New Study Finds That Add-On Treatment Improves Depressive Symptoms In Bipolar Disorder

Lingering depression is a serious and common problem in bipolar disorder, and does not resolve well with existing treatments. Because individuals with both depression and bipolar disorder experience a glutathione deficiency, an antioxidant that protects cells from toxins, researchers in a new study scheduled for publication in the September 15th issue of Biological Psychiatry sought to evaluate whether N-acetyl cysteine (NAC), an over-the-counter supplement that increases brain glutathione, might help alleviate depressive symptoms. Read more

Bright Light Therapy for Bipolar Disorder

By Rick Nauert, Ph.D.

A recent study finds bright light therapy can ease bipolar depression in some patients.

Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine’s Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic studied nine women with bipolar disorder to examine the effects of light therapy in the morning or at midday on mood symptoms.

“There are limited effective treatments for the depressive phase of bipolar disorder,” said Dorothy Sit, M.D., assistant professor of psychiatry and the study’s first author. “While there are treatments that are effective for mania, the major problem is the depression, which can linger so long that it never really goes away.”

The study is published in the journal Bipolar Disorders.

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Dealing with Bipolar: It’s Ok Not to be Perfect

By David Oliver

Too many people are striving for perfection. It’s understandable, isn’t it? Every time you turn on the TV, you’re blasted with commercials showing the perfect body (both male and female), the perfect home, the perfect job, the perfect life.

I’ve dealt with people who have Bipolar Disorder and they feel like they’re “damaged goods,” just because they have this disorder. They feel like just because they have a “broken brain,” that they’re somehow broken, too. But that’s a wrong concept.

Some of the people with Bipolar Disorder that I deal with have a great attitude. They’re what we call “high-functioning.” They’ve accepted that, in spite of the fact that they have this disorder, they won’t let it stop them from accomplishing what they want to accomplish in life. I have a lot of respect for these people. They have a lot to teach me, and all of us.

But some of the other people I’ve seen with Bipolar Disorder, like some people in the Bipolar Support Group I attend, well, it’s a really sad story. It’s like they let the disorder defeat them. You know how I talk about the difference between having Bipolar Disorder instead of being bipolar in my courses. And I think that’s a really strong difference. It’s the difference between you being master over the disorder or the disorder mastering you.

So many people think that just because they have Bipolar Disorder, that it makes them fundamentally ill, just because they have a mental illness, and they can never get better. I think this is because of two reasons.

The first reason is because it is called a “mental illness.”
Even though we have come a long way in the education and treatment of mental illness, it still has a lot of stigma attached to it. Even for people who actually have Bipolar Disorder, I’ve found in talking to so many of them, that in the beginning, they know so little about it. So for the families especially, they also don’t know very much about it, if they know anything at all. That’s why I tell people to learn as much about it as they can.

The second reason that people think that just because they have Bipolar Disorder that it makes them fundamentally ill is that it is incurable. But one of the first things they should learn is that even though it can’t be cured, Bipolar Disorder can be managed. With medication and therapy, anyone with the disorder can live a relatively normal life.

I think people confuse normal with perfect. And even so, it’s important to know that it’s ok NOT to be perfect, whether you have Bipolar Disorder or not! I heard a saying that I like a lot: “Why be normal, when I can just be ME?” Why do we have to keep trying to be like those “perfect” people we see on commercials? Nobody is perfect! It’s ok just to be YOU!

Bipolar Disorder Through the Eyes of Virgina Woolf

By McMillen

Bipolar Disorder is a mental illness that causes people to have severe mood swings that deeply affect relationships, careers, and the general quality of life of those who have it. This disorder is the sixth leading cause of disability in the U.S. today. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, almost six million Americans adults today suffer from Bipolar Disorder, and, though treatable, often goes unrecognized. Virginia Woolf, 1882-1941, may be one of the most famous historical cases of bipolar disorder. Her modernist works such as Mrs. Dalloway are still studied extensively today by college literature students. Her unique style of writing, which came to be known as “stream of consciousness,” was largely influenced by the symptoms she experienced though her disorder, although the illness was not understood in her lifetime.

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Bipolar Disorder Linked with Hibernation

German scientists say they’ve found bipolar disorder resembles the phenomenon of hibernation.

The discovery came after a 16-year study of a woman suffering rapid-cycling bipolar illness — an illness characterized by four or more episodes of depression and/or mania within a 12-month period.

Dr. Martin Begemann and colleagues at the Max Planck Institute of Experimental Medicine in Germany drew blood from the patient for two consecutive days during two episodes of depression and two episodes of mania. Blood was again collected years later to validate the original findings.

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How I Live with Bipolar Disorder

By Sandra Bell

Yes, there is Life after Bipolar Disorder.

