Environmental Factors Drive Mania

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Harvard researchers investigated 6,214 cases of major depression for factors that would predict transition to bipolar disorder.  Clinical characteristics such as age of onset...

Antidepressants Associated with Increased Risk for Manic Symptoms

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An analysis of medical records in the UK reveals that the use of certain antidepressants for depression is linked to a heightened risk for mania and bipolar disorder. The research, published this week in BMJ Open, found the strongest effect for serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and the antidepressant venlafaxine.

Overlap Between Borderline and Bipolar

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Researchers in Australia investigate the growing evidence that childhood trauma predisposes individuals to both bipolar and borderline syndromes, with the intention of examining areas...

Navigating the Mental Health Wilderness: Steven Morgan’s Journey

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Steven Morgan discusses his transformative journey from chronic "patient" to leading mental health advocate. Steven has been working in peer support and helping to create alternatives to traditional mental health services for the past decade...

Researchers Probe Connections Between Physical Activity and ‘Severe Mental Illness’

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How does physical activity affect people diagnosed with bipolar, schizophrenia and major depressive disorders?

Bipolar Disorder and Goal-Setting

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Researchers at the UCs Berkley and San Francisco, and the University of Miami, suggest in a paper in Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy that bipolar...

40,000 Suicides Annually and America Still Shrugs

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In my last two posts, Back in the Dark House Again: The Recurrent Nature of Clinical Depression and Am I Having a Breakdown or Breakthrough? Further Reflections on a Depressive Relapse, I have shared my recent relapse into depression. Although it has been tough, when I wake up each morning I am grateful for one thing — I am not suicidal. Others are not as fortunate.

To Live and (Almost) Die in L.A.: A Survivor’s Tale

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After 25 years of chronic emergency, 22 mental hospitalizations, a stint at a “community mental health center,” 13 years in a "board & care," repeated withdrawals from addictions to legal drugs, and a 12-year marriage, I plan to live every last breath out as a survivor, an advocate, and an artist.

The Positive Side of Bipolar Disorder

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Researchers in the U.K. explored the sense of participants in a small study (10 individuals) that "numerous" aspects of their bipolar experiences were positive,...

Childhood Stress Subtypes Predict Adult Psychiatric Subtypes

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A review of the literature from 2001 to 2011 on child abuse, neglect, and psychiatric disorders finds that early life stress subtypes can predict...

Shock Device Safe As Eyeglasses? 89 Days to Say No

We now have only 89 days to respond to Docket No. FDA-2014-N-1210. Tell the FDA no to the down-classification of shock devices. Tell the FDA exactly how subjective and damaging the terms “treatment-resistant” and “require rapid response” are, and how they fail as legitimate medical concepts. The known risks of electroshock should not be ignored because one has been psychiatrically labeled.

Could ‘Treatment Resistance’ be an Effect of Antidepressants?

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Previously taking antidepressants could make individuals less likely to respond to treatment for bipolar II depression.

Childhood Bipolar Disorder More Rare Than Previously Claimed, Study Finds

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Re-examination of meta-analytic claims finds the prevalence of pediatric bipolar disorder is close to zero.

Researchers Faked Data on Epigenetics of Bipolar Disorder

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The British Journal of Psychiatry has issued a retraction of an article purporting to have identified evidence of the epigenetic aspects of bipolar disorder,...

No New Prozacs: A Dry Pipeline for New Psychiatric Drugs

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In 1988, the introduction of Prozac was hailed as a breakthrough in the treatment of depression. A quarter of a century later, the prospect of a similar breakthrough in psychiatric medications seems remote. On August 19, 2013, the New York Times ran an article called, “A Dry Pipeline for Psychiatric Drugs".

New Research Documents Widening Mortality Gap for Bipolar and Schizophrenia

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Analysis of longitudinal data from 2000-2014 demonstrate mortality gap is widening between persons with a diagnosis of bipolar or schizophrenia compared to the general population
bipolar drugs good bad ugly

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: An Infographic on Bipolar Drugs

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Bipolar drug therapy is a balancing act of benefits vs. harms. Odds of attributable benefit cluster in a 15-25% band, so 75%-85% don’t see substantial benefit. Stated differently, if five people take a bipolar drug, only one is likely to see substantial improvement due to it, but all five will have side effects.

EEG Shows That Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy Improves Brain Function in Bipolar Disorder

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In a study of 12 patients with bipolar disorder and 9 controls, researchers found that after an 8-week training in Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy...

NICE Guidelines for Bipolar Disorder- a Missed Opportunity

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There are some things to applaud about the recently released update of the NICE bipolar guidelines, not least the recognition that the diagnosis has been inappropriately applied to children with behavioural problems. Hopefully this will help curtail the worrying trend of using toxic bipolar drugs in this age group. As usual, however, the Guidelines overlook glaring problems with the evidence base for drug treatment in general, and miss an opportunity to stem the diagnostic creep that has come to the UK and Europe via the United States.

People Diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder at Increased Risk for Parkinson’s

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Increased Parkinson's risk could be related to lithium, antipsychotic, and antiepileptic drug use.

Madness Radio: Sharna Olfman on Medicating Children Diagnosed Bipolar

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Professor Sharna Olfman has researched and written extensively about children in society, including education and sexuality, and her perspective on so-called bipolar disorder is...

Int’l Task Force Doesn’t Endorse Antidepressants for Bipolar

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Noting a "striking incongruity between the wide use of and the weak evidence base for the efficacy and safety of antidepressant drugs in bipolar,"...

My Response to the FDA’s ECT Rule Change

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I lived through forced ECT from 2005-2006 at the Institute of Living in Hartford, Connecticut. My experience with ECT was the impetus for me to become involved in the antipsychiatry and Mad Pride movements, although I am not entirely opposed to voluntary mental health treatment. The following is the comment I submitted to the FDA on its proposal to down-classify the ECT shock device.

100% Of DSM Schizophrenia and Mood Disorder “Experts” Have Ties to Drug Companies

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A 2006 study in the journal Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics finds that 100% of schizophrenia and mood disorder experts and over 80% of other experts advising...

Childhood Trauma Linked to Bipolar Diagnosis, Symptoms

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Research on a sample of 587 patients with DSM-IV defined bipolar disorder finds that an earlier age at onset of bipolar illness - along...