Bipolar Support Groups.com blog

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If you suffer from anxiety or depression you are not alone. There are millions of people in the U.S. and around the world suffering with you.

Did you know that diagnosing depression and anxiety is still being done pretty much the same way it was 150 years ago? It’s true. A person goes to the doctor, describes his or her symptoms, and gets a prescription – usually an anti-depressant or anti-anxiety medication.

Unfortunately, this  one-size-fits-all approach sets the stage for failure in many cases because the doctor does not determine which underlying biological process is causing is person’s symptoms.  This is a critical missing piece of the diagnostic puzzle and one of the greatest lessons I have learned over the last two and a half decades of studying the brain.

Using SPECT imaging, we’ve discovered that depression and anxiety, like many other psychiatric conditions, are not just single or simple disorders, but rather there are 7 different types based on different patterns in the brain, and each requires its own treatment.

See if any of these 7 types sound familiar to you:

Type 1: Pure Anxiety

People who struggle with pure anxiety tend to feel anxious, tense, ner­vous and uncomfortable in their own skin. Often overwhelmed with feelings of panic, self-doubt, and predicting the worst, they also suffer from the physical symptoms of anxiety, such as muscle tension, nail biting, headaches, abdominal pain, racing heart, and shortness of breath.

Pure anxiety is thought to be caused by low levels of the neurotransmitter GABA and high activity in the basal ganglia, insular cortex, and amygdala.

Type 2: Pure Depression

Typically characterized by persistent sadness, negativ­ity, and a loss of interest in things that are usually pleasurable, people with this type often have periods of crying for little reason, feelings of isolation or loneliness, sleep or appetite changes, low energy, low self-esteem, and even suicidal thoughts.

This type can be caused by lower dopamine levels, overactivity in the deep limbic system, or low activity in the frontal lobes

Type 3: Mixed Anxiety and Depression

This type is a combination of both pure anxiety and pure depression symp­toms. While both symptom clusters are present on a regular basis, one type may predominate at any point in time. Actually, pure anxiety and pure de­pression are pretty rare by themselves; in our experience, mixed anxiety and depression is very common, as anxiety and depression run together 75 per­cent of the time.

Type 4: Overfocused Anxiety and Depression

With this type, we tend to see features of anxiety and depression, plus a tendency to get stuck on anxious or depressing thoughts or negative behaviors. People with this type tend to worry, hold grudges, and be argumentative and critical. Typically, overfocused anxiety and depression is caused by too much activity in the anterior cingulate gyrus and lower serotonin levels. I have also noticed that this type tends to occur more frequently in children or grandchildren of alcoholics

Type 5: Temporal Lobe Anxiety and Depression

Often the result of a head injury or associated with seizures, this type can be associated with low GABA levels. Because the temporal lobes are very impor­tant for memory, moods, and emotions, problems in this part of the brain can cause people to have mood instability, irritability, mem­ory problems, and dark, frightening or evil thoughts. They might also have trouble reading social cues, experience frequent déjà vu, and misinterpret comments as negative when they are not.

Type 6: Cyclic Anxiety and Depression

This type in­cludes bipolar disorder, cyclothymia (milder mood swings), seasonal mood changes, and severe PMS, called premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD). Times of stress can also trigger a cycle. As with the other types, cyclic anxiety and depression is a spectrum disor­der, meaning it may be a mild form, a very severe form, or anything in between. We believe type 6 is related to lower levels of GABA, but it might also be caused by too much of an excitatory neurotransmitter called glutamate.

Type 7: Unfocused Anxiety and Depression

Commonly with this type there is decreased activity in the brain, especially in the prefrontal cortex – the part of the brain that helps with attention span, forethought, impulse control, organiza­tion, motivation, and planning. People with unfocused anxiety and depression often com­plain of low energy, brain fog, being inattentive, bored and impulsive, and exhibiting poor judgment. The causes of the lower activity in the brain may be the result of an injury, toxic exposure (such as mold), near-drowning, infec­tion, medications, an underlying attention deficit disorder, or other medi­cal illnesses.

Clearly choosing the same treatment of everyone diagnosed with anxiety or depression will never work, and is a major reason so many people fail to get relief of their symptoms. As I always say, how do you know unless you look?

The first thing you have to know about procrastinating is that you should set your expectations realistically. It took you a lifetime to get to where you are today in terms of procrastination, so it’s not something you can fix overnight. But it is something you can fix. All you need is the dedication to do so and the willingness to try something new.