Bipolar disorder runs in my family. My father and five of his six brothers and sisters had it. For most of my life I feared it would get me also. But by the time I was 55, I thought I was going to be lucky and bipolar disorder wasn’t going to get me. What follows is an account of my struggles with bipolar disorder and how I live with it.

I had been feeling great, even better than great. I had lots of energy, lots of ideas, worked hard without getting tired. Then I suddenly had bouts of intense, zooming anxiety about nothing at all. I saw a psychiatrist who had treated me for depression about a year previous. At the time he was treating me for depression, he also wanted me to take a mood stabilizer but I would have none of it. A mood stabilizer meant bipolar disorder and I didn’t have it. The doctor prescribed Xanax and it helped.

Then one night I went to bed and a sudden almost uncontrollable urge to hit and hit and hit my husband got hold of me. I had to get out of the bedroom for fear of attacking him. I couldn’t sleep and felt wild, raging, despairing.

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More Tips on Identifying Bipolar Disorder in Yourself

By Heidi Blakeslee

Bipolar disorder is one of the easier mental disorders to diagnose. The important thing is to identify it before it rampages through your lifestyle and affects not only you, but the ones you love.

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12 Ways to Care for a Depressed Person

By James Bishop

The person with depression usually can’t see a way forward. They may fervently believe that nobody can help them, and life is pointless. That doesn’t mean that they’re right, and there are plenty of things that you can do to help. The type and amount of care that you can give will depend on your relationship with the person, but here are some ideas.

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8 Ways to Help Your Bipolar Loved One Cope

By Therese J. Borchard

Depression and bipolar disorder are often family diseases.

Everyone sharing a kitchen and a bathroom is affected. In fact, in his book “Understanding Depression,” J. Raymond DePaulo Jr., M.D., writes that “depression … has a much greater impact on marital life than rheumatoid arthritis or cardiac illness. One study found that only severe forms of cancer affected a family as adversely as depression or bipolar disorder.”

My manic depression could have easily wrecked my marriage and my relationships with my two children. Instead, we emerged as a tighter, stronger unit. How? Here are eight ways Eric, my husband, helped me cope – tips for families on how, exactly, to hang in there with a loved one who has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

1. Educate yourself.

I remember the afternoon of my first severe panic attack. I phoned Eric at work as my breath grew shallow and my heart pounded as if I were having a heart attack. I was sure I was dying. As soon as he walked through the door, he stared at me suspiciously. My limbs were in place, and I seemed to be functioning just fine. What was the problem?

“You don’t understand,” I explained. “I thought I was dying! It was the most frightening experience I have ever had.”

What convinced my spouse that my bipolar disorder was an illness, not a weakness? Tons of research. The reams of paper that I printed out and asked him to read. The psychiatric evaluations he witnessed. The group therapy and family sessions he attended and the conversations with other spouses of persons with bipolar disorder.

Education is always the starting point because until a spouse or daughter or friend of a manic-depressive understands the illness, it is impossible to say and do the right thing. Do your own research by going online to National Alliance of Mental Illness or to Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance, or by doing a Google search of the words “bipolar disorder”.

2. Learn how to talk to your loved one.

Eric doesn’t say much when I’m clutching tissue paper, crying my eyes out. And he’s hesitant to speak when I’m manic (not that I would let him get in a word). When I don’t want to get out of bed in the morning, he reminds me why I need to. And when I’m revved up, he’s the voice of reason telling me why a spontaneous trip to New York isn’t smart.

Anna Bishop, wife of blogger James Bishop (findingoptimism.com) has some wonderful advice for the loved one of a manic depressive on what to say and when:

When James becomes ill he turns into a different person. I say goodbye to my husband, so to speak, and hello to bipolar James. In a depressive episode he becomes highly irritable and usually itches for a fight. Early on he will often make comments to bait me. “All I do is work, work, work, to support your lifestyle and your precious social group.” You can imagine what a red rag to a bull that comment is.

At this point I have 2 options:? 1. Take the bait, have a messy fight and accelerate his downswing, or? 2. Grit my teeth and say “it’s the illness speaking”. If I can do that then I have a much better chance of diffusing the situation. A comment like “You sound stressed about work – let’s talk” has better results and sometimes can even stop the mood swing.

3. Make some rules.

You know all the fire drills in primary school you prayed would happen during the math pop quiz? All those times the school administrators rehearsed what, exactly, would happen in the case of an emergency? Families of bipolar persons need them as well: a plan of action for those times when the bipolar person is sick.

In order to design such a strategy, the manic depressive and her loved one must compile a list of symptoms – like the smoke and burning smell of that make-believe fire in the third grade-and what action should follow them, like “call the doctor.” Each family will have a different list of symptoms and a different model of recovery, because no two illnesses are exactly alike.

