Support Group compassion meeting for Bipolar Patients, Friends,Caregiers, Families

You may have more control over your condition than you think. It is possible for people with disabilities to lead healthy and meaningful lives.

Let us remember that the core purpose of the group is to provide a safeplace for patients with the bipolar condition to learn from each other.

We deserve a friendly place to be ourselves and share openly and honestlywhat we are going through. It is ok to be yourself at the BiPolarSupport Group!

All are welcome at the Bipolar Support Group The Groupstrives to create an environment of healing and tolerance. Share your experience and give your personal input, meet other patients,caregivers, friends and family of the San Diego mental healthcommunity!

This a relaxed place to make new friends, share yourstory with others who care and want to
listen.

There will be a Greeter out front with name tag on so you know where we are sitting!

Support Group meeting for Bipolar Patients, Friends, Caregivers, Families

Wednesday, August 11, 2010 at 7:00pm

Lestat's Coffee, San Diego, CA

3343 Adams Avenue

Albert Einstein

A human being is part of a whole, called by us the Universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings, as something separated from the rest--a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circles of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.

Quote of Day by William James

The greatest revolution of our generation is the discovery that human beings, by changing the inner attitudes of their minds, can change the outer aspects of their lives.

Dr. Kay Redfield Jamison, Exuberance, The Passion for Life

Dr. Kay Redfield Jamison, professor at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, speaks about her book "Exuberance, The Passion for Life" at a conference on teacher wellness organized by the Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth (CTY). Introduced by CTY's Dr. Charles Rowins. Topics include: mental health, genius, creativity, moods and mood disorders, depression, bi-polar disorder, teaching gifted and talented children, genetics, risk-taking and the joy of teaching. As Dr. Jamison writes in "Exuberance": "To teach well, I heard early and often, is to make a difference. To teach unusually well is to create magic."

Personal Reflections on Manic-Depressive Illness by Dr. Kay Redfield Jamison

Bipolar Disability Affected by Prior Episodes

Home » News » Work and Career News » Bipolar Disability Affected by Prior Episodes

By JESSICA WARD JONES, MD, MPH Associate News Editor
Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on July 29, 2010

The frequency and types of priorepisodes a bipolar individual has had may have a significant effect on their overall life function.

According to new research, bipolar patients who have had more episodes appear to have more overall disability. Those with more manic episodes have more problems with work and family, and those with more depression have more social difficulty.

“This study shows that disability affects an important proportion of bipolar disorder patients and that previous course-of-illness variables, particularly a high number of manic episodes, and current psychopathology – as indicated by the presence of nicotine dependence ordepressive symptoms – may be indicators of disability,” said Dr. Luis Gutiérrez-Rojas from the Institute of Neurosciences at the University of Granada in Spain, who led the research with his colleagues.

Bipolar disorder, also known by its older name “manic depression,” is a mental disorder that is characterized by alternating moods, “highs” (what clinicians call mania) and “lows” (also known as depression). More than 5 million Americans suffer from bipolar disorder, according to the National Institute of Mental Health, and according to the World Health Organization, it is the sixth leading cause of disability worldwide.

Gutiérrez-Rojas and his colleagues reviewed the psychiatric histories of 108 patients diagnosed with bipolar disorder. TheSheehan Disability Scale was used to measure social and family life disability. Work disability was measured by whether or not the study participant was receiving a disability payment. Slightly more than half of the participants had some form of disability, and 37 percent had two types.

More than three previous manic episodes, current depression, nicotine dependence, and lower educational level were statistically associated with work disability.

Difficulty with social function increased with the number of hospitalizations, with multiple previous episodes of depression, in those who had lack of social support, and with current depression.

In addition, individuals with bipolar disorder who were older, who showed potential signs of alcohol abuse, who had been hospitalized more often, or who had had repeated manic episodes, had more difficulty with family life.

