Do you have friends or family members who don’t believe bipolar disorder is real? Are there people in your life who still believe you need to just pull yourself up by your bootstraps? Are you skeptical that there will ever be more effective treatments for bipolar? According to a special issue of Harvard Review of […]
Category: bipolar
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Gastric Bypass Surgery Is No Cure For Depression
Most severely obese people experience much better spirits once they shed weight through a diet, lifestyle changes or medical intervention, such as gastric bypass surgery. This is unfortunately not true for everyone, says Valentina Ivezaj and Carlos Grilo of the Yale University School of Medicine in the US. In an article in Springer’s journal Obesity […]
Wayne Brady Opens Up About Depression
The world is still recovering from the shock that Robin Williams had depression and committed suicide as a result. Now, TV funnyman, Wayne Brady, opens up about his depression and the impact it has had on his life.
I Don’t Want To Be a Survivor
“I don’t want to be thought of as a survivor because you have to continue getting involved in difficult situations to show off that particular gift, and I’m not interested in doing that anymore.” – Carrie Fisher Something I learned over ten years ago is that getting sober is hard. Harder than I imagined. Harder […]
Is Suffering Optional?
“Life is painful, suffering is optional.” If you’re a regular on Facebook or Twitter, you’ve probably seen the quote above attributed to the Buddha, or the Dalai Lama, or Gandhi, or Confucius, or a slew of other spiritual leaders. While it certainly follows Buddha’s principals, and the Buddha likely said something similar, most sayings on […]
Dr. Sanjay Gupta and I
A couple of months ago I received a message from a reporter from Dr. Sanjay Gupta’s office. There was a planned expansion on bipolar disorder for his website “Health Matters with Dr. Sanjay Gupta,” and I was asked to be interviewed. In case you don’t know of him, Dr. Sanjay Gupta is the multiple Emmy®-award […]
Even Depressed People Are Optimistic
Do you think there are blue sky’s ahead? If you do, you’re in good company because a recent study shows that adults typically believe that life gets better. Even depressed people believe in a brighter future. But, here’s the kicker – this optimistic attitude may not lead to better outcomes. (Sigh) The findings are published […]
A Brief History of Bipolar Disorder
Have you had someone ask why they’ve never heard of bipolar disorder? Asked why no one had bipolar disorder when they were younger? Told you that bipolar disorder seems like the flavor of the month? I’ve heard all of the above many times and it’s damned frustrating. It makes me feel like they are invalidating […]
Is Being Bipolar All That I Am?
I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 2007 and started this blog in 2008. I’m still not sure why I started it, but whatever the reason, it became a big deal to me – a very big deal. Friends, family and acquaintances started reading it and it opened conversations about bipolar and how it affects […]