Bipolar Disorder Blog

Blake Le Vine was a teen prodigy making the meteoric rise from celebrity autograph hound to becoming a celebrity in his own right. He published a book at 15. And then, without warning, he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. His teen years proved to quite turbulent until he found the right combination of a fantastic doctor and medications. Read Blake's Story

The Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance (DBSA) is the leading patient-directed national organization focusing on the most prevalent mental illnesses. DBSA supports research to promote more timely diagnosis, develop more effective and tolerable treatments and discover a cure. The organization works to ensure that people living with mood disorders are treated equitably. A cornerstone of this organizations work is its grassroots network of nearly 1,000 patient-run support groups across the country. Our peer-led chapters and support groups serve about 70,000 people every year. Support groups play an important role in recovery with 86 percent of support group members reporting that their group helped with treatment adherence.

Pam, a member of our Forums, shares “The area where I live does not have a DBSA. I was thinking of starting a chapter where I live. My questions are: Do you belong to one? How has it helped you? Are you a facilitator or a member? What has been your experience being either a member or a facilitator?"

After studying data from 1948 to 1997, Russian scientist Oleg Shumilov theorizes that when the earth's magnetic field is more active, suicides are more common. There are so many variables that this connection will probably remain unproven for a long time to come, but it's interesting, isn't it?

Also, a 1994 study hypothesized that geomagnetic storms, which are caused by solar flares, increase the incidence of depression. Researchers found a marked increase in the number of men admitted to hospitals for depression after such storms.

Geomagnetism is most active, says Shumilov, from March to May, in July, and in October. What about it? Do you feel worse during these periods?

• Yes, from March to May
• Yes, in July
• Yes, in October
• Yes, in two or three of these periods
• Never noticed a pattern
• Nope
• I just put on my tinfoil hat in those months

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Controversial heavy metal megastar Ozzy Osbourne is often listed as a celebrity with bipolar disorder. Certainly a life filled with drug and alcohol abuse, bizarre behavior and suicide attempts could indicate manic depression. But is there any documented evidence?

Photo: Getty Images / Sergio Dionisio

A very stressful reality for parents of children or teens who struggle with mental illnesses such as depression and bipolar disorder is weighing the pros and cons of medications. Do the benefits of improved well-being and functioning outweigh the problems associated with side effects and long term use? This is a question I had to personally answer and I can tell you it was one of the most difficult decisions I’ve had to make. Is this a decision you are struggling with?

Dr. Richard A. Friedman, a professor of psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medical College, offers a perspective that I believe is very helpful assessing both perspectives. He asks, “What do I say to a depressed patient who is doing well after five years on such a drug but can’t stop without a depressive relapse and who wants reassurance that the drug has no long-term adverse effects?” His insightful response can be found in "Who Are We? Coming of Age on Antidepressants" published in the New York Times.
~ Kimberly

In 2000, I reported on the serendipitous discovery of Tamoxifen as a treatment for mania which had arisen out of breast cancer research. (See Tamoxifen - Serendipity for Bipolar Disorder?). In September 2007, a research team released findings regarding a chemical called protein kinase C, which is found in the nervous system and seems to be implicated in the symptoms of mania (Bipolar Disorders: An International Journal of Psychiatry and Neurosciences).

It is believed that protein kinase C regulates the function of neurons and neurotransmitters. Tamoxifen inhibits – prevents the work – of this protein, which the research team believes can quickly reduce the symptoms of mania. Their findings report that “the antimanic effects of tamoxifen were rapid, showing significant improvement as early as day 5” compared to the average 14 days it takes for lithium and many of the anticonvulsants to show improvement in manic symptoms.

A new study was released in March that supports the findings of earlier studies. This study improved the design and statistical power of earlier studies, but still reported fantastic numbers. After three weeks of treatment, 48 percent of those taking Tamoxifen showed a 50 percent reduction in symptoms compared to only 5 percent of those given placebo. This is a promising new direction for the treatment of mania; however, further research and development is needed before Tamoxifen, or other selective PKC inhibitors, can be approved as a viable treatment for bipolar disorder. ~ Kimberly

Patrick Gale is the author of Notes From an Exhibition, a fictional novel whose central character, Rachel, is a famous artist who has bipolar disorder. In a review on Guardian, this book is described as a “psychologically astute tale about a troubled artistic mother” and Rachel as “a creature alternately wonderful and terrible to her gentle Quaker husband Antony Middleton and her four children.”

I haven’t read this novel yet because I just discovered it today when I was reading a Time’s article, “Patrick Gale on bipolar disorder, religion and why writing is like therapy.” Obviously the title of the article caught my attention, but the first line sucked me in. “Patrick Gale pauses to reflect on his trade, then announces: ‘Most novelists are mentally ill.’” I found the piece to be a very interesting discussion of the author’s personal experiences, which informed the writing of this novel. I’ve bumped this book to the top of my must-read list, but in the meantime I’m curious. Have any of you read this novel? What did you think?

~ Kimberly

A couple of years ago when I took part in a clinical study, I also signed up to have a blood sample included in genetic testing, but I never expected this. A firm called Psynomics is selling a test kit that it says will help tell if you have bipolar disorder and another for whether you will respond well to serotonin-based antidepressants. You collect some saliva and send the sample back to them; they will run the genetic tests. I registered at the site and still couldn't find pricing without giving them more personal information than I wanted to, but an AP news story by Marcus Wohlsen gives a price of $399.

The co-founder of the company, Dr. John Kelsoe, is a long-time and respected researcher into the genetics of bipolar disorder. Still, I don't like the fact that you can't see the cost of the two tests up front. Such testing is not FDA regulated, and I don't think I'd be spending $400 not covered by insurance unless I had a lot of money and felt I wasn't getting a proper diagnosis.

~Marcia

I hate dieting. I detest counting calories or fat grams or carbs. I already find it difficult to squeeze grocery shopping into my hectic schedule so just the thought of adding any more time going label by label through the store, makes me seriously cranky. The minute I add a diet to my intentions, I find myself anxiously binging on my favorite foods in anticipation of their loss. And a few days into any diet, I swear I would mug a Girl Scout for her cookies!

A nutritionist recently told me about a book she highly recommends called Intuitive Eating: A Revolutionary Program That Works by Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch. In the material she distributed about the book, it had the catch phrase, “Free yourself from chronic dieting forever.” Well! That did catch my attention. I went back to my office and ordered the book. It was an excellent purchase.

Weight is a topic we all hate and love to discuss. Well, maybe "love" isn’t quite the right word. We need to discuss it, and so we do. We share the frustrations of medication weight gain and the strategies for circumventing it. We share the loss of motivation for healthy eating and exercise when we're depressed. We share the day-to-day toil and drudgery of dieting. Jane, a community member, poignantly shared these thoughts of toil and drudgery in a recent forum discussion. Alison, a fellow forum member, posted perceptive comments in response to passages of Jane's post. We can each garner some wisdom from Alison for our own dieting and weight-induced angst. Found here are her thoughts for combating the toil and drudgery of the weight game.