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 …
Darkness Treats Mania?
Bright light is one of the most rapidly effective treatments for depression and may be helpful for depression even in people without a clear seasonal pattern (winter depression). A recent study suggests that it may also be true that darkness treats mania. The portion of the light spectrum that affects circadian rhythms the most strongly is blue light, which is …
Technology and Bipolar
Colin Depp recently gave a presentation on technology and bipolar as part of the excellent International Society for Bipolar Disorders monthly (free) video lecture series. You can find out information about these video lectures on the ISBD website. I encourage you to sign up to get updates. Back to Dr. Depp’s lecture. He discussed a number of topics of interest to people …
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 …
4 Ways You Can Help a Loved One Cope with Addiction and Mental Illness
Mental illness and addiction co-occur more than some people may think. People with a mental illness are more likely to abuse substances while those with addictions are likely to either develop the symptoms of a mental illness or a full-blown mental illness. If there is someone in your life struggling with these two problems here are a few ways you …
Dealing with Denial
Someone you love is no longer the same. They may be moody, angry at times, irrational, paranoid or they may act in ways that are harmful to themselves or to you. Trying to help loved ones deal with this situation is one of the most perplexing and difficult things that I do as a professional. The boyfriend of a young …
Blessings of a Bipolar Crisis
A mental health crisis, once it resolves, can leave people with a sense of overwhelming anxiety that co-workers, distant friends, family, and strangers might find out about what happened. Jayson Blair, however, never really had the opportunity to worry about that… His was an extraordinarily public mental health crisis. In an article in Bipolar Hope he talks about what happened… …
Lady Dynamite – Maria Bamford
Maria Bamford is Lady Dynamite in Netflix’s original comedy series which debuted in 2016. Maria Bamford is also a woman with bipolar moods whose comedic work often revolves around the experience of living with bipolar. In her work she talks frankly about being hospitalized, mania, depression and obsessive thoughts. I am indebted to the wonderful magazine (available in both print …
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/
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 …
Bay Area Groups for Bipolar
Readers of this blog who live in the Bay Area may be interested in two groups that are starting this fall. Both of them are led by excellent clinicians and should be valuable to people with bipolar. Colleague and friend Descartes Li will be leading one of them. He describes the group this way – The UCSF bipolar psychoeducational group …
Patrick Kennedy Talks about Bipolar and Addiction
This is a great video that talks about the powerful negative effect of stigma (not talking about mental illness) on the Kennedy family. Patrick Kennedy talks about his struggles with bipolar depression and substance use. For More Information Bipolar Hope Magazine article about Patrick Kennedy’s career and his struggles with bipolar and recovery and his efforts to galvanize the mental …
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 …
Touched with Fire
I am so happy to see that bipolar is coming out of the closet. One dramatic example of that is the movie Touched with Fire. In it, filmmaker Paul Dalio tries to share the lived experience of bipolar with the world. He strives to share the beauty as well as the pain of bipolar, relying heavily on the imagery of Vincent …
World Bipolar Day 2016
World Bipolar Day 2016 World Bipolar Day is celebrated each year every 30th of March, the birthday of the well known post impressionist painter Vincent Van Gogh, who was posthumously diagnosed as probably having bipolar disorder. The World Bipolar Day is the fruit of the initiative of the Asian Network of Bipolar Disorder (ANBD) in collaboration with the International Bipolar Foundation (IBPF) and International …
Hidden Psychosis
In the last six months I’ve had a couple of experiences that I’m still trying to make a sense of. Two very bright and personable women who seemed to have everything going for them, who both have bipolar, revealed to me that they have been suffering from severe symptoms that they had not told me about, symptoms which suggest that they really …
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 …
Childhood Bipolar: Mother Knows Best
A recent blog post in Bipolar News (one of our favorite resources for up-to-date information on bipolar research) argues that mother’s evaluations of their children are more useful than teacher’s report of symptoms and than reports from the children themselves when diagnosing childhood bipolar. The article summarized research presented at the 2015 International Society for Bipolar Disorders by Eric Youngstrom. Eric Youngstrom, Ph.D., is …
UCSF Psychoeducation Group for Bipolar Spring 2016
UCSF Group Psycho-Education for Bipolar Disorder The Adult Psychiatry Clinic at UCSF has released the schedules of their Group Psycho-Education for Bipolar Disorder for January 2016. 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, …
Children at Risk for Bipolar
Greater Mental Health Risks For Children Of Bipolar Parents From the American Journal of Psychiatry: David Axelson and colleagues find that, within seven years, 74.2% of children of parents with bipolar disorder will receive a major (Axis 1) psychiatric diagnosis. And are themselves at risk for bipolar disorder, anxiety, depression, and other disorders. This same group of offspring carries a …