MoodSurfing

Where Can I Get My Meds?
Where Can I Get My Meds?
Once you see a physician, get a diagnosis, and get a prescription for the medication you need, the hard part should be over, right? But sometimes people face long searches to find a pharmacy that can fill their prescription in the face of shortages and uncertain supply lines for medications that many people need. You have to sit by the phone and call pharmacy after pharmacy only to be told “sorry, it’s not in stock”. Enter Medfinder.com, an online service that, for a small subscription fee, searches all the pharmacies in your area to find the meds you need. Started by regular folks who were frustrated by constant shortages and difficult searches, Medfinder utilizes “pharmacy-level inventory data” to find out ... Read More
Insurance Barriers to Mental Health Care
Insurance Barriers to Mental Health Care
Don’t take “no” for an answer! Here’s a great resource for anyone encountering barriers to getting insurance coverage for mental health care. Cover My Mental Health is a non-profit offering help to people battling for insurance coverage of care. They offer free guidance for every step of the way, including: No in-network care When a claim is denied Next steps: formal complaints And encouragement for patients, whatever the barrier, from people who have been through it themselves. CoverMyMentalHealth.org ... Read More
Anxious and Ruminative Thought Strategies
Anxious and Ruminative Thought Strategies
Work is one of our biggest sources of anxiety and stress.  So often a small incident at work can turn into something bigger, resulting in negative supervisor reviews, which results in more anxiety and ruminative thinking about the original incident.  “What really happened?” “What should I have done differently?” “What should I have said when I got called on it?” Then, there’s a whole pile of worry about what could happen in the future: “What if I get laid off?” “Who will take care of my work if I can’t do it any more?” “Where will I be able to get another job?” Not only are these thoughts non-productive, they can distract us from doing our best work, and use ... Read More
Family Input to Mental Health Crisis Care
Family Input to Mental Health Crisis Care
California law allows a mentally ill person to be placed in care involuntarily for a maximum of 72 hours if a designated officer finds that the person is a danger to him- or herself, a danger to others, or gravely disabled and unable to perform self-care. Once this 72-hour period is completed, a hearing must be held to determine if the person should remain in involuntary care for a longer period of time. This hearing consists of a hearing officer, someone handling inpatient care, and a patient’s rights representative. However, in the past, the hearing itself had only the statements of these persons, and the patient him- or herself to use in making the determination. A recent revision to the ... Read More
Functional Neurological Disorder
Functional Neurological Disorder
Faking symptoms? Too lazy to work? No! Functional neurological symptoms, such as tremors, limb weakness or numbness, facial functional disorders and tics, gait disorders, blackouts, dizziness and many others that seem to have no physical cause, are the second most common reason for outpatient neurology consultation (after headaches).  These symptoms have been described in the medical literature as the 17th century, when this collection of symptoms was called “hysteria”.  It has been extensively studied since then, and we have a wealth of careful clinical descriptions of the symptoms that are remarkably similar to 21st century presentations.  Also, studies from diverse global locations such as Tanzania, Pakistan, Turkey, Iran and China all describe similar phenomenology of FND presentations to those reported ... Read More
Shoutout to Bloggers
Shoutout to Bloggers
Today we’re sending some love to the terrific blog, Speaking Bipolar, by Scott Ninneman.  It’s a super-positive and uplifting blog from somebody who’s been living with bipolar for thirty years.  And what a well-examined journey this is.  Scott is celebrating 7 years of blogging, and those seven years of posts are packed with practical tips, personal stories, and encouragement. Whether he’s writing about stress at work, the death of a beloved pet, facing down stigma, or being a writer, he brings insight and humor to the topic, all the while sharing what he’s found that works and what doesn’t work. While Scott’s writing always aims to be encouraging, he has some serious passions, too, especially men and suicide.  70% of ... Read More

About MoodSurfing

Welcome to MoodSurfing.com, the site that highlights strategies for living creatively with moods and coping with depression. This site is for people with bipolar, depression, cyclothymia, and others who experience powerful moods and want to figure out how to integrate these experiences into successful lives.

Although most of us are mental health clinicians of one kind or another, this site is not about providing people with medical or clinical advice (see below). We hope that we can help you cope with depression, maybe even allow you to live well with moods. 

If you like what you see here, be sure to sign up to get updated with new posts. 

We have done a series of interviews with people who have interesting things to say about different aspects of living creatively with moods. You can find those under the heading “Conversations.

DISCLAIMER

This site is not designed to and does not provide medical advice, professional diagnosis, opinion, treatment or services to you or to any other individual. Through this site and linkages to other sites, Moodsurfing provides general information for educational purposes only. The information provided in this site, or through linkages to other sites, is not a substitute for medical or professional care, and you should not use the information in place of a visit, call consultation or the advice of your physician or other healthcare provider. Moodsurfing is not liable or responsible for any advice, course of treatment, diagnosis or any other information, services or product you obtain through this site.

IF YOU BELIEVE YOU HAVE A MEDICAL EMERGENCY, YOU SHOULD IMMEDIATELY CALL 911 OR YOUR PHYSICIAN. If you believe you have any other health problem, or if you have any questions regarding your health or a medical condition, you should promptly consult your physician or other healthcare provider. Never disregard medical or professional advice, or delay seeking it, because of something you read on this site or a linked website. Never rely on information on this website in place of seeking professional medical advice. You should also ask your physician or other healthcare provider to assist you in interpreting any information in this site or in the linked websites, or in applying the information to your individual case.

Medical information changes constantly. Therefore the information on this site or on the linked websites should not be considered current, complete or exhaustive, nor should you rely on such information to recommend a course of treatment for you or any other individual. Reliance on any information provided on this site or any linked websites is solely at your own risk.

Moodsurfing does not recommend or endorse any specific tests, products, procedures, opinions or other information that may be provided on the linked websites. The linked websites may contain text, graphics, images or information that you find offensive (e.g., sexually explicit), Moodsurfing has no control over and accepts no responsibility for such materials.