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 …
Children at Risk for Depression
James Hudziak, and other researchers, presented information suggesting a strategy for improving brain health, and reducing anxiety and depression in children at risk for these conditions at the 2015 meeting of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. We have previously mentioned in this blog another excellent resource for information on bipolar, Bipolar Network News, and this information is summarized …
Free Treatment/Research Study for Bipolar I Disorder
Announcement: Readers of this blog who are in the bay area may be interested in a free group treatment study offered through UC Berkeley Psychology Department which is designed to build skills to promote a healthy, balanced emotional life and is open to people with a Bipolar 1 diagnosis: We would like to let you know about a group treatment …
Kevin Briggs and the Golden Gate Bridge
I am away at the annual meeting of the Northern California Psychiatric Society this weekend and while taking a break from the presentations I wanted to try to come up with a quick post that might be relevant to this blog. Probably the most moving part of the weekend was last night’s presentation by Kevin Brigg, who for many years …
Mindfulness Changes Brain Connections
Whereas there is relatively good evidence that mindfulness meditation has beneficial effects on health and mental health, the mechanism of action for the changes seen in mindfulness practitioners has been a little bit obscure. An article published online in Biological Psychiatry in January 2016 provides us with important information about how mindfulness meditation works. In particular it correlates changes in brain …
SAD and CBT by Eric
Say Goodbye to SAD with CBT. Light therapy might be the long-standing and go-to treatment for Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), but the latest research puts promising new light on CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) as an effective treatment method. While light therapy does prove effective for some patients suffering acute SAD, there are downsides: nearly 50 percent of patients find it …
Psychopharmacology and Psychobiology
The wonderful thing about having two blogs (www.moodsurfing.com and www.gatewaypsychiatric.com) is that there are two sets of readers for the articles that I post. The problem is that sometimes I’m much more prolific in one area or another. For whatever reason, I have been writing more regularly on the Gateway Psychiatric website, which is where I post articles related to …
Antidepressants in Pregnancy and Autism
Antidepressants in Pregnancy: Is Excess Risk for Autism Spectrum Disorder Believable? Journal Watch Psychiatry editor, Allison Bryant, MD, MPH, reviewed a recent article on this topic Boukhris T et al. JAMA Pediatr 2015 Dec 14. In this study the risk for autism spectrum disorder appeared to be higher in those women who used antidepressants (especially SRIs) during late pregnancy; but the question is whether maternal …
Our Relationship to Pain, Matters
Chronic pain can significantly affect our lives. It can result in not being able to engage in activities we loved to do. It impacts our relationships with loved ones. The limitations brought on by pain, can lead us to question our identity and certainly our quality of life. Years ago, I worked with a gentleman (we’ll call him Marcos) who was …
THOUGH THE LOOKING GLASS 5 – A new past
…So I’m diagnosed Bipolar. This isn’t a nightmare, at least not right now. It offers explanation of so much that has come before it – my attitude my ‘turns’, my sadness. I find myself reappraising the past… Repeated weekly visits to the psychologist help me begin to make some sense of the past and to examine and mange the myriad of thoughts in my …
Stigma Busters
One of the main purposes of this website is helping to remove stigma and shame and allowing people who wrestle with depression and mood swings to deal with their problems in a direct way. Shame and stigma make it hard to cope with depression because they make every thought about the topic painful and this makes positive coping and planning …
Brain Training
Brain training seems like an appealing solution to a common problem that people have with depression: a loss of cognitive function which can make you wonder if your becoming demented. Does brain training work? A number of our patients say that they have had some positive results from it. But a new study raises questions about how effectively it works …
A bipolar UK election
You have had in the US I believe your mid term elections and now the long grind starts towards the selection of a president and er the other guys. Over here in the UK we are starting our ‘well I guess we best get going then’ pre-election build up which is generating a vast amounts of indifference despite the recent …
Dr. Black – Bipolar Specialist
Hello there. I’d like to introduce myself as a new contributor to the MoodSurfing ™ blog. My name is Suzanne A. Black and I am a Clinical Psychologist with a focus on medical and health psychology. I was born and raised on the Upper West Side of New York City . My intent is to inform, inspire, impact and effect …