Category Archives: News & updates

The “bottom line” of diagnosis What happened to “manic-depressive”? What’s “Bipolar II”?  What is the “mood spectrum?”  What do “bipolar variations” look like? Non-manic markers of bipolarity? Even with no hypomania at all? Anxious depression could be “bipolar”? Yes, in … Continue reading →

What’s with this “spectrum” talk? The DSM is the official rule book of diagnoses, right? “Spectrum” is not radical More evidence that the DSM-only view is changing Double depression, bipolarity-style Conclusion Bottom line:  The “bipolar spectrum” view used to be … Continue reading →

Weight gain is one of the main reasons that people diagnosed with depression and other mood disorders stop taking their medication. Some people gain as much as seven percent of their body weight — or more — from psychiatric meds. In a study funded … Continue reading →

By Therese Borchard A substantial amount of research points to the benefits of faith to mitigate symptoms of depression. In one study, for example, researchers at McLean Hospital in Belmont, Massachusetts, found that belief in God was associated with better … Continue reading →

I thought I had it all figured out. I even had a book title picked out: Whole-ish — On Healing Myself Naturally from Depression and My Messy Path to Well. And I had outlined some of the chapters: Why restoring … Continue reading →

There are four distinct types of people when it comes to weather and mood, according to a study published in Emotion in 2011. Summer Lovers (better mood with warmer and sunnier weather) Unaffected (weak associations between weather and mood) Summer Haters (worse mood with … Continue reading →

There’s such a thing as trying too hard. Anyone who has ever suffered through a case of insomnia knows this well. The harder you try to sleep, the less rest you get. Sleep only comes if you can relax and … Continue reading →

Paper or plastic? For here or to go? Cash or credit? These are simple questions that most people don’t think twice about. But to a person in the midst of a depressive episode, answering any one of these queries can be … Continue reading →

What we eat might not be able to cure us indefinitely from depression. I learned thathard lesson earlier this year. However, researchers are compiling strong evidence that what we eat can influence our risk for developing depression and can keep … Continue reading →

The American Journal of Psychiatry has just published a meta-analyses of supplements, or nutraceuticals, that, used in adjunction to antidepressants, have evidence of reducing depressive symptoms. The primary positive results were found with SAMe (adenosylmethionine) methylfolate, omega 3 (primarily EPA … Continue reading →