It seems appropriate today to notice the fact that the largest civil rights movement ever is responding to the shame of ongoing racism not only in the United States, but in communities around the world. On June 19, 1865 the Emancipation Proclamation was read out publicly in Texas, the last state to surrender in the American Civil War. The states in rebellion were united in their insistence on a way of life based on holding human beings as chattel. Even after Juneteenth, there were long delays in actually freeing slaves. Slavery was still legal and practiced in Union border states until December 6, 1865, when ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution abolished non-penal slavery nationwide. It took the 14th Amendment to grant former slaves citizenship, ...
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Stigma about mental illness is found everywhere, so why not in the intensely macho world of college football? Brent Guy, a college football coach for 30 years can tell you all about stigma. He hid his bipolar diagnosis and regular medication from everyone but his wife and doctors. I’ve written quite a few of these “famous people with bipolar” profiles here on MoodSurfing (see Demi Lovato, Mariah Carey and others) but reading this one from ESPN really got me choked up. Guy went through so much just to keep his secret, even his psychiatrist told him: “don’t tell anyone”. Finally, after nearly 30 years of hiding, Guy had had enough. He retired from coaching football and has become a mental ...
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A woman who is an HR manager complained that working from home has made her more physically inactive than ever. This seems to be a common complaint. Because of the risk of social isolation, she encouraged her team to use the chat application to check in with teammates more often. But what began as an effort to make people feel more connected, morphed into a sense that it is not okay to leave your computer except to go to the bathroom during the workday. She sits in front of her computer from 8 AM to 5 PM with only a brief break for lunch. In the past, she would typically take a break for 10 or 15 minutes to go ...
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We’re all spending more time online these days, and learning to do things inside that we used to go out to do. How can we use this time positively to increase health, coping skills, mindfulness, and general well-being? There are more and more online resources for improving mindfulness and mental health. It seems like we just finish a list of resources and another one pops into the inbox. There’s a lot out there, and fortunately, there are some curated lists as well, so you don’t have to sort through it all on your own. First of all, here’s one with a June 10, 2020 deadline: check out the online group Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy led by Dr. Sidney Edsall, a ...
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Getting better sleep – longer, deeper, more restful – is an important part of managing mental illness and healthy lifestyle. Lack of sleep, and interrupted sleep, is one of the most common problems mentioned by our clients, and helping people get better sleep is one of our first goals for management of moods and especially major depression. Sleep technology is, of course, growing by leaps and bounds these days, and keeping up with developments in this field is enough to give anyone many sleepless nights. Luckily, we can find reputable research that can help navigate the complicated and booming market in sleep apps and other devices. A recent article in Wirecutter focusses on apps that can be downloaded and used ...
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Pleasure! We all want it. Not only is it fun, but it enables our bodies to release oxytocin, which helps strengthen the immune system, heal wounds faster, and generally increase health and happiness. Problem is, often when we feel bad, tired, or bored, we can’t even imagine doing something fun. To help with that, Moodsurfing has posted lists before of 80 fun things to do. And now, here’s the revised version for everyone under stay-at-home orders! We had to remove about 14 things that were all about going somewhere (bowling, ice skating…) and we separated out a list of 13 that can be converted to online or virtual activities. Using this list, you don’t have to think of a fun ...
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.
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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.
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