Two recent articles that I reviewed highlight the accumulating evidence that something as simple as sunlight has profound impacts on brain biology. When I suggest to people that they pay attention to daily light exposure and, particularly, to getting bright light for 45 minutes every morning, I am often looked at with skepticism. “Sure doc,” I hear the other person …
Golden Gate Barrier Debate Highlights Misconceptions about Depression
Several of the readers of this blog sent me a link to an article that appeared in The New York Times this past week that indicated that it was possible or even likely that at the end of May the Golden Gate Bridge district would approve installing a barrier to prevent suicides. In case you don’t live near here, the …
Evolutionary Psychology and Understanding Depression
We are glad to finally have a summary of a fascinating conversation with Dr. Julio Ozores up on this site in our “Conversations” series. Dr. Ozores challenges us to think about depression in a new way. Although many of us struggle with the negative effects of depression in our lives, are (or were) there benefits to depression that have led …
Social Media Makes Moods Go Viral
Previously we reviewed evidence that the people we live with (family, neighbors, even the larger community of people in a metropolitan area) have an effect on our mood, so it is not surprising to learn of a recent study conducted by researchers from the University of California, Yale, and Facebook that found that moods can go viral, just like ideas and …
Yoga for Mood and Health
Many of our patients with chronic mood disorders report that beginning yoga and doing it consistently has been associated with periods of remarkable stability. There are studies supporting yoga as an evidence based approach to the treatment of depression. But it is hard to figure out where to begin. At the end of this page are some additional resources. One …
Smoking Cessation Is an Antidepressant
Smoking Cessation Linked With Multiple Mental Health Benefits, Study Finds This article is reposted from the American Psychiatric Association News by permission Stopping smoking is associated with significant improvements in anxiety, depression, stress, positive affect, and psychological quality of life. And the strength of the association appears to be similar for both the general population and clinical populations, including those …
Family Therapy Effective for Bipolar Teenagers
Family Therapy– Family-focused treatments have been shown to be effective adjunctive therapy to mood stabilizing medicine in adults with bipolar disorder (especially young, female adults), but whether this approach holds true in adolescents, has been unclear. Researchers from the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) assessed 145 adolescents with bipolar disorder to see if adding 9 months of family …
Apps for MoodSurfing
While you are waiting for the official MoodSurfing app, you might want to check out the recently updated “Links and Apps” page on this blog. There I write about other websites with useful information, but also about apps for Android and iPhone that can help you create calm by adding a mindfulness practice, or track your moods, so that you …
Mood Effects of Diet
One of our readers wrote to ask – Have you observed an impact of diet on mood? I feel that less carbs for example make me feel better. I’ve been experimenting with Paleo months ago. Any tips how I could explore this best? We have a fair amount of clinical experience related to this question, but we have been surprised that …
When the Grown-ups Disappear: On Self-Destructive Behavior
A brilliant young man I know has been stuck in a pattern of self-destructive behavior and constant and terrifying self-criticism. Nothing seems to be helping him get out of this cycle. We have thoughtful conversations about the problem and come up with various solutions but then, the next time we get together, the behavior remains unchanged. I often feel as …
Comments and Connections
The “forum” page seems to be generating renewed interest. This has sparked me to reevaluate how we manage all of the ways that you (the readers) interact with this site. I have never been all that happy with the “Comments” function. At the bottom of each post there is a place where you can post comments (I have to approve …
Bipolar Advantage: Has Bipolar Made You a Better Person?
I ran across this intriguing post while surfing the world of bipolar blogs…. I would love to get comments and responses… Maybe you agree, or disagree. Let me know – add a comment to this post or send me an email at peter@moodsurfing.com. [This introduction is quoted with permission but to read the rest you will have to follow the …
Looking for Volunteers Who Want to Get Better
One of my patients ran across this game and thought it might be of use. I went online and checked it out and it seems that it could be helpful, now I wonder if I could get one or more volunteers to try it out and report back to the group. If you are interested email me at peter@moodsurfing.com. Link …
Helping Your Spouse
You have gotten help for your depression. You have seen a therapist or psychiatrist and spent long hours working to understand and improve your situation. Your spouse, who has been there for you during this process, has not. And now you are confronting the almost inevitable realization that he, or she, is really uncomfortable in the psychological world. Maybe she …
Saliva Test Identifies Teens at Risk for Major Depression
The Associated Press (2/18, Cheng) reported that according to a study published online Feb. 17 in the Proceedings of the National Academies of Science, “a saliva test for teens, specifically boys with mild symptoms of depression could help identify those who will later develop major depression.” The study involved more than 1,800 teenagers aged 12 to 19. Researchers used a …
Medications for Anxiety
A writer we have been seeing for about a year for depression and bipolar sent me an email yesterday – “I need something for my anxiety…” Often anxiety is the symptom that is of greatest concern to people who have bipolar or depression. Working through my thought process as I tried to come up with an answer for the woman …
Passing on PTSD to Children
At a recent scientific meeting, Rachael Yehada showed that traits that are related to posttraumatic stress disorder PTSD can be passed on to children during pregnancy. Mothers in New York City who were pregnant on September 11, 2001 and developed post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) had children with low cortisol in their blood (a sign of PTSD). But if the fathers …
Brain Cell Formation in Older Brains
Cell formation. Readers of this blog may recall that we reported last year the discouraging findings from Dr. Pasco Rakic (professor of neuroanatomy at Yale University) that there is very little neurogenesis (creation of new neurons) in the brains of older primates (including humans). Now, an article by Kristy Spalding published a few months ago in Cell suggests that the …
Smart Phones May Disrupt Sleep
There is no “off” switch for our brains. Going to sleep, for most people, involves a process of “coming down” from our hectic and sometimes stressful lives. In the past, when there was no electricity, the sun went down and we went through a natural process of getting tired and then falling asleep. But now we can keep the lights …
What is Bipolar 2?
A friend of this blog sent me a link to a talk about bipolar 2. As she noted, it is sometimes hard to find information about this type of mood cycling. I would love to hear from you if you think this is useful. Warning, it begins in an odd way, but then shifts gear to a more personal discussion …