#bipolar disorder

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ds9shameblog:shipping tuvok w/ the guy he tries to rehabilitate for like two episodes is my comeuppa

ds9shameblog:

shipping tuvok w/ the guy he tries to rehabilitate for like two episodes is my comeuppance for saying “i don’t ship anyone in voyager and it’s honestly so freeing”

As someone with bipolar disorder who has a lot of *feels* about Lon Suder as making them feel seen, it warms my heart to hear someone ship him with anyone ☺️


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Imaging in mental health and improving the diagnostic process What are some of the most troubling nu

Imaging in mental health and improving the diagnostic process

What are some of the most troubling numbers in mental health? Six to 10 – the number of years it can take to properly diagnose a mental health condition. Dr. Elizabeth Osuch, a Researcher at Lawson Health Research Institute and a Psychiatrist at London Health Sciences Centre and the Department of Psychiatry at Western University, is helping to end misdiagnosis by looking for a ‘biomarker’ in the brain that will help diagnose and treat two commonly misdiagnosed disorders.

Major Depressive Disorder (MDD), otherwise known as Unipolar Disorder, and Bipolar Disorder (BD) are two common disorders. Currently, diagnosis is made by patient observation and verbal history. Mistakes are not uncommon, and patients can find themselves going from doctor to doctor receiving improper diagnoses and prescribed medications to little effect.

Dr. Osuch looked to identify a 'biomarker’ in the brain which could help optimize the diagnostic process. She examined youth who were diagnosed with either MDD or BD (15 patients in each group) and imaged their brains with an MRI to see if there was a region of the brain which corresponded with the bipolarity index (BI). The BI is a diagnostic tool which encompasses varying degrees of bipolar disorder, identifying symptoms and behavior in order to place a patient on the spectrum.

What she found was the activation of the putamen correlated positively with BD. This is the region of the brain that controls motor skills, and has a strong link to reinforcement and reward. This speaks directly to the symptoms of bipolar disorder. “The identification of the putamen in our positive correlation may indicate a potential trait marker for the symptoms of mania in bipolar disorder,” states Dr. Osuch.

In order to reach this conclusion, the study approached mental health research from a different angle. “The unique aspect of this research is that, instead of dividing the patients by psychiatric diagnoses of bipolar disorder and unipolar depression, we correlated their functional brain images with a measure of bipolarity which spans across a spectrum of diagnoses.” Dr. Osuch explains, “This approach can help to uncover a 'biomarker’ for bipolarity, independent of the current mood symptoms or mood state of the patient.”

Moving forward Dr. Osuch will repeat the study with more patients, seeking to prove that the activation of the putamen is the start of a trend in large numbers of patients. The hope is that one day there could be a definitive biological marker which could help differentiate the two disorders, leading to a faster diagnosis and optimal care.

In using a co-relative approach, a novel method in the field, Dr. Osuch uncovered results in patients that extend beyond verbal history and observation. These results may go on to change the way mental health is diagnosed, and subsequently treated, worldwide.


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I haven’t really been feeling like myself lately. When I wake up I don’t wanna do anything. And when I get out of bed I don’t do anything. I just kind of waste my time. It’s funny because I have all these goals and ambitions but I just can’t bring myself to accomplish any of them.

I overthink because I know how replaceable I am. I’m no one’s first choice or anything special to someone, I am nothing.

I stay awake at night cause I don’t even know what my favorite color is and I’m afraid I don’t have a real personality.

If I’m having a panic attack or if I’m telling you how sad I am or how I actually feel. Try a hug. It’s mental illness. Mental illness. Mental illness. It’s not like “my daughter feels horrible about herself, let me hug her.” It’s “Take your medicine!” It’s “Do you need to go to a hospital?” It’s mental illness before it’s me.

I wish I could look at myself in the mirror without being disgusted at what I see. I can tell my friends to be strong and to love themselves but I can’t do it myself. I feel worthless. Like I don’t deserve to be loved.

sacrificethemtothesquid:

thecaffeinebookwarrior:

I’ve gotten a few asks requesting some research resources for writing characters who have Bipolar Disorder. I don’t have Bipolar, nor am I a mental health professional, but I have found some helpful resources from people who experience it in order to get you started.

Please let me know if you have any reading recommendations, and if you’d like to share your experiences! 

Also note: apologies I haven’t been able to answer asks the way I used to, as adult life and grad school keep me rigorously occupied. But I always appreciate the people who take the time to write to me!

Happy writing, everybody!

Articles: 

What it’s like to have bipolar, by people who have bipolar

What Bipolar Disorder Is Like, According to Women Who Live With It

My Story with Bipolar Disorder

This Is What It’s Actually Like to Live With Bipolar Disorder

What It’s Like to Be a Black Woman With Bipolar Disorder

Black and Bipolar: Our Melanin Does Not Shield Us From Mental Illness

Accounts from Black, Asian, and other People of Color living with Bipolar

Your Experience With Bipolar Disorder Depends on Your Race

Books: 

Wishful Drinking, by Carrie Fisher 

Haldol and Hyacinths: A Bipolar Life, by Melody Moezzi 

An Unquiet Mind, by Kay Redfield Jamison, PhD

Mad Like Me: Travels in Bipolar Country, by Merryl Hammond

Rock Steady: Brilliant Advice from My Bipolar Life, by Ellen Forney

I’m Telling the Truth, but I’m Lying: Essays, by Bassey Ikpi

OMG That’s Me: Bipolar Disorder, Depression, Anxiety, Panic Attacks, and More…, by Dave Mowry

Videos: 

Living With Bipolar Type II

Destigmatizing Bipolar Depression

Finding Balance in Bipolar

What It’s Actually Like to Live With Bipolar Disorder

Living with Bipolar Disorder

What Hypomania Feels Like: Bipolar Disorder

Putting in a plug for Maria Bamford, a comedian with Bipolar. She keeps bootleg stuff off youtube, but her entire catalog is on Spotify and I cannot recommend her enough. Here’s a clip from a Comedy Central special. 