Address the Cognitive Distortions

Since most of procrastination has to do with irrational beliefs and cognitive distortions, it is best to address these up-front. First, it is usually easy to estimate the actual amount of time it takes to complete a task by keeping track of the amount of time spent on tasks. For example, if you track that it takes you approximately five hours of study time to get an A or B on a history exam, you can use that information for helping to better schedule your study time on future exams.

Second, you will be no better motivated in the future than you are right now. This common fallacy leads many people who procrastinate to simply putting off things into the future when they’re in “the right mood.” Your ability to be successful at any task is not dependent upon your mood. Sometimes we have to do something we don’t like to do, even if we don’t feel like it, just to get it done. That doesn’t mean our results are going to be of lesser quality or the task will be a failure. It just means that sometimes motivation comes after you’ve started work on something. And sometimes, working on a project helps bring about a change in our mood. We can’t always expect to be in the right mood all the time. Neither should you expect to only be able to work on things in life when you’re in the right mood. These are just elaborate excuses we make up to reinforce our procrastinating behavior. You can, however, choose to ignore them.

Remember that as you go through this process, you must constantly challenge your cognitive distortions and irrational fears:

• It is not hopeless (few situations are truly hopeless)
• It is not too late (there is always time if you start now)
• You are smart enough (or you wouldn’t have made it this far)
• You can’t do it later (as you’ll just keep putting “later” off until later)
• You will not perform better under pressure (the best work is done when it is well thought-out)

Keep a Journal

Challenging your thoughts and beliefs about how you work and how to best complete a task is something you should get in the habit of doing on a daily basis. It is sometimes helpful to people to keep a little journal of their thoughts that need to be challenged, as well as a rational response to the thought. For example:

These are just a few examples of how to answer irrational thoughts, but you can come up with many others on your own. The more you track and write down these kinds of thoughts, the easier it becomes to answer them! Eventually, you’ll be able to do this in your head, as soon as the thought pops into it. But to get started, it’s usually best to keep a journal. Most people have so many thoughts throughout the day, you may be surprised by the number you record. Many of them are harmless, but some of them are keeping you from beating your procrastination. Those are the ones you should focus on.

You can also use a journal like this to help you keep track of other important things related to your procrastination. For example, if it took you 8 hours to study for an exam instead of the 4 your allotted, this might be a good place to keep track of that information. Then for the next exam, you can plan accordingly (and far more easily!).

Fear also has to be answered, because for many it paralyzes them with inaction. Fear of failure, fear of success, fear of looking bad, fear of having others make fun of us for trying. Only you can identify the particular fear that is feeding your procrastination and understand the basis for it. Some fears can be easily addressed, but others may require more assistance from your counseling center or a therapist. Fear holds many people back in many aspects of their lives, but it is something that can be conquered. Usually the first step in addressing your fears, however, is to identify them and seek assistance in overcoming them.

Get Better Organized

Since disorganization is a component common to most people who procrastinate, becoming more organized and learning how to organize competing tasks is a good place to start. Most people start with a simple appointment book. Purchase a small, simple appointment book (or make your own on the computer) for the year. Appointment books (or organizers) work best if it is of the size that you can carry with you nearly anywhere you go. There’s not much point in having an organizer if it’s never handy enough to actually write things down in it. (If you don’t have it handy when do you need to record something in it, write the appointment or task on a post-it note and attach it to the inside of your wallet or purse. That’ll remind you to transfer it to your organizer immediately.)

Keep in mind, however, that a lot of disorganization comes from our head, not from the cleanliness of our rooms or desks. While obtaining and maintaining an appointment book or organizer is a good start, you have to commit to changing your behavior too. That means writing down assignments in the organizer in class or at work.

