Is Bipolar Disorder Making You Feel Lonely?
Everyone experiences loneliness at times. But having a mental health issue like bipolar disorder can increase your chances of feeling lonely, and that, in turn, can make your mental health worse.
Tag Archives: bipolar disorder
Just Diagnosed With Bipolar Disorder? 20 Tips From Those Who’ve Been There
A bipolar disorder diagnosis can prompt a multitude of feelings — anxiety, disbelief, confusion, fear. But it can also bring hope. You at last learn the source of the dramatic shifts in mood and energy you’ve been feeling, that it can be treated and managed, and that many others who share your diagnosis are living […]
Close to One Third of Children with Bipolar Disorder May Also Have Autism
Bipolar disorder (BPD) shows up in around one percent of all children. The disorder is marked by extreme mood swings ranging from mania (high energy and euphoria) to depression. BPD also produces flashes of anger and even aggression. Irritability and aggressiveness are also common to autism.
Bipolar Disorder ‘Invented Fad,’ Fox News Host Says
Fox News radio personality Tom Sullivan recently referred to bipolar disorder as “the latest fad.” He claimed the diagnosis was invented by the mental health profession to exploit the masses for profit, and stated his belief that bipolar disorder was neither a disease nor a disability. Sullivan was responding to a caller on his talk […]
Bipolar Disorder Increases Risk for Premature Birth
Women with a history of severe bipolar disorder have a much higher chance of giving birth to their children prematurely, a new study finds.
The Importance of Support Systems to Those with Bipolar
For people with bipolar disorder maintaining relationships are a crucial part of their overall ability to cope. There are many roles loved ones can fill, like recognizing the signs of an oncoming episode, helping manage those episodes and assist with getting the person back on their treatment track afterwards.
Factors That Influence Suicide in People With Depression and Bipolar Disorder
While there are mental disorders that carry an increased risk of suicidal ideation and suicide attempts, there has been little understanding of how to determine when a patient is most at risk. Understanding the risk factors for suicide and developing prevention strategies could be effective in reducing suicide attempts by those with bipolar and major […]
What Does Bipolar Look Like?
Bipolar disorder is more than just good days and bad days. It’s a mental health disorder that can impair a person’s normal routine. The highs of mania are distressingly high and often include any number of unpleasant repercussions. The lows of depression are crushing, sometimes even life threatening.
Mixing and Matching Medication a Challenge for Bipolar Patients
Treating bipolar disorder can be so complicated that a patient ends up taking a variety of medications. A recent study investigated the challenges facing patients required to take multiple medications to treat their symptoms.
Breakthrough in the Search for Bipolar Disorder Gene
A group of scientists collaborated to discover several new gene areas apparently connected to bipolar disorder. The findings provide an important route of further study toward understanding this emotionally disruptive condition.
Brain Imaging Sheds New Light on Bipolar Disorder in Children
Bipolar disorder is a mood disorder that can profoundly affect a person’s life at any age. According to the National Institutes of Health, the disorder affects around 5.7 million American adults, or 2.6 percent of our adult population. Globally, up to 4 percent of adults are affected. The illness is typically identified around age 25, […]
Which Patients With Psychotic Depression Will Wind Up With Bipolar Disorder?
Sometimes one illness transitions into another. Such is the case for some people with psychotic depression who start out with a form of unipolar depression and ultimately struggle with bipolar disorder. This is called conversion. A study looked for ways that clinicians can predict which patients with psychotic depression would convert to bipolar disorder.
Learning From Those with Bipolar Disorder
Bipolar disorder is a brain disorder causing unusual shifts in mood and activity levels, often manifesting in college age people, with almost half of all cases developing before age 25.
Bipolar Disorder and ADHD: Similarities and Differences in Teens and Children
When someone tells a parent there’s a possibility their child suffers from a type of mental health concern, it can stir up many feelings. The most common mental health concern in children of late has been attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). However, diagnoses of ADHD can occur when some teens and children should have been diagnosed […]
Mental Health Awareness Month: Stigma Smashing!
Imagine you’ve just walked into the home of friends for their 25th wedding anniversary celebration. At this party there are a couple of people you’ve known for years, several you know pretty well and many more you’ve only just met. There are 40 people at the party, let’s say, a sizable group for any home-based […]
Once-Broken Mom Moves Beyond Stigma to Strength
To those in AA, it’s known as The Big Book. Chrisi Hard’s copy is deep blue with the title Alcoholics Anonymous embossed in the same color on the cover, rendering the words almost invisible. “They design them that way,” she explains, “so that if you’re reading it in a coffee shop or somewhere, no one […]
Links Between Atypical Depression and Bipolar Disorder
Atypical depression is a type of depressive illness that produces symptoms not usually found in people suffering from depression. Doctors can’t directly diagnose these symptoms as a separate mental health condition; instead, they must include them as a secondary diagnosis when identifying other mental disorders. Apart from people affected by major depression, the people most […]
Study Underscores Similarities Between Schizophrenia, Bipolar Disorder
Schizophrenia and bipolar disorder are two mental health conditions known for the disruptive, dysfunctional changes they can make in everyday human behavior. Mental health professionals view these two conditions as distinct from one another, and the American Psychiatric Association officially places them in separate categories of mental illness. However, according to the authors of a […]
Heavy Alcohol, Drug Use Shortening Lives of Mentally Ill
Washington University School of Medicine and the University of Southern California recently undertook the largest-ever survey of drug, alcohol and tobacco use among people with severe mental illnesses. They found that people with significant psychiatric problems are far more likely to use alcohol, tobacco or illegal drugs. The survey, published recently in the online journal […]
Childhood Cancer Survivors More Likely To Develop Mental Health Disorders Later in Life
A new study from Denmark shows that people who suffer from cancer when they are children are more likely to develop mental health problems when they are adults. The study also found that the young siblings of children with cancer are at greater risk for mental health problems than the general population. The study was […]
‘It’s Not Just Me’: Amazing Benefits of Group Therapy for Bipolar Disorder
Bipolar disorder is one of the most challenging psychiatric disorders. With moods that often hit crippling extremes and bizarre behavior that is difficult to understand – let alone explain to others – bipolar sufferers can feel very isolated and alone. Medication is often necessary, but has its limits. Individual and family therapy can also be […]
The Courage of Antoinette Tuff
The town of Decatur, Georgia, is like a lot of college towns. It’s known for its hip downtown atmosphere, its influx of brainy students, its coffee shops, brew pubs and unique bistros. Decatur sits inside Atlanta’s metropolitan perimeter but is like a whole other world—a safe and sanctified landscape all its own. Decatur is a […]
Pregnant Mom’s Flu Can Trigger Bipolar Disorder in Offspring
Flu is the common term for seasonal influenza, an infectious disease that occurs when certain species of viruses gain a foothold in the body’s respiratory system. Some forms of seasonal influenza produce only minor threats to human health, while others can produce severe threats or even kill affected individuals. According to the results of a […]
Bipolar Disorder Exacts Twice Depression’s Toll in Workplace
Growing up inside the beltway, Posy never dreamed she’d be anything but a Washington insider. A graduate of the impressive George Washington University, Posy did what any other modern young person did; she took a job that would require her to spend a large portion of her time courting relationships via social media. As a […]