http://www.healthline.com/health-blogs/feeds/bipolar-bites?key=bipolar-bites Healthline Health Blogger Natasha Tracy - Bipolar Bites en-us Copyright (c) 2013 Healthline, All rights reserved. en-us Copyright (c) 2013 Healthline, All rights reserved. http://www.healthline.com/health-blogs/bipolar-bites/changes-dsm-5-related-bipolar-disorders The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, version 5 (DSM-5) is due out any moment now, and in it, there are changes to the diagnosis of bipolar disorder. The changes aren’t huge, but they are worth knowing about if you have bip... Wed, 15 May 2013 07:00:00 GMT http://www.healthline.com/health-blogs/bipolar-bites/changes-dsm-5-related-bipolar-disorders Natasha Tracy 2013-05-15T07:00:00Z http://www.healthline.com/health-blogs/bipolar-bites/psychosis-bipolar-disorder One of the little talked about elements of bipolar disorder is psychosis. Psychosis can be a devastating part of bipolar I and it absolutely needs to be talked about. Psychosis is the presence of hallucinations and/or delusions. Hallucinatio... Wed, 01 May 2013 07:00:00 GMT http://www.healthline.com/health-blogs/bipolar-bites/psychosis-bipolar-disorder Natasha Tracy 2013-05-01T07:00:00Z http://www.healthline.com/health-blogs/bipolar-bites/reaching-out-kids-about-mental-illness One of the jobs I do is I present to teens about mental illness, mental illness stigma, and bipolar disorder. And at the end of each presentation, the kids give written feedback about the presentation. The feedback I hear the most is, “I di... Wed, 24 Apr 2013 07:00:00 GMT http://www.healthline.com/health-blogs/bipolar-bites/reaching-out-kids-about-mental-illness Natasha Tracy 2013-04-24T07:00:00Z http://www.healthline.com/health-blogs/bipolar-bites/depression-and-antidepressants-pregnancy I have decided not to have children, yes, in large part due to the bipolar disorder. We know people with a parent with bipolar disorder have a 50 percent chance of have another serious psychiatric disorder and first-degree relatives of peo... Thu, 18 Apr 2013 07:00:00 GMT http://www.healthline.com/health-blogs/bipolar-bites/depression-and-antidepressants-pregnancy Natasha Tracy 2013-04-18T07:00:00Z http://www.healthline.com/health-blogs/bipolar-bites/how-switch-antipsychotic-medications-part-2 Once you’ve decided to switch antipsychotics, there are still many things to consider. The first rule of medication switching is, whenever possible, only make one change at a time. This means that if you’re changing another medication (dosage a... Wed, 10 Apr 2013 07:00:00 GMT http://www.healthline.com/health-blogs/bipolar-bites/how-switch-antipsychotic-medications-part-2 Natasha Tracy 2013-04-10T07:00:00Z http://www.healthline.com/health-blogs/bipolar-bites/why-and-how-switch-antipsychotic-medications-part-1 Many people take antipsychotic medication. In fact, Abilify (aripiprazole) was the fourth highest grossing drug in 2011 at $5.2 billion. And three antipsychotics—Abilify, Seroquel (quetiapine) and Zyprexa (olanzapine)—are in the top 20 gros... Wed, 03 Apr 2013 07:00:00 GMT http://www.healthline.com/health-blogs/bipolar-bites/why-and-how-switch-antipsychotic-medications-part-1 Natasha Tracy 2013-04-03T07:00:00Z http://www.healthline.com/health-blogs/bipolar-bites/weight-loss-and-mental-illness Weight gain is a major problem in those with a serious mental illness. It’s thought to be one of the main contributing factors to the increased mortality in this population. Weight gain, of course, can lead to illnesses like diabetes, cardiovas... Wed, 27 Mar 2013 07:00:00 GMT http://www.healthline.com/health-blogs/bipolar-bites/weight-loss-and-mental-illness Natasha Tracy 2013-03-27T07:00:00Z http://www.healthline.com/health-blogs/bipolar-bites/why-did-dsm-5-remove-bereavement-exclusion-depression-it-bad The fifth version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V) is