Category Archives: Bipolar Disorder

Teens with depression, bipolar disorder should be screen for heart disease

18 Aug 2015

In more support of the intimate connection between heart and brain, the American Heart Association has published a statement, advising doctors and the public that teens with mood disorders like depression and bipolar appear to be at increased risk of markers of heart disease.

‘My Story Isn’t Over’

07 Aug 2015

Alex Stephens only needed about 15 minutes Friday morning to etch a perfect black semicolon on my left wrist. I knew it would hurt, and said so as we waited for him to begin.

 

Liza Fox Raises Bipolar Disorder Awareness

01 Aug 2015

The World Health Organization (WHO) has reported that bipolar disorder affects about 60 million people worldwide. A research study by the National Institute of Mental Health reveals that the United States has the highest lifetime rate of bipolar disorder at 4.4% affecting 14 million Americans.

Seeking Better Ways To Treat the Lows of Bipolar Disorder

28 Jul 2015

Distinguishing between regular depression and bipolar disorder is one of the toughest calls psychiatrists face. The symptoms are often similar, but medications that ease depression can make bipolar patients worse by triggering manic episodes.

My interview with Marya Hornbacher

25 Jul 2015

I had mentioned in early June that I would be interviewing my favorite mental health author, Marya Hornbacher, and I’ve finally had the chance to publish it on this blog. Marya is one of my favorite authors for many reasons, but most of all, it’s the passion and honesty with which she writes. If you haven’t read her books yet, I highly recommend them.

Poetry Kept My Patient Alive

26 May 2015

Steve, my patient, fancied himself a poet, first and foremost. Brilliant, yet sadly bedeviled by schizoaffective disorder — a condition somewhere between schizophrenia and bipolar — he feared he would die before his gift was discovered. “I think I’m dying,” he said every week. His poetry reflected this preoccupation. For example:

Bipolar Disorder and Schizophrenia, the Key to Genius

27 Apr 2015

In today’s society, mental illness receives and bad rap. After all, for centuries, and most likely even further in the past, the notion of mental illness was seen to be a taboo subject.