The Practicing Mental Illness Newsletter

 

I have transitioned from this blog to a weekly newsletter and won't be posting new content here. The newsletter contains insightful news on how to predict, prevent and manage episodes of anxiety, depression and mania. It includes compelling and irreverent information on meditation and features from "Getting Older With Bipolar," as well as provocative original thoughts on the politics of mental illness and content on meaningful work.

Thanks for joining me on this journey on this blog, and please continue to travel with me as we approach mental illness from a unique, responsible and compassionate perspective.

Please have a look at and subscribe to the Practicing Mental Illness newsletter here.

Jobs and Benefits

What do you do when you can work, and work well, but mental illness increasingly makes it more challenging?

Excessive Spending by People with Bipolar Disorder

No one can blow through money quite like a person in a manic episode.  I’ve flown across the country to buy an expensive piece of art.  I’ve pulled into a car dealership and bought an Acura with my American Express card.

Bipolar Disorder and Unemployment

The unemployment rate for people with bipolar disorder is over 60%. This rate persists even in people with bipolar disorder who have achieved functional recovery.

Handling Anxiety

And now the surge they predicted would come, and now more restrictions as we shut down again to try and stop it. 

People had this hope that, as we came to the end of 2020, we would put up a new calendar on January 1st and all would be back to normal. Now we know that's not going to happen.

Anxiety is to be expected when we face challenges like the ones we face now. It's normal. The point is not to ignore it, and not to run from it. You can manage it and keep it from drastically disrupting your life.

That's what my book, Resilience: Handling Anxiety in a Time of Crisis is about. It's helping people. Check it out here. And thank you.

Treating Mania in Older Patients with Bipolar Disorder

Little effort is made toward treating bipolar disorder in seniors.  Geriatric psychiatry is not a sexy specialty for doctors in training, and research on treatment for older patients is scant.

Mental Health, Race and the Police

The death of Walter Wallace, Jr in Philadelphia is a tragedy. A tragedy of mental health, not of race.

 

Last night, knowing what was to come throughout the city, I went to bed sad. Seeing the video on the TV this morning, I am still sad. A man I have much in common with was killed in a police shooting, and the significant story has been lost in a melee of riots and looting.

Crazy Politicians

Would you vote for a politician who was open about having a severe mental illness?

Learning From Those Who Have Been There

When it became apparent that the COVID-19 crisis was going to have a significant negative effect on people’s mental health, I thought that possibly those of us with a history of severe mental illness might fare better than the average person. After all, we have a lot of experience with limited social contact, lost jobs and stressors that cause anxiety, depression and mania. Perhaps we have better coping skills than most.

Celiac Disease and Bipolar Disorder

People with celiac disease are 17 times more likely to have bipolar disorder than those without.

Meditation and Mood Swings

Can meditation help you identify oncoming anxiety, depression or mania and give you time to intervene and avoid the worst? I’ve found that it can.

Meditation is simply being still and noticing things. Feelings in the body and thoughts that come up in the mind are observed without harsh judgment or fixation. They don’t need to be dismissed, but are instead observed and reflected on for their effect on one’s wellbeing.

Being conscious of the nature of thoughts and the sensations in the body can be a powerful tool in predicting mood changes.

Go for a Walk

Every time I take a retreat at a monastery walking is a key part of practice. At Zen monasteries they call it Kinhin. In Catholic monasteries it is sometime the only opportunity the monks have to speak to one another

Parenting and Mental Illness

It's been a challenging year for parents with mental illness. From shutdowns to job loss, many of us have struggled through the Spring and Summer of 2020. Now it's Fall.

Subscribe to the Newsletter

I'm transitioning from this blog to a weekly newsletter. It contains insightful news on how to predict, prevent and manage episodes of anxiety, depression and mania. I'll include compelling and irreverent information on meditation and features from "Getting Older With Bipolar."

Thanks for joining me on this journey.

For past copies of the newsletter, and to subscribe, click here.

Maybe the News About Longevity isn't Really That Bad

Last week I wrote about longevity and bipolar disorder and the numbers were a little scary. When you dig into them a little bit the situation doesn’t look as grim. It turns out that lifestyle choices are key to living long with mental illness. Unfortunately, people with mental illness often make poor lifestyle choices.

The Average Lifespan of People with Bipolar Disorder

What’s the average lifespan of someone with bipolar disorder? Now that I’m in my 50s, and now that I’ve lived with the diagnosis for nearly three decades, I wonder if I’ll live as long as others without the disorder. According to research, probably not.

Meditation-Free Mindfulness

You don’t have to meditate to develop mindfulness. In fact, any practice that requires that you focus your attention and truly notice what you’re doing and what is going on around you, and within you, can be considered mindfulness practice.

The Daily Decision Podcast

I spoke with Michael Chabot on The Daily Decision Podcast about my book Resilience: Handling Anxiety in a Time of Crisis. We covered a lot of ground about the effects of the COVID-19 shutdown on people with mental illness and on people feeling symptoms of anxiety for the first time.

The Coming Crisis in Mental Health

There have been pandemics, quarantines and shutdowns before this year around the world. The effects of such events on people's mental health has been well-researched.

The results of this research are not encouraging.

Missed Opportunity

For a minute it looked like real progress toward racial justice was possible.

The Black Lives Matter movement had many people who previously didn’t even consider racial disparities ponder their role in an unjust system. Ideas surfaced to explore ways we might work together to improve it. Among the disparities discussed were those found in healthcare.

Revealed for many was the gaping chasm between Whites and African Americans in mental healthcare.