children behavior problem

A Magic Solution for Children’s Behavior Problems

For readers who have children a common concern is what to do with children’s behavior problems. Of course, there’s no one size fits all solution to the problem but over the years we’ve been repeatedly impressed with the effectiveness of the solutions to be found in a series of books by psychologist Kevin Leman entitled Have a New Kid by …

Bipolar Workbook

Gateway Psychiatric Services is excited to announce the release of our latest book: The Bipolar Disorder Workbook from Callisto Media. Designed to educate and motivate people who have questions, particularly about Bipolar II and cyclothymia, the workbook walks users through a series of structured exercises, beginning with a basic checklist intended to identify symptoms that may warrant further investigation. The …

The Bipolar Disorder Workbook

Gateway Psychiatric Services is delighted to announce the release of our latest book, The Bipolar Disorder Workbook from Callisto Media. The Workbook is intended to be of use to those who are just beginning to think bipolar may be an issue for them as well as those who have been journeying with bipolar for a longer time. It is also …

Building Healthy Habits – Gina

Building healthy habits can be very important in managing mood. Regular sleep, exercise and diet can play a key role in reinforcing a stable mood. As a result, I regularly work with clients to identify healthy habits they would like to form and steps they can take in doing so. Most of the the time they are core habits such …

Making A Daily Plan

Making A Daily Plan

Consider the value of “boring”. Steve Jobs reportedly once said “I’m a big believer in boredom” –meaning maybe that if life is quiet and predictable enough you may have time to think, time to daydream, and time to make new decisions and choices. For people living with bipolar, boring can be a tough goal.  But structure is everything when it …

circadian rhythm

Circadian Rhythms – Nancy

A new study from the UK has shown that disruption in the daily rhythms (circadian rhythms) of work and rest is clearly linked to mood disorders and major depression, as well as other concerns: lower subjective happiness, feelings of loneliness, and mood instability. Circadian rhythms are the natural paths our lives take, with patterns of work during daylight hours and …

Motivation to Exercise

Motivation to Exercise Tips and Studies – Nancy

Exercise is good for you but how to find the motivation to exercise? Exercise helps you live longer, defeat depression, eat healthier, and just generally feel better.  But it’s not easy to get going.  Everybody pretty much knows that, too.  Exercise takes motivation that is hard to maintain, and you have to keep exercising, not just do it every once …

Probiotics – Nancy

Probiotics may reduce re-hospitalization rates for acute mania episodes. In a small, but well-designed study researchers have found a clear effect of administration of certain strains of probiotics in reducing re-hospitalization for patients who have been hospitalized for acute mania.  The probiotics did not have an effect on mood, but there was a significant reduction of re-hospitalization for patients receiving …

Bipolar Bloggers

Bipolar Bloggers – Nancy

Moodsurfing has often advocated for community support building as an important component of living creatively with moods, and we are also looking carefully at the still fairly new world of online communities.  Now we have three offerings of lists of “Bipolar Bloggers” that readers may want to explore. Reading blogs about other people’s experiences struggling with moods can be either …

Morning Ritual Resumed – Nancy

Moodsurfing has frequently recommended the concept of the “morning ritual” or “morning routine” to help all of us live more creatively with moods.  However, keeping a morning ritual is easier said than done!  For people with kids, jobs, pets, plumbing emergencies and all the rest of life, keeping to a routine may get moved to the back burner more often …

Sharing About Bipolar – Gina

Sharing about bipolar with others can be a very personal and vulnerable decision. I often have clients ask my opinion about who they should share with and how to go about doing that. I think it can be helpful to pull apart these questions to assist them in getting to their own answers to these questions. When thinking about sharing …

Perfectionism and Depression

Perfectionism and depression are opposites that often seem to attract each other, and the combination can be a great challenge for anyone trying to “live creatively with moods.” Depression enhances our brain’s natural tendency to see problems in the world around us… it shines a spotlight on every imperfection. It is a perfectionist’s nightmare. Perfectionism Perfectionism itself is not necessarily …

Unpaid Emotional Labor

A new phrase captures neatly a dilemma that many good friends face: when are they being taken advantage of, being asked to provide unpaid emotional labor? I was talking with a very thoughtful young man who has two good friends who have been going through a lot of emotional turmoil for the past year. He has been trying to be a …

Campfire – Online Support

Isolation.  Seems like we should have conquered that by now.  With all our high tech tools, friending, connecting and tweeting, how can anybody be lonely anymore?  Yet isolation and loneliness are real problems, burdening people who struggle with the ordinary stresses of life, and exacerbating mental and physical illnesses. The Internet is not a solution to all our problems, it’s …

Finding Your Purpose in Life – Nancy

How to find your purpose in life? According to Victor Frankl, a psychotherapist who was imprisoned in concentration camps during WWII, people can survive terrible conditions in life if they have a sense of purpose, and if they believe that their own life has meaning, no matter what circumstances they are experiencing. More recent studies have confirmed that people who …