Problems with the Mainspring: Arousal, Circadian Rhythms, and Sleep
Is it bipolar, or is it something else?
With bipolar, it’s not so much as what is wrong with me - it is what is wrong with the world. It is out of phase, out of sync, too fast, too slow, too clear, too blurry, 9 AM when it should be 3 AM, 11 PM and 7 AM simultaneously, days that have 26 hours in them, others with three, days of the week out of order, jet lag without flying, flying without wings, crashes, near-misses, stalled in... (Source: John McManamy's SharePosts)
Source: John McManamy's SharePosts - June 28, 2013 Category: Mental Illness Authors: John McManamy Source Type: blogs
Anxiety and Mania in Depression - Some Key DSM-5 Changes You Need to Know
If you happened to have been depressed in May, then you went to sleep one evening with DSM-IV depression and woke up with DSM-5 depression. What changed? Absolutely nothing, well sort of absolutely nothing.
The DSM, as you may be aware, is psychiatry’s diagnostic bible, issued by the American Psychiatric Association. As opposed to physical illnesses, mental illnesses are defined according to symptoms rather than cause. The... (Source: John McManamy's SharePosts)
Source: John McManamy's SharePosts - June 28, 2013 Category: Mental Illness Authors: John McManamy Source Type: blogs
Why Kids Make Us Better Adults - Our Toys Simply Get Bigger
I know this happens to all of you: You walk into a nursery to get hanging plants for your balcony and next thing you’re asked to play didgeridoo at the local farmer’s market. This happened to me about a month ago (you can read about it here).
I’m still waiting for a major record company to call, and I’m sure it won’t be long. In the meantime, something better has happened - I’m playing with kids. This... (Source: John McManamy's SharePosts)
Source: John McManamy's SharePosts - June 23, 2013 Category: Mental Illness Authors: John McManamy Source Type: blogs
Social Interactions, Personality, Bipolar, and Hitler - What Does the Brain Have To Do With It?
“Hell is other people,” said Jean Paul-Sarte, possibly on a bad hair day but most certainly in a rational moment. By the same token, we are also social animals. How to reconcile? That’s what brains are for.
This post is about social processes, one of five domains identified by the NIMH in it’s quest for “classifying mental disorders based on dimensions of observable behavior and neurobiological... (Source: John McManamy's SharePosts)
Source: John McManamy's SharePosts - June 23, 2013 Category: Mental Illness Authors: John McManamy Source Type: blogs
Dark and Evil Thoughts (Plus the Neighborhood Parrot) - The Bipolar Question of the Week
Do you ever entertain dark and evil thoughts? Here’s the situation: Below me lives an old woman with an outdoor cat. I know the cat’s name, but not its owner’s. I work from home, so I am treated to daily choruses of “Here, Mufasa! Fassi, Fassi! Where are you?” Don’t get me wrong. I adore cats, and Fassi is a beauty.
The other voice I hear throughout the day comes from a parrot, who occupies a... (Source: John McManamy's SharePosts)
Source: John McManamy's SharePosts - June 18, 2013 Category: Mental Illness Authors: John McManamy Source Type: blogs
Deconstructing Bipolar - Cognitive Control
This post is about cognitive control, which is part of an involved series that investigates what is going on in our brains when we think and react and behave. There are no definitive answers, but the questions are intriguing.
We kicked off the series in early May with a piece that reported on a provocative blog by Thomas Insel, head of the NIMH. In his blog, Dr Insel referred to the DSM as a “dictionary” rather than the commonly... (Source: John McManamy's SharePosts)
Source: John McManamy's SharePosts - June 16, 2013 Category: Mental Illness Authors: John McManamy Source Type: blogs
The Paradox of Choice - The Bipolar Question of the Week
Have you bought something recently? I did and I’m exhausted. The other week, I invested in an iPad 3. If you go to an Apple store, you will see the iPad 2 and the iPad 4 on display, but not an iPad 3. Apple doesn’t sell them. But they may be selling refurbished models on their website at a considerable discount to a near-equivalent iPad 4. Easy as pie, right?
The iPads 3 and 4 have retina display. The iPad 2 doesn’t.... (Source: John McManamy's SharePosts)
Source: John McManamy's SharePosts - June 9, 2013 Category: Mental Illness Authors: John McManamy Source Type: blogs
DSM-5 Bipolar: Not Much Difference from DSM-IV Bipolar
This is the second (and final) of our look at the DSM-5, the latest version of psychiatry’s diagnostic bible, which has superseded the DSM-IV, dating from 1994. In case you’re wondering, the stylistic change from the Roman numeral IV to the modernistic 5 represents the DSM’s major innovation. Just about everything else is distressingly same-old, same-old.
