Loving someone bipolar can seem like an overwhelming challenge at times. A quick survey of the internet combined with years of conversations with loved ones struggling to navigate the sometimes stormy waters, yields a great diversity of perspectives. Julie Fast, a well known bipolar writer, describes her experience living with her partner during a manic episode… Years ago, my much-loved …
Bipolar and Success
What is the relationship between bipolar and success? This excerpt from the American Psychiatric Association’s book Understanding Mental Disorders, suggests one kind of relationship… “The symptoms of bipolar disorder can damage relationships, cause problems with work or school, and even lead to suicide. People with the disorder may feel out of control or ruled by their extreme moods and behaviors. Although there may …
Social Media and Mood
Research looking at the relationship between the use of social media and mood continues to offer tantalizing hints about this new aspect of human experience. Are the effects positive or negative? There seems to be no doubt about the impact of television watching on mood. Heavy television watching is associated with depression and impaired cognitive function, even when controlling for other risk factors …
Frequent Lying and Biology
Frequent lying and its biology is the subject of a fascinating article in Nature Neuroscience. Scientists have shown that the brain’s fear and alarm circuitry (the amygdala) is usually triggered when one lies (even lies of omission or “white” lies). They’ve also shown that reducing this response by giving someone medications that affect the amygdala increases the likelihood that a …
More Happiness
We all need to be reminded about ways that we can bring more happiness into our lives. Rick Hansen has devoted his professional life to understanding the neuroscience of happiness and has created a set of tools that can help. His course “The Foundations of Wellbeing” has helped many people I know to experience more pleasure and joy in daily life, to have …
Coping with Political Uncertainty
Many of the people that I work with on a regular basis have been experiencing symptoms of depression and anxiety related to the recent election results. Unfortunately, mental health professionals are no better as news analysts than the so-called professionals. I have been struggling a little bit trying to figure out what to say to these people. Coping with Political …
Psychotic Experiences in Normal People
Worldwide Study Finds some People without Mental Illness Report “Psychotic” Experiences Psychiatrists tend to assume that certain experiences are a clear sign of mental illness. These experiences include psychotic experiences such as hallucinations (hearing voices, seeing visions) and delusions (beliefs that are contrary to “consensual reality” for example the belief that one is being plotted against, or that thoughts are being …
Anxiety and Bipolar
For many people with bipolar anxiety is a bigger problem than mood swings. It is not that unusual for someone with bipolar to report that their first “symptom” of a psychiatric nature was the onset of anxiety early in childhood. Let’s take a look at this information again… 90% of people with bipolar have an anxiety disorder diagnosis. 2/3rds have had …
Bipolar IN Order
Free Eight Steps To Bipolar IN Order Video Course Tom Wootton posted an announcement that should be of interest to many people who are seeking to live creatively with moods. His new Free Eight Steps To Bipolar IN Order video course is available for you to take right away. Tom’s courses have helped thousands to live better and more fulfilling lives. https://www.bipolaradvantage.com/lp/bipolar-order-video-course/
Fall Preparation
Northern Hemisphere Fall Preparation If you live in the northern hemisphere, and particularly if you live in the United States, this is an appropriate time to prepare for the coming fall and winter seasons. The yellow school buses trundling through the streets taking kids to school, the commute has once again jumped up by a factor of two in the Bay Area, …
Surround Yourself with Happiness
We are truly blessed to have Deborahmichelle Sanders’ permission to run some abstracts from her book The Complete How to Repair Your World Toolkit. One of the ideas that she talks about in great detail is the importance of how your home is set up and decorated. Some of her ideas follow… Display as many photos of people as you …
Instagram Photos Reveal Depression
Smartphones are collecting information about us all of the time. As we post pictures and text online what are we revealing about how we feel, our moods over time? This is a Brave New World for those who created online services that are designed to substitute for, or enhance, our everyday, in person lives. A study published in March of …
Predicting Depression Recurrence
For people with a history of unipolar depression (episodes in the past of clinically significant depression, but no history of periods of being energized – mania or hypomania) who are no longer experiencing a clinical depression, is it possible to predict whether they will have another episode in the near future? Noted psychiatric researchers Lewis L. Judd, MD, Pamela J. Schettler, …
Tricked by Mania – Bipolar Hope
I have been fortunate this past month to have been working at the Bipolar Clinic at UCSF. Chief of the clinic, Dr. Descartes Li, shared with us this article that is one of the best discussions about why it is that people who are clearly manic are unable to recognize the change in mood. It also has some useful suggestions …
Depression and Inflammation Interactions
There has been a lot of interest in the last year in the idea that information or activation of the body’s immune system, might be a cause and/or consequence of depression. One theory argues that depression might be an inflammatory disorder, more than a disorder of altered neurotransmitter levels. Certainly there’s a fair amount of information that some people with …
How to Nap
For many people with depression the idea of taking a nap makes a lot of sense. On the other hand, staying in bed at the wrong times of day can be associated with worsened depression and increased fatigue. An article in June in the New York Times entitled, “How to Nap” seemed like an interesting introduction to the topic. In …
Nutritional Supplements for Depression
It is time to update the information on this site about nutritional supplements that may be effective for people with depression. An April 2016 review of the literature by Jerome Sarris published in the American Journal of Psychiatry concludes that there is moderately strong data supporting the effectiveness of some supplements for reducing symptoms of depression. This review, which not …
Mindfulness Warnings
A recent visitor to this site sent us this link and some thoughts about mindfulness… This article about the dangers of mindfulness was posted by a friend of mine from smartrecovery. I just thought I would pass it along, definitely going to store this in the back of my mind for later. The cases discussed were relatable to my experience …
Best Treatment for Chronic Insomnia
What is the best treatment for chronic insomnia? The American College of Physicians has just published the results of a careful review of all of the research in this area. The preferred treatment for insomnia is cognitive behavioral therapy (CBTi) which we offer through this website – read about it at the bottom of this page. In their review, ACP …
Children of Bipolar Parents
A series of presentations at the 2015 meeting of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry point to the importance of helping the families of parents with bipolar disorder. Juan David Palacio reported that children of parents with bipolar I disorder are at high risk for a number of psychiatric disorders, including bipolar spectrum disorders and substance use disorders. They …