especially important in dealing with mental illness.  Even just a few people who “get it” can be a tremendous support.  But how to find them? Support groups come in all types and …

Mindfulness and Health – Nancy

Moodsurfing has often recommended mindfulness exercises for those grappling with bipolar and other chronic illnesses, but is it possible to go beyond exercises and make mindfulness a part of your everyday life? One way to do this is to take an activity that you do habitually, like turning on the coffee maker in the morning, brushing your teeth, or whatever …

Exercise, Diet and Sleep – Nancy

Exercise, diet and sleep: three important ingredients for health, and also for mood stability.  Keeping our bodies healthy is a vital strategy for mental health as well.  All body systems work together, so it makes sense that a healthy balance in one area will contribute to a healthy balance in others. Try this experiment: make a chart or note of …

Commit to Values-Based Action – Nancy

We’ve discussed the mental health strategy called “Acceptance and Commitment Therapy” several times in Moodsurfing (see below for links), and it’s an important feature of our Bipolar Disorder Workbook.  It’s a multifaceted approach, and there’s a lot to unpack. This post explores the “commitment” part of it all. Once you’ve trained yourself to look squarely at your reality, without focusing …

The Bipolar Disorder Workbook

Gateway Psychiatric Services is delighted to announce the release of our latest book, The Bipolar Disorder Workbook from Callisto Media. The Workbook is intended to be of use to those who are just beginning to think bipolar may be an issue for them as well as those who have been journeying with bipolar for a longer time. It is also …

What is Biofeedback? – Nancy

Biofeedback is a stress management technique that uses devices that give you information about your body’s physiologic response to stress. The idea is to provide you with information that would ordinarily be outside of your conscious awareness, such as your body temperature, blood pressure, or heart rate.  Generally, there are three stages of biofeedback: Developing increased awareness of the body …

Building Healthy Habits – Gina

Building healthy habits can be very important in managing mood. Regular sleep, exercise and diet can play a key role in reinforcing a stable mood. As a result, I regularly work with clients to identify healthy habits they would like to form and steps they can take in doing so. Most of the the time they are core habits such …

circadian rhythm

Circadian Rhythms – Nancy

A new study from the UK has shown that disruption in the daily rhythms (circadian rhythms) of work and rest is clearly linked to mood disorders and major depression, as well as other concerns: lower subjective happiness, feelings of loneliness, and mood instability. Circadian rhythms are the natural paths our lives take, with patterns of work during daylight hours and …

what is a manic episode

What is a manic episode? – Nancy

What is a manic episode?  Recognizing a true manic episode is critical to the diagnosis of bipolar 1 disorder.  It is not merely feeling energetic, or high-spirited.  During a manic episode, one may not be able to work, may avoid or seem fearful of family members and other close associates, and may require hospitalization.  Similar, but at a milder level, …