Bipolar Advantage

Another online resource that folks may appreciate is Bipolar Advantage, a program dedicated to helping people function at their highest potential during all mood states and levels.  Their trademark is changing the discussion from “Bipolar Disorder” to “Bipolar IN Order”, where the student learns to thrive during manic and depressive episodes, and to consider the advantages of their states of being. A membership-based program, BA offers regular online courses, blog and discussion forum for a monthly fee of $19 - $29 depending on level.  This includes participation in their 8-week course called “Bipolar IN Order” as well as follow-up courses on a variety of topics.  They are also hoping to start up a You Tube channel with video programming in ... Read More

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 sizes.  There are groups of people living with specific conditions, and groups for the family members of people with those conditions.  There are groups for substance abuse and alcohol, such as AA, which is found in almost every town in America. Types of support groups Peer support groups are often led by someone who identifies as a member of the ... Read More

Family and Bipolar – Nancy

Family members can be your best support, and they can also be a drag on your recovery.  How to help them understand your needs better so that they can make positive impacts and let you get what you need? Having a family member diagnosed with an illness like Bipolar can be a significant shock.  If it’s a child, parents may wonder what they could or should have done differently.  Siblings may struggle with resentment if the sibling with an illness seems to get and need more attention.  Children may feel an obscure sense of guilt if a parent is diagnosed with an illness during their childhood.  Spouses and partners may wonder if they can handle dealing with the demands of ... Read More

Cognitive Behavior Therapy – Is It for You? – Nancy

One of the popular and well-researched non-medication alternatives for bipolar and unipolar depression is Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT), a method of helping people identify and change unhealthy patterns of thought and/or behavior.  CBT looks at the interaction between feelings, thoughts and behavior, and helps participants learn to analyze the connections between them and how they influence each other. For example, it’s very common that people experience feelings of helplessness and hopelessness during an episode of depression.  This feeling of hopelessness can lead to behaviors like staying in bed all day, and it can lead to negative thoughts, like “I’m no good, things will never get better.” Behavior Activation Cognitive Behavior Therapy approaches this situation in two different ways.  The first ... Read More

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 action you know that you always take upon getting up, or before or after eating or before bedtime.  Train yourself to do this habitual action mindfully. For example, I used to have a job with a long commute by car every morning and evening.  There was one part of the drive that was along a rural area, and I tried ... Read More

Acceptance Self Talk for Depression – Nancy

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) teaches users a technique called “Acceptance Self-Talk”.  This is a series of exercises that trains people to substitute new thoughts for old ones and encourages them to evaluate their thoughts and accept only what seems true and helpful. Depression is often characterized by recurrent negative thoughts that drag one down and become barriers to taking control and moving forward.  For example, “I can’t go on” or “no one likes me” become themes of the mind and are very hard to remove.  ACT teaches users to identify these recurrent thoughts and subject them to evaluation.  Replacing an old, negative thought with a new one, like “this is a really hard time in my life, but I’m ... 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.