MoodSurfing

Stanford Mood Disorders Education Day

Stanford University will be hosting a Mood Disorders Education Day for families, communities and “Moodsurfers” themselves. The event is free, including a light breakfast and lunch, but you must pre-register to attend. Here’s the link for registration. The organizers say that the event usually fills up quickly, so it’s better to register early. Also, they request that you notify them if you have registered but are unable to attend so that the space can go to someone else. The Education Day program will include discussions of recent treatment advances, neuroscience, developmental challenges, and the influences of genetics and environment on mood disorders. Education Day also includes opportunities for Q&A panel discussions. The schedule includes information about recent research advances, a ... Read More

Two Minute Meditation for Energized States – Nancy

Meditation sounds like such a good idea, but who has time?  Especially when you’re energized and it feels like the world is your oyster.  Colors are brighter and light and shadow so much richer – who has time for meditation?  And yet, it’s when we’re in those high energy states that we know risky behavior is just around the corner.  We have heard from our clients that it’s just when the energy seems at its highest that a brief touchdown can make all the difference between lost time and usable energy. Two minutes. That’s all it takes to turn off the bright lights and get grounded again. If you can’t sit still, try some walking meditation techniques, or try Amy ... Read More

Attachment Behavior – Nancy

Does a stable romantic relationship give you a sense of security, or is it a source of anxiety? Do you have a partner who gets anxious at any potential separation between the two of you? Adult romantic relationships often reenact behaviors learned in infancy called attachment behavior. Attachment behavior theory looks at how infants develop relationships with their primary caregivers between birth and one year of age. Studies have found that infants seek to attach themselves to a caregiver that offers support, protection and care. If parents and other adults in the child’s life provide the care that makes them feel secure, they are able to recover quickly from any short separation from familiar adults. However, children who have not ... Read More

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 to one year training program in urban horticulture, gardens and gardening are taking a bigger role in health care. An article from the Guardian in the U.K. discusses the success shown by programs associated with public housing in urban areas. Even a small garden can provide space for residents to learn new skills and “get their hands dirty” giving them ... Read More

Anger – Nancy

Can getting angry ever be good for you? Is anger a cause or a symptom of mental illness? Do men get angry more often than women? Does anger always have to be a part of life? Aristotle is quoted as saying: “Anybody can become angry - that is easy, but to be angry with the right person and to the right degree and at the right time and for the right purpose, and in the right way - that is not within everybody's power and is not easy.” And he’s got a point: learning to use your anger effectively and control its ineffective outbursts or uncomfortable suppression is not easy. Moodsurfing has explored the topic of anger, especially unhealthy anger, ... Read More

Maternal Depressive Symptoms – Nancy

Interventions to reduce maternal depressive symptoms, especially during infancy may have lasting effects on child neurological development. A longitudinal study recently published in the Netherlands has found that children whose mothers exhibited depressive symptoms during their infancy have measurable reductions in brain size even by age 10. These findings provide evidence for an observed link between maternal depression and ADHD in children. The study followed mother-child pairs and measured maternal depression using the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI), a validated self-report questionnaire, at four periods—during pregnancy (approximately 20 weeks' gestation), postpartum (child age 2 months), early childhood (age 3 years), and preadolescence (age 10 years). After adjusting for possible confounding factors, researchers found that maternal depression at 2 months of age ... 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.