Eric and I have agreed that I will call my doctor after two consecutive nights’ sleep under five hours, or after three days of crying spells. A friend of mine told me that he and his wife have agreed that she will see her psychiatrist if she hasn’t gotten out of bed for three days.

4. Plan for emergencies.

As part of the above plan of action, you should consider what should happen when the bipolar person is very ill. “When you are dealing with a disease that has the potential to become life-threatening, the last thing you want is an improvised response to an emergency situation,” writes Francis Mark Mondimore, M.D. in his book “Bipolar Disorder: A Guide for Patients and Families.”

Part of your plan should include a list of people who you can call for help. Of course, it is recommended that the bipolar person be working closely with a psychiatrist, and that he know how to get in touch with the psychiatrist after hours, and in case of emergencies. It’s also a good idea to know which hospital the psychiatrist works with, or if the doctor will work with any hospital in the area. Ask friends, doctors, and family members for their recommendations about hospitals and mental-health practitioners.

Also, the red tape of insurance issues is often too overwhelming to process at the time of the emergency, so get familiar with the details of your medical insurance coverage for psychiatric illnesses right now. Know the terms of hospital coverage, especially, and how much the patient is expected to pay out of pocket for various services.

5. Listen.

“When people are talking,” writes Rachel Naomi Remen, “there’s no need to do anything but receive them. Just take them in. Listen to what they’re saying. Care about it. Most times caring about it is even more important than understanding it.”

When I think back to the days when I was very ill, crying and shaking at the dinner table and at preschool functions with the kids, no response was as appreciated as when someone simply listened. Suggestions came off as condescending, even though I know they were meant to be helpful. Advice was annoying. Many times I just needed to be heard, to be validated.

Don’t hesitate to say nothing because silence often speaks the most loving message.

6. Go gentle.

I can’t count all the times I have tried Eric’s patience with the reckless highs and debilitating lows of my bipolar disorder. When I get fired up and want to sign up for 60 new activities – not to mention losing my car keys, cell phone, and purse – it’s difficult for him not to get annoyed. But because he places my exasperating behavior in the proper context of an illness, and sees them as mere symptoms of a disease – rather than careless and self-absorbed actions – he is better able to go gentle with me.

Moreover, a little kindness and gentleness toward your loved one-especially at those times that you feel incapable of affection and care- goes a long way to aid recovery.

7. Laugh together.

Humor heals in so many ways. It combats fear, as it loosens anxiety’s death grip on your heart and every other living organ. It comforts and relaxes. And recent studies indicate that humor also reduces pain and boosts a person’s immune system.

“Laughter dissolves tension, stress, anxiety, irritation, anger, grief, and depression,” says Chuck Gallozzi of personal-development.com. “Like crying, laughter lowers inhibitions, allowing the release of pent-up emotions. After a hearty bout of laughter, you will experience a sense of well-being. Simply put, he who laughs, lasts. After all, if you can laugh at it, you can live with it. Remember, a person without a sense of humor is like a car without shock absorbers.”

Humor also aids communication, and if there is one thing besides education that is absolutely essential for a healthy relationship with a bipolar loved one it’s good communication.

8. Get support for yourself.

Caregiving is draining. Even when you are protecting yourself with the armor of regular sleep, healthy meals, and essential time-outs from your sick loved one, caring for a person still takes a toll on your physical and mental health.

“It can be exhausting to live with a hypomanic person and frustrating to deal with a seriously depressed person day after day,” says Dr. Mondimore. “The changes and unpredictability of the moods of someone with bipolar disorder intrude into home life and can be the source of severe stress in relationships, straining them to breaking point.”

That’s why you need support as much as your loved one. You need to talk to people who have lived with a manic-depressive, and be validated by their experiences. Spouses and family members of bipolar persons should consider therapy for themselves, as a way of processing all the stress. You may also benefit from checking out support programs for spouses and loved ones of the mentally ill, like National Alliance for Mental Illness, that are available today.

Bipolars and Internet Romance: Online to Offline – Taking the Leap

By Paula

In Part 1 of this series, we looked at reasons why people with bipolar disorder may be particularly vulnerable to the hazards of online relationships, and Part 2 covered what to watch for when you meet someone, and ways to protect you online. Now suppose the person you have met has passed all the tests and you’ve decided to take the next step – a face-to-face meeting.

Don’t assume that because the object of your affections has not tripped any warning lights during your online relationship, it is perfectly safe to meet. Keep in mind that when chemistry is the strongest, you are the most vulnerable. Before you dismiss an online relationship as “harmless,” remember that the lack of accountability, the ease of deception, and the anonymity provided by the keyboard all make the online relationship a potential source of instability and even danger.

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