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The Mentally Ill Who Attempt Suicide Are Second-Class Patients

Posted by Natasha Tracy | Jun 29, 2015

Have you ever attempted suicide because of a mental illness? Have you ever gone to the emergency room (ER) because of a suicide attempt related to a mental illness? If you have, then you probably know, the mentally ill who attempt suicide are second-class patients in the ER. Doctors seem to, distinctly, not like people who attempt suicide. The same goes with people who self-harm. These people are second-class patients as well. But why are the mentally ill who attempt suicide second-class patients?

Vacations Can Make Bipolar Depression Worse, Not Better

Posted by Natasha Tracy | Jun 23, 2015

Do you have bipolar depression and feel like you need a vacation? Well, I have sad news for you, vacations can make bipolar worse, not better. Don’t get me wrong, they don’t have to, and if you’re in a good place in your bipolar right now, you might just have a great time, but if you are really sick with bipolar, that vacation you want might make your bipolar depression worse.

Truehope Threatens to Sue Mental Health Writer Natasha Tracy

Posted by Natasha Tracy | Jun 16, 2015

Yup, Truehope is threatening to sue me, Natasha Tracy, mental health writer with regards to slander and defamation of their company and product, EMPowerplus. All this because of six articles written over a year-and-a-half ago (when I tried their product).

Anger Is Not a Symptom of Bipolar Disorder, Or Is It?

Posted by Natasha Tracy | Jun 9, 2015

If you search the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, you will see that anger is not a symptom of bipolar disorder. If you search the International Classification of Diseases manual (maintained by the World Health Organization) you will see that anger is not a symptom of bipolar disorder. It doesn’t appear to be recognized, or even proposed, that a symptom of bipolar disorder is anger.

The trouble with this seems to be that many people do experience anger, irritation and aggression as symptoms of their bipolar disorder. I am one of those people.

Time It Takes to Recover from Depression after Hypomania

Posted by Natasha Tracy | Jun 5, 2015

As I wrote about on HealthyPlace this week, right now, I’m recovering from a depression after a hypomania. It’s been 11 days and I haven’t returned to my (admittedly, rather sucky) baseline. My point in that piece was that the depression after a hypomania is so much worse than an average depression. My point here, though, is that the time it takes to recover from a depression after a hypomania never passes quickly enough and I tend to beat myself up about it.

What Caused My Bipolar Disorder: Nature or Nurture?

Posted by Natasha Tracy | May 25, 2015

The Bipolar Burble is extremely pleased to welcome back today’s guest author: Ross Szabo. Ross is an amazing mental illness educator and advocate. You can read more about him at the bottom.

I’ve often pondered whether bipolar is caused by nature or nurture and even researchers constantly examine the age-old question. The data largely shows that it’s often a mixture of both. I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder when I was 16. My psychiatrist added anger control problems and psychotic features to my diagnosis at age 17. I love to ponder what part of my bipolar is nature, what’s nurture and what’s me?

Why Saying “Just Stop Cutting” Doesn’t Work for Self-Harmers

Posted by Natasha Tracy | May 25, 2015

One of the least helpful things you can say to someone who self-harms is, “well, just stop cutting.” Believe me, for most people who cut, if it were that easy, they would have done it already. People struggle with ending self-harm not because they don’t want to but because they use self-harm as a coping skill and you can’t just take away someone’s only or best coping skill. They won’t know what else to do without it. So saying, “just stop cutting” to a self-harmer is like saying, “just stop crying” or “just stop talking to your friends” or “just stop drinking” – if that’s the coping skill the person uses to deal with pain, telling them to “just stop it” doesn’t work.

Safety of First-Generation Antipsychotics Like Haloperidol

Posted by Natasha Tracy | May 18, 2015

First-generation antipsychotics (typical antipsychotics, neuroleptics) have been around since the 1950s, but how safe are first-generation antipsychotics like haloperidol? One doctor, Henry A. Nasrallah, MD, suggests that haloperidol and its likenesses should be retired as first generation antipsychotics are not safe for the brain (he and the literature contend). Are first-generation antipsychotics like haloperidol safe or possibly neurotoxic?

Mental Health Week? We Need Mental Illness Week

Posted by Natasha Tracy | May 4, 2015

This weeks is mental health week in Canada – not mental illness week. According to the Canadian Mental Health Association, “We all have mental health, just as we all have physical health. Mental health is more than the absence of mental illness. It’s a state of well-being.”

This is true. We all do have mental health. And mental health is important. But what we need in society is mental illness week not mental health week.