Previous research has shown that repeated episodes and repeated hospitalizations for bipolar disorder can worsen the course of the illness. Medication noncompliance can make symptoms more difficult to treat. These data should encourage physicians and patients to treat bipolar disorder more aggressively, as repeated episodes can also increase disability in several areas.

“Clinicians should make every effort to prevent relapses, to efficiently treat residual symptoms, and to enhance the social support of these patients,” concludes Gutiérrez-Rojas.

The study is published in the July edition of the journal Psychiatry Research.

Source: Psychiatry Research

Symptoms that Might Predict First Episode of Mania

By JESSICA WARD JONES, MD, MPH Associate News Editor
Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on August 1, 2010

Is it possible to prevent a bipolarpatient’s first episode of mania before it even happens?

According to new research, there may be certain signs present before development of psychotic mania, that, when present in a high risk individual, might be able to predict the development of mania.

“Before onset of a first episode of psychotic mania, patients go through a phase of change from previous mental state where they present mood symptoms, sleep disruption and general functional decline,” says Philippe Conus, from Université Lausanne in Switzerland, who conducted the research with his colleagues.

Bipolar disorder is a psychiatric condition characterized by alternating periods of depression (low mood) and mania, or hypomania (a milder form of mania). Mania is diagnosed when three of more of the following symptoms are present; an elevated, agitated, or irritable mood, a decreased need for sleep, an increased need to talk, racing thoughts or lots of ideas, abnormally high self-esteem, difficulty focusing attention, an increased in goal-directed activity or difficulty sitting still, and reckless involvement in pleasurable activities (like sexual indiscretions, or excessive spending). Sometimes people with mania can also experiencepsychosis, a condition in which one has delusions (mistaken beliefs), hallucinations, and temporarily loses contact with reality.

To attempt to discern signs of a first episode of psychotic mania before it occurs, Conus and his colleagues enrolled 22 patients between the ages of 15 and 29 who had experienced their first episode of psychotic mania.

They reviewed each participant’s psychiatric history, and used theGeneral Behavior Inventory (GBI) and the Initial Mania Prodrome Questionnaire (IMPQ), to assess the presence of possible psychiatric symptoms in the year before the manic episode.

They found that there was a prodrome (a period of time before the episode with subtle symptoms), in more than half of the study participants, and the average duration of the prodrome was 20.9 weeks.

During the period of time before their manic episode, the participants experienced a change from their prior mental health, including symptoms such as mood changes, changes in sleep pattern, and overall decline in general function (increased stress, impaired functioning, and concentration problems).

“Early identification of patients at risk to develop a first episode of psychotic mania is unlikely to be possible in the basis of symptoms alone,” says Conus.

However, although these symptoms are not specific enough to be of use in the general population, in individuals known to be at high risk for bipolar disorder, such symptoms may be of more significance. Some people at high risk include children of parents with bipolar or other mood disorders, those who have had or witnessed a traumatic event, those with developmental delay, those with cyclothymic traits, who have had previous depressiveepisodes, and who have had recent increase in levels of substance use.

Bipolar disorder affects more than 5 million Americans, according to the National Institute of Mental Health, and is the sixth leading cause of disability, according to the World Health Organization.

The average age of diagnosis of bipolar disorder is 25 years, but there is an increasing awareness of the presence of symptoms in in children. The disorder can often be difficult to diagnosis in young people. There have been a number of research studies that show that repeated episodes of mania can increase the severity of the illness, make symptoms more difficult to control, and increase disease-related disability.

Future studies involving larger populations may help to identify additional risk factors, or other prodromal symptoms. Furthermore, additional research may help to determine what, if any, interventions may prevent or ameliorate the development of manic symptoms. “Prevention strategies could be applied if this prodromal phase was better defined,” concludes Philippe Conus, from Université Lausanne in Switzerland, and colleagues.

Dr. Conus’s results can be found in the August edition of theJournal of Affective Disorders

Source: Journal of Affective Disorders