I have always been open about my mental illness, especially my experiences with psychosis and paranoia. I can't see any reason why not to. It is scary when attacks happen, but I find it somehow alleviating to the soul to share what's going on with me, or tell someone about it, in retrospect. It's amazing on what openness can do to other people —...
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Advice for an Anxious Mind
May 9, 2017
Zach Morgan
This blog was originally published for the Daily Nexus, UCSB’s student-run newspaper.I used to think anxiety was just a bunch of bullshit. In middle school, seventh or eighth grade I think, I remember my grandmother talking to one of my aunts on the phone. My aunt was telling my grandma about how her daughter had just been...
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Vicki M. Taylor
"Anxiety can begin early in life for people with depression or bipolar disorder. Anxiety and mood disorders can be a co-occurring diagnosis.”- DBSA Treating anxiety disorder in combination with bipolar disorder can be tricky. Anti-depressants can often increase manic episodes for people with bipolar disorder. Benzodiazepines, another...
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Mental health awareness is a term that we are hearing more and more these days- and May is an important month for us mental health advocates! In Canada, the first week of May is designated as Mental Health Week, which was first introduced in 1951 by the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) and has become a yearly tradition ever...
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Russ Federman, Ph.D., ABPP
For those living with bipolar disorder, the first few years post-diagnosis can be some of the most difficult in terms of one's relationship to the disorder. Beyond the necessity of initial symptom management, the process of accepting and coming to terms with the reality of one’s bipolar disorder is among the more difficult tasks to be faced....
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The Power of Language
May 2, 2017
Jayson Blair
I cringe anytime I hear someone talking about finding "the cure." It’s the same feeling that strikes me when someone walks into my office, where we help people with mental health problems, proclaiming how they just want to “fix” their loved one. Warm-hearted and well-intentioned, to be sure, we have adopted the language of the fight for...
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Love, Marriage, and Bipolar Q&A Series: Part 4 of 4
April 26, 2017
Long time married couple Ron and Beka Owens answer your questions about relationships and bipolar disorder.
Q: My partner does not always seem open about sharing their experience with bipolar disorder. How do I speak openly with them about their condition and my concerns? I also frequently worry that I might unintentionally do something that might trigger an episode for them - how do I avoid doing something that might accidentally trigger them?Beka: For...
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Love, Marriage, And Bipolar Q&A Series: Part 3 Of 4
April 21, 2017
Long time married couple Ron and Beka Owens answer your questions about relationships and bipolar disorder.
Q: Besides attending couples’ counseling and individual therapy, are there any other specific strategies you use to keep your relationship balanced?Beka: To keep balanced, I make sure I take time for me (and we take time for US as a couple – i.e., date nights!). I get massages regularly, eat well, exercise (this is huge for me), and make...
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My introduction to transpersonal psychology came in the form of initiation. I was no stranger to adolescent disturbances, assigned twelve-step meetings, and group therapy for my drinking after having wrecked my car, and there were many less outwardly consequential experiences that nonetheless ate at my soul. I could not wait to get to college,...
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Inside A Mind in Psychosis
April 11, 2017
Amanda Michaela
I woke up in a bed of steel, covered in snow white blankets. Drops of water were running down my face, but i couldn't tell tears from sweat. I rose up and looked around the room trying to get a grip of reality. It was just a dream… a bad dream. A thin little girl, barely one hundred pounds, was on her way up a hill, surrounded by the greenest...
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