Seconding the rec for Carrie Fisher. She died right around the time I was first getting diagnosed myself and is still a huge comfort.

I have a diagnosis of Bipolar Type II myself and am glad to be a resource for questions as well.

insomniac-arrest:

I’m about to lay one on you … the right telling me that my mental illness is my own damn fault, aka existing on an individual level, is just as bad as the left telling me that my mental illness is a social phenomena, aka existing on a systemic level

both of you are fucking wrong and also ablest by basically inferring in different ways that my mental illness is “fake.” The very first thing my therapist taught me was that my mental illness wasn’t my fault. Like, even if I change myself or change my society or change my circumstances, it was just something I was going to have to live with, and that’s okay.

I understand many people suffer from depression due to external circumstances and I’m really sorry about that. But you have to respect that I suffer from depression (technically bipolar disorder) because God baja-blasted me in the brain with a super soaker of Bad Chemicals. Your utopia-dreaming of erasing my mental illness through social engineering is ultimately harmful.

Maybe one day we’ll create better drugs or technology to better manage mental illness, I’d love that, but until then one of the key ways to managing it now is to accept it as part of ourselves. 

Both personal choice AND the system we live in do effect how well we can manage mental illness, but neither is actually the root of it. Saying otherwise plays into a very prevalent and very old form of ableism that assumes that mental illness isn’tphysical.

Hell, I refused to take medication (to my own detriment) until my therapist asked me “Would you refuse to let someone with poor eyesight wear glasses? Would you refuse to let a diabetic person take insulin?” Mental illness is a physical chronic illness and contradicting that is actually a big problem for us and plays into an age-old form of prejudice. 

physichotic:

amy winehouse didn’t have depression she had bipolar disorder.

nina simone didn’t have depression she had bipolar disorder.

robin williams didn’t struggle with depression for his whole life, he struggled with bipolar disorder.

kurt cobain? bipolar. vivien leigh? bipolar. gene tierney? bipolar. frank sinatra? bipolar. vincent van gogh? ernest hemingway? marilyn monroe? most likely bipolar.

and the list goes on.

all of these people are dead now, some gone to suicide and some not, yet i have seen each of them described as having “suffered with depression”.

it’s bad enough how often bipolar disorder is misdiagnosed. it’s bad enough that those of us who have it will have to deal with it for the rest of our lives. it’s bad enough that most of these people dealt with it in a time where humane help was not offered to people dealing with this disorder. but to erase their history, their suffering, their strength. to stop so many people from realising that their idols, people who were considered “great”, people who were successful, that they lived with the same disorder as them. how unfair.

i know bipolar disorder is either simplified, misunderstood or demonised but saying they had clinical depression because depression is a part of the disorder wouldn’t even be right. bipolar depression is different to unipolar depression. weight gain instead of weight loss, persistent numbness instead of persistent sadness, restless energy interspersed with exhaustion, sadness is usually mixed with irritability etc.

maybe it’s not a big deal to some people but please try to respect these people’s histories and any bipolar person who might be able to look up to them.

edit: i’m sorry about the mix up with amy winehouse. she was never formally diagnosed. i meant to edit this and put her in the “most likely” aka the maybepile when i first posted but i forgot. y’all can debate about the people in the maybe pile (and amy who should be there) as long as you acknowledge their bouts of mania but everyone else on this list was formally diagnosed and admitted it or had a friend or family member admit it after their death

Neurotypical ppl who got anxious once will be like “haha I’m mentally ill ” and then get uncomfortable when you make a joke about being bipolar

genehiss:

depression apathy is

- walking past your favorite snacks at the grocery store and not having the energy to even want them
- listening to your favorite songs and feeling nothing
- only being able to muster half a smile when your lover finishes telling a joke
- everyone asking you to speak up because your voice feels too heavy to raise
- getting irritated at things that force you to feign interest or participate in small talk
- knowing you’re kind of acting like a dick but feeling too drained to do anything about it

As someone who lives with bipolar, all of these are relatable.

me, immediately after coming home from an 8 hour shift having not slept the night before: what would happen I made coffee and then cleaned my whole house and then cut my hair and then masturbated for two hours

me, approx. 6 hours later, speaking to no one: ,,,did you hear that…? ‘twas god herself…,.,… wHISPERING to ME..!.. be quiet!!! be careful!!! i,m l i s t e n i n g

me, at work: yeah, i guess i’m kinda depressed, but i’m pushing through it and trying my best! need any help? let me take care of you :)

me, the second i come home: i wonder how much of this bathtub i can fill with my blood before i die

been away for a while but now i’m back because i’m drunk and listening to mama mia on repeat while depressed as shit laying on the floor so like if you’d wanna knife fight me in a parking lot i’d let you win

me depressed: maybe i’ll just cut myself so i’m not sad anymore and because who cares

me manic: Maybe!!! i’ll cut myself so thaaaaat i can prove I Am Alive and do some homemade scarification tattoos!! that’ll keep the demons away!! i hope my Friends think i’m Cool and not Crazy bc im for sure Both!!!!!

Has anyone done impatient mental health treatment at a hospital? Did they help with changing your medications? Did it feel like prison, it was it a positive experience? What was it like? Did you have to go to the ER to get admitted? Please help. Thank you.

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