A new campaign launched by the American Psychiatric Association Foundation aims to change the conversation around mental wellness and illness from anti-stigma to prioritizing mental health in the same way we have prioritized physical health. APA CEO and Medical Director Saul Levin, M.D. said: “we all know there is no health without mental health. [This campaign is about] saying to the medical community and to patients everywhere, ‘Don’t ignore your mental health. You may feel like you can work through it, but would you work through a broken leg or diabetes?’” An important part of the campaign will be partnering with patient advocacy groups and allied medical groups. Listening to and respecting each other and learning from the lived experience ...
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We’ve come a long way! We now have a whole month for mental health awareness, and we have seen real awareness growing in so many ways throughout our society. While stigma remains, it is much easier now to speak out, discuss the issues and educate people about mental illness and mental health. MoodSurfing has been celebrating people, famous and not famous, who are standing up to reduce stigma around mental illness for some time. We have profiled entertainers like Demi Lovato, public figures like Devika Bhushan and ordinary people like Brent Guy for their courageous public testimonies in their own spheres. Progress in mental health and mental illness awareness is truly worthy of celebration. But of course, we are always ...
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Self-care is critical for a healthy life. Because we can’t meet others’ needs if our own go unheeded. Because to lead by example for our families, for our workplaces, for our communities, we have to show what a healthy life looks like. Because self-care is not a reward, it’s the basic fuel that keeps the whole show running. But how to put a self-care routine into action and keep it running? A certain amount of self-discipline is also required, especially in the early stages, before habits are set. Diet, exercise and sleep are the most important elements of self-care. Your body cannot meet the demands you make on it without the basic fuel and maintenance it requires. Set meal times, ...
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We want to highlight the work, and especially the website of Cara T Hoepner MS, RN, CS, PMHNP-BC, a Bay Area colleague of ours who has spent years investigating whole-body treatments for traditional and integrative psychiatry. Recently, we reached out to her for consultation with a particular patient, and found out that she has a huge amount to offer all of us. Her site lists books, articles, podcasts, and websites that offer solid, high-quality advice on ADHD, as well as on mood disorders, anxiety, trauma, and sleep. We can’t overpraise the hard work that has gone into the research foundation of this site! Here’s the link: Bay Area Psychiatric/ADHD In addition, she introduced us to Dr. Gabor Maté, whose website ...
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The Adult Psychiatry Clinic at UCSF has released the schedules of their Group Psycho-Education for Bipolar Disorder for June 2023. This activity under the Bipolar Disorder Program of the Department of Psychiatry is aimed at providing a community resource for individuals with bipolar disorder, mental health professionals and psychiatrists. Headed by Dr. Descartes Li, the program director, it is designed to augment the treatment of bipolar disorder and to help fill the needs due to the increased number of referrals from the community. Dr. Li describes this group as “an advanced class about bipolar disorder for people who have bipolar disorder.” Some of the topics covered in the sessions are: Self Awareness and Mood Charting Medications: How to Get the ...
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Lisa, a patient of ours, was excited to share her use of brown noise for getting a good night’s sleep. “All I gotta say is, I’m waking up refreshed and rested, where before I just felt awful in the morning. I haven’t even looked into the data on my sleep app, I just know I feel better when I use brown noise.” And what is brown noise? It’s similar to white noise, which may be more familiar, but brown noise is stronger in the lower frequencies, or deeper sounds. According to Lisa, it sounds like the roar of a river current or a strong wind. “It’s good for relaxation and general sleep improvement. For ADHD it drowns out the distracting ...
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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.
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