We had the absolute pleasure of talking with director Kathy Leichter about her experience of making her movie, Here One Day. Here One Day is an intimate look into Kathy’s mother’s experience with Bipolar Disorder as well as her own experience, as her daughter. Question: How did you come up with the idea of Here One Day? Kathy Leichter: I’ve been …
Travel and Mood
Travel and mood are very much related. Often a trip is associated with a significant change in mood. This can be due to many factors. Getting out of a rut, experiencing new locations and meeting new people can bring you out of the depression. However there is also the possibility that travel may disrupt circadian rhythms in a way that leads …
Bipolar in Order Study
Several readers of this blog have been intrigued by Tom Wootton’s “Bipolar in Order” site and the training program that he has developed to help people live well with bipolar. A few years ago I added a chapter to one of Tom’s books, and Tom and I have had a professional relationship for more than a decade. I don’t agree …
The Purple Thread – by Lyndsey
Greek philosopher Epictetus compared the masses to the white threads of a toga. He declared himself to be a purple thread among the common white threads, saying “I desire to be the purple thread–that small and shining part which makes the rest seem fair and beautiful.” He went on to ask, when contemplating changing his personhood, “why should I attempt …
Positive Change or Mania?
Charlie is concerned that by being too positive he will trigger mania. He has been hospitalized once a year and the pattern always seems to be the same. He will have settled into a seemingly fixed state of depression, and then will begin to feel frustrated with that state and tried to make changes to escape from the swampy morass. He …
Welcome to the Jungle
Since Welcome to the Jungle is a book about bipolar written for young adults. And since most people are diagnosed with bipolar as young adults, often thrown into a world of confusingly contradictory information, needing to suddenly understand a complicated condition, and make important self care decisions, when they have only recently started living independently, we thought this book could …
Bipolar Depression – Energized States are Rare
I ran across this slide in the Psychiatric Times Bipolar Disorder Information Center. I think it neatly illustrates why so many of the people I talk with, particularly people with bipolar 2, find it hard to understand the diagnosis. On average, patients with bipolar disorder spent roughly 70% of their time in a depression when they were having mood symptoms. Patients …
Welcome to the Jungle
Welcome to the Jungle is a nice addition to the large list of bipolar self help books. Hillary Smith has written a book for the young person dealing with a new diagnosis. The information is up to date, but the tone is informal, and respectful of the mix of feelings that many people have facing a new diagnosis of bipolar …
Bipolar Education Program
Doctors often do a poor job of educating their patients about their health problems. That is particularly troubling when you are talking about a condition as complicated as bipolar. We have been working on an educational program for this site based on the Barcelona psycho-education program for bipolar, to be called Bipolar 101. The Barcelona program has clearly been shown, …
Bipolar Books – Marbles
Bipolar books are coming out with greater frequency. I’m hoping to focus on some of the more creative examples in this site. I’m happy, once again, to post a sample of a wonderful book by Ellen Forney called Marbles: Mania, Depression, Michelangelo and Me. This is a delightful cartoon book that was a New York Times bestseller. I’m hoping that …
Bipolar Suicide Film – Here One Day
I just attended the screening of a remarkable documentary at the Institute for Psychiatric Services meeting in San Francisco. The film is called Here One Day. It is an incredibly personal story by documentary film maker Kathy Leichter, about her mother, and her mother’s struggle with bipolar. The film is a tribute to a remarkable woman, who’s bipolar disorder both …
Digital noise – don’t you just love it?
Digital noise: phone chatter, loud music cross-talk, the incessant tip-tapping of keyboards, the beeps, bongs and rings of text messages and horrible mobiles ring tones that expose you to things like Wagner played on what sounds like a xylophone – I’m stuck on a bus in the middle of nowhere. It’s hell. Coping with noisy, busy places for many bipolars is often stressful. …
Bipolar or Unipolar Depression?
Bipolar or unipolar depression: How to distinguish between these two conditions, which can have very different treatment response remains a difficult question without really satisfying answers. As noted in the picture to the right, misdiagnosis is common and can have serious consequences. An article in European Psychiatry adds to the literature pointing to certain features that increase the odds that someone …
Suicide in Young Adults
Suicide in young adults and adolescents is one of the most troubling issues facing any of us dealing with depression. This post, provided by Yellowbrick, speaks specifically to parents; however, we find that it is a useful resource for all of us who have adolescents and young adults in our lives. Of particular importance is point number 8; it can be …
My Bipolar 2 Diagnosis
My name is Elisabeth Berger. I am 41 years old and I am from the Tyrolean mountains in Austria. I am going to write occasionally for this blog. I received a bipolar II diagnosis relatively late, just a little more than two years ago and I was treated for depression before. I am planning to apply for admission to graduate …
Lithium Health Benefits – Link to GPS
Several members of this forum sent me an e-mail with a link to an article that appeared in the New York Times on lithium that was provocatively titled “Should We All Take a Bit of Lithium.” We ended up publishing a blog post on this topic on our Gateway Psychiatric website. This might be a good opportunity to introduce readers …
Diagnosed Bipolar in a Crazy World – Lyndsey
I saw a production of Hamlet last month, performed by the Shakespeare-by-the-Sea ensemble. Having not seen it since my diagnosis, I felt as if I was watching the play for the first time. Do you remember the story? “To be or not to be?” – And all that. Hamlet, the young intense Danish Prince, is distraught over the sudden death …
The Power of Daily Rituals: A Morning Walk
What is the power of a morning walk? Even such a simple daily ritual can have profound effects on mood. After two years working with a young woman who is now heading off to graduate school and bright future, we were reflecting on lessons learned. “I can be a bit dense about cause and effect. I am surprised when something …
Robin Williams: Preparing for Depression – Lyndsey
Much has been made of Robin Williams’ ongoing struggle with darkness culminating with his suicide after being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. People have commented mostly on how confusing it seems that someone who gave so much laughter could be visited by such exquisite pain. But we bipolars know all about this. It’s almost like living with two distinct personalities in …
A Bipolar Couple
This morning one of the clients we have worked with for several years came in with his wife. It was a surprise that she joined the weekly session. They had just returned from a vacation in Mexico. And neither of them had had any fun on the trip. When he left for Mexico, he was very mildly hypomanic and, I suspect, stayed that …