Below you'll find a list of all posts that have been categorized as “Uncategorized”
We’re coming up on a time of year that for many (maybe even most) people offers significant challenges. Now is the time to plan ahead for the difficulties you typically face during the holiday season, and call to mind coping strategies that have worked for you in the past, or new ones that you want to try. Depression is a …
September 10 has been designated as Suicide Prevention Day in the United States, and each year that day provides everyone a chance to stop and reflect. Suicide causes more deaths annually than violent crime, accidents, and smoking. In every age group, beginning from age 10, suicide is one of the major causes of death. We don’t seem to be doing …
Dependence: Problem or not? Consider the many ways you are dependent on others, on the Earth, and on the invisible structures of society to get by in life. Consider whether our culture’s constant harping on independence is realistic or healthy. Today, let’s explore the positive sides of being dependent. It may turn out to be the more realistic way of …
Why are we too shy to own our wisdom? I’ve seen teenagers and young adults come out with deep, powerful words from the heart, but at some stage, we learn to say anything like that with a self-deprecating giggle: “don’t take this too seriously-I’m just me”. Anybody who’s been through a few decades of life has gained experience, insight, and …
Researchers looking at people’s perceptions of moral decline have found some curious patterns in a recently published study. Looking back at data collected over the past 70 years, they have found a consistent belief reported by thousands of informants that moral values and moral behavior have declined or decayed over the course of the informant’s life span such that now …
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 …
Are you getting your seven hours? Although tradition recommends eight hours’ sleep each night, research is coming more and more to the conclusion that seven hours is best, and eight or more can be too much, causing as many problems as too little sleep. A recent study, using data from the U.K. Biobank, a national database of individuals in the …
A friend and fellow psychiatrist, Ravi Chandra, MD, has produced a documentary about the impact of the twin pandemics of COVID and the more visibly surfacing wounds of racial trauma, and now announces its world premiere at the Queens World Film Festival on Sunday, June 27th, 2021 at 4 pm EST. For tickets and trailer click here. Ravi writes: “How …
Return to the office? Well, maybe People who have been able (or forced) to work from home during the pandemic are estimated to be about one-third to one-half of the US workforce. For these workers, who may have been called “office workers” in the past, a big reckoning is coming up. Some are anxious to return to the office environment …
For now over 70 years, Americans have delegated the month of May as “Mental Health Awareness Month” (since 1949). And with medical experts and researchers across the planet sharing their observation that the Covid-19 pandemic is going to continue to have an array of mental health impacts into the foreseeable future, mental health awareness needs to remain in the forefront …
What do parents really want for their children? Most would say “a happy, healthy, well-balanced life”. But are the kids getting the message? When researchers asked teenagers what their parents wanted for them, they said “get good grades, go to college, get a well-paying job.” Even before the pandemic, surveys noted a rise in stress, anxiety and depression and substance …
March 30 is the day! There will be some great events, including an Ask Me Anything panel on Reddit resourced by CrestBD. The Collaborative RESearch Team to study psychosocial issues in Bipolar Disorder (CREST.BD) is a multidisciplinary collaborative network of researchers, people living with bipolar disorder, healthcare providers, and family members and supporters. They are offering a great lineup of …
About now, we all start admitting that, for another year, we aren’t really going to stick to our New Year’s Resolutions and become better people this year. Now is the time to change focus from resolutions for the future to celebration of the past and present. Celebrate your achievements of the past year. Things you never considered making a resolution …
How can I make myself do better? How can I get motivated to fulfill my resolutions and good intentions? Motivation is something we all hope to get more of, but motivation to get out there and do the work is often elusive. It’s easy to find people to give good advice, even MoodSurfing is full of good advice, but when …
Holiday stress is a big topic every year, but 2020 is the champion year of stressfulness! And now the holiday season on top of it all. Take a few minutes to reflect on what’s ahead for the next few weeks. First of all, like everyone else, we implore you to stay safe and stay home. Sure, nobody wants to stay …
The advent of the internet and online information technology has made reading and writing more popular and widespread than ever before. And while some lament the short attention span and failed fact checking that it seems to have brought, the fact is, more books are being published now than at any time in history. So whether you prefer to read …
International Bipolar Foundation hosts virtual event The IBPF, a worldwide alliance of people with bipolar and those who love them will be hosting their annual Starry, Starry Night event virtually this year. IBPF also has an extensive website and blog roll, see our “outside blogs” column to the right of the screen. They write: Please join us on November 8th …
For those of our readers who live in the northern hemisphere this is the time when many people experience symptoms of seasonal depression. It is the time when the length of the day is shrinking most rapidly. And this weekend in the United States we will switch from Daylight Savings Time to Standard Time with the result that many of …
Suicide is a growing phenomenon in the USA and around the world. Especially in this difficult time of pandemics, natural disasters and divisive politics, suicide prevention is for everyone. World Suicide Prevention Day is September 10 each year, and it’s a time for all of us to stop and look around. People in our own social networks are struggling in …
