A safe place to talk openly about mental health & illness
In this series, I dig a little deeper into the meaning of psychological terms. This week's term is seasonal affective disorder. Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is a subtype of depression or bipolar with symptoms that occur based on a seasonal pattern. It was first described in 1984 as the result of an American study of mostly… Continue reading What Is… Seasonal Affective Disorder
Ask anyone of a certain age what comes to mind first when they hear the term electroconvulsive therapy (aka ECT, aka electroshock therapy, aka shock therapy), and chances are they will mention the film One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest starring Jack Nicholson. The reality is very different.
The Ups and Downs – A Bipolar Picture Book by Kat Owens is an adult-oriented picture book, although there's no "adult" content and it would be very appropriate to help younger people understand bipolar disorder. The author aims to show the ups and downs of everyday life with bipolar. She herself lives with bipolar II.… Continue reading Book Review: The Ups and Downs: A Bipolar Picture Book
As a person with depression, being open and honest with treatment providers is likely to go straight out the window if it appears to conflict with whatever goal feels most pressing to me at the time.
This post is by Emma from Mental Health Matters. Hello, my name is Emma and this is a piece I wrote for my blog in 2018. Since writing this article, I have found a treatment that is helping me. I have a disease called PMDD, and the supplement I am taking is called Jubilance for PMS. Jubilance has… Continue reading Emerging Blogger Series: Emma (Mental Health Matters)
Bring Me To Light: Embracing my Bipolar and Social Anxiety by Eleanor Segall describes her journey with mental illness, from pre-diagnosis through her work on recovery. It's written in clear, simple language, making it easy to understand for readers with no background knowledge of mental illness. She begins by talking about her Jewish heritage and… Continue reading Book Review: Bring Me To Light
Cannabis—it's a plant that's well known for getting people high, but it's also become increasingly accepted for medicinal purposes, particularly for pain and nausea. But what do we know about the interaction between cannabis and mental illness? There's been a clearly established link between cannabis use and triggering the onset of psychotic illness in people… Continue reading Cannabis & Mental Illness: What Does the Research Say?
In this series, I dig a little deeper into the meaning of psychological terms. This week's term is ultra rapid cycling in bipolar disorder. Rapid cycling and the DSM-5 Rapid cycling describes the frequency of switching between mania/hypomania and depression in bipolar disorder. The current edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders… Continue reading What Is… Ultra Rapid Cycling in Bipolar Disorder
Bipolar Me by Janet Coburn explores her journey with bipolar II disorder. The book is made up of blog posts, which are divided into chapters based on theme. The chapters cover topics like the symptoms of bipolar disorder, the "med-go-round", times of struggling, dealing with social situations, and broader societal issues. Each post is pretty… Continue reading Book Review: Bipolar Me
I became a nurse in 2004, which was before I became mentally ill. &Even then, I wasn't a fan of using a 1-10 mood rating scale with my patients. It struck me as a bit of a cop-out—a poor substitute for actually exploring with the person how they were feeling. Adventures in hospital And then… Continue reading Why I Hate the 1 – 10 Mood Rating Scale for Depression