In a continuation of the 3 New Things series, this week follows up on the British Psychological Society’s critique of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, version 5 (DSM-V), talks about irritable mood in bipolar disorder and expresses my general disdain for people who can’t report about mental health accurately.
Read MoreSometimes writing for a living drives me bonkers. Basically, I have to be brilliant on-command. And seriously. That’s hard.
It’s a lot of work for me. My brilliance gets tired and bogged down in the bits of my job I don’t like doing.
However, then I’m reminded there are many wonderful things about my job. Specifically, I get to learn new things, every day, all the time. While others work at real jobs I spend all day looking up facts and studies and learning things I didn’t know when I woke up.
I love that stuff.
So, I’m creating a weekly feature by sincerely flattering Jane Friedman and stealing her idea. (Jane writes Three Happy Things about writing once a week. Go check her out.) I’m not sure they will be three happy things, exactly, but I will be sharing three new things about mental health I’ve learned each week.
This will give me a chance to share smaller details that don’t make it into a full blog post, pimp the resources I like and otherwise share my knowledge.
On board? Great!
Read MoreAs loyal readers know over the last couple of weeks I have written quite a few pieces both on the Burble and on Breaking Bipolar on suicide after a person I consider a friend attempted suicide. Luckily he is still with us, and I think the writings on the topic will help others who have been through a suicide attempt and the loved ones of those who have attempted suicide.
I don’t want to say something “good” came out of my friend’s suicide attempt because I think that diminishes his personal experience. But maybe others have been helped. And that is thanks to him. Thanks to his honesty and bravery in speaking about his suicide attempt. I’m honored to know him.
So here are articles for:
Most doctors (mostly psychiatrists) will ask you to track your mood if you have a mood disorder like bipolar disorder or depression. And while most people (psychiatrists and patients) would agree mood tracking is good, most people would also admit to not doing it.
I understand why mood tracking doesn’t get done. It’s like a homework assignment when you’re already working full-time. You just happen to be working full-time at being crazy. Homework tends to get left in the book bag.
However, there are easy, painless, simple ways to track your mood that can offer real benefits. Sixty seconds a day. Promise.
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In part one I discussed the details of a study about 100 people who attempted suicide in Florida. Part two outlines the predictive factors for suicide attempts identified in this study and how we can use this information to predict who will attempt suicide.
And perhaps more importantly, how you can prevent a suicide attempt in a loved one.
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Some of us in the mental health field have heard the suicide warning signs so often it’s practically tattooed on the back of our skull: suicide note, suicide plan persistent thoughts of suicide, previous suicide attempt and so on.
But if you think you know the warning signs for a suicide attempt you’re probably wrong, at least according to a study out of Florida. For example, fewer than 1-in-10 people leave suicide notes and fewer than one-third of people have persistent thoughts of suicide before their suicide attempt.
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As I mentioned, a friend of mine attempted suicide last Friday. His life was saved by his friends, the police and hospital staff. I’m grateful his suicide attempt was not successful.
But one of the oddest things about this scenario is after the suicide attempt he was not hospitalized. The hospital stabilized and released him. Just like that. No psychiatric hold. No psychiatric treatment. Nothing.
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I’m working on my first ebook. It’s going to be about building a relationship with your doctor. Essentially, it’s about getting what you, the patient, need from the person behind the prescription pad.
I’m writing this book because of the plethora of mental health questions I get on the subject. I believe people with bipolar disorder, depression and other mental illnesses don’t get optimal care due to dysfunctional medical relationships. This is not necessarily the fault of the doctor / psychiatrist or the patient. It just means the relationship isn’t as good as it could be. Think of it like couples counseling between doctor and patient.
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In the first of this series I discussed antidepressants and addiction. Some people contend antidepressants are addictive; however, not only is the term “addiction” not defined medically, the use of antidepressants does not generally match the symptoms of any defined substance use disorder either. (More information on substance abuse and substance dependence.)
This time antipsychotics are up to bat. Are antipsychotics addictive? Are people dependent on antipsychotics? Do antipsychotics cause withdrawal?
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