Tips for Using an Organizer Effectively

1. Work backward from the due date
   Start by working backwards from the due date. Think back to the last time a similar assignment was due. You probably completed it the night or day before, at the last minute, with little time to check for errors or mistakes. If you had had the time you needed to do a quality job on that task, how long might it have taken? The first time you do this, you may need to estimate a few of the tasks, or you can just use history as a guide (especially if procrastination has not been a life-long problem for you).
2. All tasks can and should be broken down into parts
   Each task should have a number of milestones, dates you should set for yourself when certain parts of that task should be completed. For instance, writing a paper might have five or six milestones: (1) select topic; (2) research topic; (3) organize notes into a paper outline; (4) write rough draft; (5) have friend review; (6) write final draft and review. Each one of these should be noted in the organizer with a due date.
3. Keep track of other activities and dates
   Note holidays, times you need to set aside for other social activities, other professional appointments, and dates that affect your school or work schedule. Sometimes people leave these blank, forgetting that a trip to visit some friends could easily affect their study time a day or two ahead of time as they have to pack, make arrangements for their pets, etc.
4. Start every day with a review
   Every day, make it a habit to begin your day by opening to that day in your organizer and reviewing not only that day’s tasks or appointments, but also review the entire week. If it’s a Friday, look to next week in case there are any deadlines on the following Monday.
5. Keep track of time relative to your due dates
   In addition to setting milestones for yourself, some people like to make notations every week for 4 weeks before a big event, task or exam. You can do this easily by marking every week backwards from the due date with a “T -3 Psych Exam” for 3 weeks before the psychology exam.
6. Keep it up-to-date from the start
   Mark due dates in your appointment book the first moment you are aware of them (even at the beginning of the semester). Sometimes people get lost or confused by keeping an organizer because they don’t take the time or effort necessary to maintain it and keep it updated.
7. Keep a daily to-do list
   Some people hate them, some people can’t live without them. For most procrastinators, it’s a good idea to keep a to-do list every day of things that should be accomplished for both the day and the week. Even if you have to write a new one every day, keeping such a list will go a long way toward keeping your procrastination under control.

All tasks can be broken down into smaller components, that can then be tackled far more easily than the overwhelming large chunk. That should always be your first goal — find a way to break the task down into small sub-tasks, and then set deadlines for each of those.

Finally, and perhaps most important, you need to give yourself a break. You’re going to mess up and you’re not going to be successful every time you try to not procrastinate, especially at the start. You’re still going to procrastinate at first, and you may relapse from time to time as you grapple with this new way of looking at and working on tasks. Nobody is perfect. One or two setbacks doesn’t mean you won’t be successful in this, and you should accept that you’re going to have them before you even get started.

If, however, you maintain your steadfastness in wanting to beat your procrastination, you’re going to find these techniques helpful. Eventually a lot of this will come more naturally and you’ll wonder why you ever wasted so much time procrastinating!

Stress hits us all in life, and while a little stress is good — it keeps us focused and motivated — too much of it and it can grind our lives to a complete halt. When you’re feeling overwhelmed and stressed-out, you may become paralyzed and unable to do much of anything.

Just as bad are unhealthy coping methods to deal with stress. Turning to food, alcohol or drugs often just turns one set of problems into another that can balloon out of control. It’s better to avoid those unhealthy coping mechanisms from the start, and find good ways to keep your stress under control.

There are many ways to tame your stress and keep it at bay. Here are 20 tips to tame your stress today, and keep the stress monsters at bay.

1. Perform diaphragmatic or “deep breathing” exercises.
2. Lie face down on the floor and begin breathing deeply and slowly, with your hands resting under your face. Do this for five minutes.
3. Sit in a reclining chair. Put a hand on your abdomen and a hand on your chest. As you breathe, make sure the hand on your abdomen is moving up and down rather than one on your chest. If the hand on your abdomen is moving you are breathing deeply and slowly.
4. Try progressive muscle relaxation or “deep muscle” relaxation. Progressively tense and relax each muscle group in your body. Learn the difference between muscle tension and relaxation.
5. Meditate. Use visualization or guided imagery to help you learn to be one with your thoughts. Sit quietly with your eyes closed, imagining the sights, sounds and smells of your favorite place, such as a beach or mountain retreat.
6. Exercise regularly or take up yoga.
7. Consult a psychologist about the use of biofeedback.
8. Make time for music, art or other hobbies that help relax and distract you.
9. Learn to identify and monitor stressors. Come up with an organized plan for handling stressful situations. Be careful not to overgeneralize negative reactions to things.
10. Make a list of the important things you need to handle each day. Try to follow the list so you feel organized and on top of things. Put together a coping plan step by step so you have a sense of mastery.
11. Keep an eye on things that might suggest you’re not coping well. For example, are you smoking or drinking more, or sleeping less?
12. Keep a list of the large and little hassles in your day versus the major stressful events in your life. This helps you focus on the fact that you’re keeping track of and managing those as well as you can.
13. Set aside a time every day to work on relaxation.
14. Avoid using caffeine, alcohol, nicotine, junk food, binge eating and other drugs as your primary means for coping with stress. While they can be helpful once in awhile, using them as your only or usual method will result in longer-term problems, such as weight problems or alcoholism.
15. Learn to just say, “No” occasionally. It won’t hurt other people’s feelings as much as you think and is simply a method to be more assertive in your own life, to better help you meet your own needs.
16. Get the right amount of sleep. For most people, this is seven to nine hours a night.
17. Cultivate a sense of humor; laugh.
18. Research has shown that having a close, confiding relationship protects you from many stresses.
19. Don’t run from your problems! This only makes them worse.
20. Talk to your family and friends. See if they can help.