Last week, in The DSM-5 Debacle, we looked at the failure... (Source: John McManamy's SharePosts)
Source: John McManamy's SharePosts - June 8, 2013 Category: Mental Illness Authors: John McManamy Source Type: blogs
Cultivating Your Life - The Bipolar Question of the Week
Pruning is a very essential element in cultivating life. Our personal lives are no exception, especially if we expect to keep growing. Typically, the choices are painful, ones that take us well outside our comfort zones, leaving a lot that is precious to us behind. Then we adjust and new things open up.
I experienced one of these transitions three years ago when I moved into a new place. Along with a new location (actually only 15... (Source: John McManamy's SharePosts)
Source: John McManamy's SharePosts - June 2, 2013 Category: Mental Illness Authors: John McManamy Source Type: blogs
The DSM-5 Debacle - Same Old Bipolar
As you may know, the DSM-IV, the fourth edition to psychiatry’s diagnostic bible dating from 1994, has just been superseded by the DSM-5. I just received my 800-plus pages copy, which has that intoxicating new book smell. The content, however, is the same-old same-old, as if we have learned absolutely nothing about bipolar and other mental illnesses in the last two decades.
The challenge for the academic experts charged with... (Source: John McManamy's SharePosts)
Source: John McManamy's SharePosts - June 1, 2013 Category: Mental Illness Authors: John McManamy Source Type: blogs
Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy in Your Life - What Is Your Experience?
Since this is a depression site, I can safely assume most of us here have experienced cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). Accordingly, I am not going to presume to write a piece about what you already know. Instead, I am seeking your wisdom. Let’s get started.
Okay, here’s the deal, as set out in an article of mine on mcmanweb:
You're stuck in traffic. But now, instead of you thinking that your day is ruined, you... (Source: John McManamy's SharePosts)
Source: John McManamy's SharePosts - May 30, 2013 Category: Mental Illness Authors: John McManamy Source Type: blogs
Music, Depression, Oppression, Salvation
This is a short piece about music and depression.
A few days ago, the young Korean violinist, Ji-Hae Park, gave a TED Talk, entitled, The Violin and My Long Dark Night of the Soul. Ms Park began with an exuberant rendition of Vivaldi. Then she put down her violin and revealed that she had once suffered from severe depression and had been in total despair.
Depressives, of course, are drawn to music and the arts and literature. The... (Source: John McManamy's SharePosts)
Source: John McManamy's SharePosts - May 29, 2013 Category: Mental Illness Authors: John McManamy Source Type: blogs
My Latest Didgeridoo Experience - Yes, Didgeridoos Are Good for You
Here is a little story that happened to me:
Nine or ten days ago, on a Friday, I stopped into our local plant nursery to purchase two hanging plants for my balcony. To my surprise, the place was now set up like a farmer’s market. An enthusiastic man - Glen - welcomed me and told me where I could find my plants. Later, he helped me get my plants in the trunk of my car, where I had stored a portable PA system and other musical... (Source: John McManamy's SharePosts)
Source: John McManamy's SharePosts - May 26, 2013 Category: Mental Illness Authors: John McManamy Source Type: blogs
Attention and Perception: Two Pieces in the Bipolar Puzzle
This is the third in our series of looking at brain circuits to better understand our behavior and emotions, based on research priorities set out by the NIMH. Last week, we investigated positive and negative emotions. This week, under the broad heading of cognition, we look at an intriguing distinction between attention and perception.
Attention
Rather than look for a definition, it is much easier to conceptualize attention as a... (Source: John McManamy's SharePosts)
Source: John McManamy's SharePosts - May 26, 2013 Category: Mental Illness Authors: John McManamy Source Type: blogs
Negotiating the Real World of Shifting Reality - The Bipolar Question of the Week
As you may know, I’ve been working on a novel, not to make any money (most likely I won’t), but because I had a novel in me demanding to come out. Most of us can suppress this urge, but, no, not me.
Anyway, the novel is based around the idea that reality is not what it appears to be. Forget about what you think is important - our only purpose in life is to make God laugh. If you can laugh along, you will be a lot happier as a... (Source: John McManamy's SharePosts)
Source: John McManamy's SharePosts - May 19, 2013 Category: Mental Illness Authors: John McManamy Source Type: blogs
