Keep up with mental health news. Three new things in mental health to learn this week:
I get asked fairly regularly for insomnia tips or ideas on how to get a good night’s sleep. I actually have quite a bit of knowledge in this area as I’ve written many articles on sleep disorders for other sites. I know many tips and even rules for getting a good night’s sleep.
If you’re like most people you will experience insomnia some time in your life. It’s actually a very normal problem. Insomnia stems from stress and anxiety, mostly, but can also come about thanks to mental illness or psychiatric medication.
And the thing is, conquering insomnia, no matter what the cause, takes work. You will have to do things you won’t want to do. But when trying to sleep well, you get out of it what you put into it.
The reason most people don’t sleep well is because they have something called bad “sleep hygiene.” Sleep hygiene is simply all the behaviors and thoughts surrounding your sleep habits, and for most of us, our actions and thoughts are keeping us from sleeping.
But you can train your brain to sleep well. It takes time, but you can do it.
Read MoreLast week I didn’t post three new things but don’t take that to mean I wasn’t learning because I certain was, and always am. For this week I have these three new pieces of information to share:
This week I learned three new things about psychotherapy and depression.
I’m a fan of psychotherapy for everyone. In fact, if we could get the mid-East folks to sit down for some good counselling, I think it would be more effective in bringing peace than anything you can do with a gun.
With that said, there are limitations to therapy and sometimes therapy is not all it’s cracked up to be. So this week, a look at three perspectives on psychotherapy:
Generally, following the rules I wrote about last week on how to stop antidepressants while minimizing withdrawal work, and most people can successfully withdraw from antidepressants with few side effects.
Unfortunately, some antidepressants are not so easy to get off of no matter what you do. Some antidepressants:
Any antidepressant can feel impossible to withdraw from, but the antidepressants people have most trouble withdrawing from are:
But by far, venlafaxine and desvenlafaxine (Effexor and Pristiq) are the ones I hear about. In my opinion, these two drugs are a nightmare to come off of for most people. ^ (I’m not saying everyone has trouble with these antidepressants, just that many do.)
Here are tips on how to get off of horrible~ drugs like venlafaxine (Effexor) and desvenlafaxine (Pristiq).
Read MoreIt’s a bit of a short week what with the holiday and all, but still, there is time for three new things about mental health. Today’s three new things are:
While antidepressants can absolutely be life-saving medications, sometimes antidepressants aren’t the right medication at the right time for you. Or sometimes, it’s just time to try to get off of antidepressants. (For simple depression, this is often done if you have been stable for 6-12 months.)
But the key to getting off antidepressants successfully is to minimize withdrawal symptoms because otherwise you may feel like you’re trapped on the antidepressants. Additionally, the withdrawal symptoms may get mistaken for returning illness symptoms, which you do have to watch for, but if possible, it’s best not to get withdrawal and returning symptoms confused.
So, here are some tips on the best way to get off antidepressants while minimizing withdrawal.
Read MoreI 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:
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:
I will never, ever try to sell you hope, true or otherwise. Hope is free and selling it is a lie.
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