Bipolar Disorder – When to Get Off Antidepressants

Posted by Natasha Tracy | Aug 31, 2011

I try not to give medical advice here because I am not a doctor. But so many people ask me about this I felt I had to address getting off antidepressants without withdrawal. So many people with bipolar disorder (depression and others) need information about getting off psych meds and they are not getting it from their doctors.

This is the first in a three-part series:

When to Stop Antidepressants in Bipolar Disorder
How to Stop Antidepressants in Bipolar Disorder While Minimizing Withdrawal
How to Stop Taking venlafaxine (Effexor) and Desvenlafaxine (Pristiq) – as they are particularly nasty to get off

Selling True Hope to People with a Mental Illness

Posted by Natasha Tracy | Aug 29, 2011

The Bipolar Burble doesn’t sell anything, not to people with a mental illness, or anyone else.

It will one day. One day soon it will be selling my book. And then another book after that. We writers do stuff like that.

And maybe one day there will be ads here trying to sell you other things too – therapeutic lights or omega-3 supplements for mood.

But one thing I do not now, nor will I ever sell:

Hope.

I will never, ever try to sell you hope, true or otherwise. Hope is free and selling it is a lie.

Linky-Madness, Drugging Children and Anxious Hat Makers – 3 New Things

Posted by Natasha Tracy | Aug 25, 2011

In my line of work I come across the most obscure information, which is why I love sharing it with you. This week’s three new things about mental illness include:

A weekly mental health link-party
How scientists want to drug children who might get a mental illness
How hat makers used to experience social phobia

How could you not want to know the details about that?

Bipolar Blog Feedback – Update

Posted by Natasha Tracy | Aug 24, 2011

Hi all.

You might recall, I’m taking part in a reader engagement and feedback program through WEGO Health.

Thanks to all of you who have taken the time to give me your opinion, but there’s more to do. Only about half of the people who have clicked on the survey have filled it out. We can do better than that!

So, Please Take One Minute to Fill Out This Survey

The goal is to find out more about you, my reader.

The more information I can gather, the better this blog can be for you because I want this to be a place that you find useful and engaging.

: Click Me!

Hate something? Love something?

That’s what I want to know.

A Bribe

Two of you will be the first to receive my new ebook – for free!

Please take 60 seconds and fill out the survey. I appreciate it.

– Natasha Tracy

PS: And not to worry, this is the last nag article :)

Mixed Bipolar Disorder – How to Treat Mixed Mood Episodes

Posted by Natasha Tracy | Aug 23, 2011

In the final installation of my mixed moods series, I talk about how to treat mixed moods in bipolar disorder. If you need a refresher on mixed moods in bipolar 1 or bipolar 2, see the first three articles in this series:

Safety Warnings for St. John’s Wort

Posted by Natasha Tracy | Aug 21, 2011

Including the Dangers of Using St. John’s Wort to Treat Bipolar Depression

I mentioned last week that St. John’s wort has been shown ineffective at treating mild depression as well as moderately severe depression (major depression).

Nevertheless, St. John’s wort is the most well-known alternative treatment for depression and many people take it. However, there are absolutely some dangers in taking St. John’s wort that you should know about, especially if you’re bipolar.

Alternative Medicine Resource, Fad Diagnoses, St. John’s Wort – 3 New Things

Posted by Natasha Tracy | Aug 19, 2011

In today’s 3 New Things series I talk about:

A great resource for alternative medicine information
A New St. John’s Wort and depression study
A new “fad” diagnosis up for consideration in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders Version V (DSM-V)

Polypharmacy Treatment Requires As Much Faith As Science

Posted by Natasha Tracy | Aug 18, 2011

As I’ve said, mental illness treatments often don’t work. And you have to keep trying treatment anyway. Because without doing anything new, you are condemned to being stuck in the same mental illness mire you are currently in.

But in all honesty, mental illness treatment requires faith. Trying psych med after failed psych med requires a belief that something will work in spite of the evidence to the contrary. It requires a belief that is not based on proof.

I hate that.

Mixed Moods in Bipolar Disorder and Depression in the DSM-V

Posted by Natasha Tracy | Aug 16, 2011

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), the manual that defines all mental illness in the US, is being revised and a new version is due out in 2013. One of the proposed changes to the DSM is to the diagnosis of mixed moods. This change is being proposed by a mood disorders workgroup. It aims to reflect clinical practice where doctors already refer to a “mixed” mood that doesn’t officially meet the DSM criteria. (As I noted, mixed moods are only technically recognized in bipolar type 1.)

Changes to the mixed mood diagnosis will help people with bipolar 1, bipolar 2 and unipolar depression get better treatment.