If these tips don’t help, or you’ve tried a lot of them with little luck in better taming the stress in your life, it may be time to consider taking it up a notch. A mental health professional — such as a psychologist — can help teach you more effective methods for handling stress in a healthy way in your life. Such psychotherapy is short-term and time-limited, with a focus on helping you better deal with stress.

Remember — we do have control over the stress and choices we make in our lives. It sometimes takes a little practice and effort to put some of these techniques into play in your life. But once you do so, you may be pleasantly surprised at the positive benefits you’ll receive.

REVIEW OF MOOD TRACKING SOFTWARE: MOODTRACKER.COM

MoodTracker.com

Our findings are drawn from conversations with the MoodTracker.com CEO (David Hale), current users of MoodTraker.com, and our independent review of MoodTracker.com. We plan to monitor this software, stay in touch with active users and provide subsequent updates. We use pseudonyms to ensure MoodTracker users’ privacy.

What is MoodTracker.com?

MoodTracker.com is a web-based Mood Tracking system which helps people who suffer from bipolar depression or depression track relevant information & data associated with their illness. This information includes: establishing a daily mood chart; charting a patient’s “Mood History;” establishing a patient’s Medical History; building in Support Alerts which offer users email, text messages etc. to take medicine or some other action step; and recording caregiver information.

MoodTracker.com provides a web-based tool that is easy to use, requires little time for patients to set up, and is easily accessible for patients, family members or Doctors (if patients allow such access to their online accounts). MoodTracker.com also provides an online Forum area for patients to discuss questions about how to use MoodTracker.com;
it also enables users to discussion numerous issues pertaining to bipolar depression and depression.

What do users say about it?

We spoke with Jennifer, a MoodTracker.com user, about her experience with the online tracking system. Jennifer researched various mood tracking systems and choose MoodTracker.com. She considered it essential that the system be web-based; she liked the flexibility of having her account & data on a server which could be accessed from any online source. She views this system has a good way to share relevant information with her Doctor who could easily access her information in advance of their sessions and be “current” on various data points. She also feels the various pie charts and graphs offered a user friendly, helpful way to visualize her moods and relevant data. She also likes the ability to send alerts to herself for various action points including taking medicine. Lastly, she found the Forum section to be user friendly, helpful and relevant to her ongoing issues.

Software tool versus web-based system.

Readers may recall that the Founder/CEO of the bStable product (see Sept. 15 post), researched the software versus web-based issue and came down strongly in favor of building a software tool. David Hale came to the opposite conclusion and decided to build a web-based application. One of the key issues patients that can arise with a web-based system is the security of the data. David points out that MoodTracker.com does not require any personal ID information to create an account; of course, patients are free to use any name/password combination as well as any email address so their use of MoodTracker.com is quite secure.

What does MoodTracker.com cost?

There are two MoodTracker.com versions. The basic version, MoodTracker, is free. An enhanced version, MoodTracker Plus, costs $24.95 annually and includes:

Pie Charts: With Pie Charts you get a summary of your moods by percentage. This can be very helpful for evaluating your moods over time and getting a better feel for the effectiveness of your medications. You can see your pie charts summarized by month, quarter, or year. Each pie chart is also sub-categorized by medication history, and there are different pie charts for mood, sleep, anxiety, and irritability.

Exercise Tracking: You can easily set up any number of exercise records to create a customized exercise plan. Each record specifies the exercise, the date when you started it, and how frequently it’s done.

Significant Event Tracking: If a significant event occurs that greatly affects your mood, you can mark it on your chart.

No Advertisements: When you login to your MoodTracker Plus+ account, you won’t see any ads. Basic MoodTracker users will see Google Ads on MoodTracker.com

Conclusions

MoodTracker is a good web-based mood tracking tool. It is easy to use and enables users to track relevant data points on a daily basis. MoodTracker Plus offers some nice additional charting, avoids advertising and is inexpensive. All in all we think this is a good system for those who prefer a web-based system versus a software based solution. It’s one of a few independent sites (i.e. not affiliated with a pharmaceutical firm) that caters specifically to patients with bipolar disorder. We will continue to monitor MoodTracker.com’s progress.

For more information, click here to access MoodTracker.com.