due out in May and has been in the works for 14 years. The DSM could be considered the “bible” of mental illness as it’s the book that outlines the criter... Thu, 21 Mar 2013 07:00:00 GMT http://www.healthline.com/health-blogs/bipolar-bites/why-did-dsm-5-remove-bereavement-exclusion-depression-it-bad Natasha Tracy 2013-03-21T07:00:00Z http://www.healthline.com/health-blogs/bipolar-bites/if-you-were-really-suicidal-you-wouldn-t-tell-anyone Recently I wrote a two-part article on how to tell someone you are feeling suicidal (part one and part two). In these articles I outlined the who, what, when, and how of talking about your own suicidal feelings. Just admitting that you feel su... Wed, 13 Mar 2013 07:00:00 GMT http://www.healthline.com/health-blogs/bipolar-bites/if-you-were-really-suicidal-you-wouldn-t-tell-anyone Natasha Tracy 2013-03-13T07:00:00Z http://www.healthline.com/health-blogs/bipolar-bites/does-new-dsm-5-diagnosis-decrease-childhood-bipolar-diagnosis I believe that bipolar disorder does exist in children. However, I do believe it is extremely rare. I also believe we have no way of reliably diagnosing bipolar disorder in children. This is verified by the lack of any type of diagnostic criter... Wed, 06 Mar 2013 08:00:00 GMT http://www.healthline.com/health-blogs/bipolar-bites/does-new-dsm-5-diagnosis-decrease-childhood-bipolar-diagnosis Natasha Tracy 2013-03-06T08:00:00Z http://www.healthline.com/health-blogs/bipolar-bites/mental-illness-workplace An estimated 10 percent of the working population has a diagnosable mental illness. That’s right; there’s a one-in-ten chance that the person sitting next to you in your office has a mental illness. It could be bipolar disorder, depression, sch... Wed, 27 Feb 2013 08:00:00 GMT http://www.healthline.com/health-blogs/bipolar-bites/mental-illness-workplace Natasha Tracy 2013-02-27T08:00:00Z http://www.healthline.com/health-blogs/bipolar-bites/we-must-talk-about-suicide-prevent-it-0 As a mental health writer, I have talked about suicide a lot. Like, a lot, a lot. And that’s because I consider the subject critical to both the mental health community and society at large. It is simply unacceptable to me that one person dies... Thu, 21 Feb 2013 08:00:00 GMT http://www.healthline.com/health-blogs/bipolar-bites/we-must-talk-about-suicide-prevent-it-0 Natasha Tracy 2013-02-21T08:00:00Z http://www.healthline.com/health-blogs/bipolar-bites/atypical-depression-more-common-people-bipolar Most people think depression is one thing. People think when people are “depressed” they are sad, fatigued, and maybe a few other things. But, in fact, a person with depression can have several of a list of symptoms and many people experience d... Wed, 13 Feb 2013 08:00:00 GMT http://www.healthline.com/health-blogs/bipolar-bites/atypical-depression-more-common-people-bipolar Natasha Tracy 2013-02-13T08:00:00Z http://www.healthline.com/health-blogs/bipolar-bites/more-tips-taking-antipsychotics As I said last time, I found antipsychotics a very scary type of medication to try and there are things I wish people had told me before I started. Here are a few more tips when dealing with antipsychotics. Low Dose Antipsychotics It’s wo... Wed, 06 Feb 2013 08:00:00 GMT http://www.healthline.com/health-blogs/bipolar-bites/more-tips-taking-antipsychotics Natasha Tracy 2013-02-06T08:00:00Z http://www.healthline.com/health-blogs/bipolar-bites/things-i-wish-i-had-known-taking-antipsychotics I’ve been in treatment for bipolar disorder for about 15 years. In that time bipolar treatment has changed immensely and one of the changes has been the major emergence of antipsychotics. True, even 15 years ago a psychiatrist might try an ... Wed, 30 Jan 2013 08:00:00 GMT http://www.healthline.com/health-blogs/bipolar-bites/things-i-wish-i-had-known-taking-antipsychotics Natasha Tracy 2013-01-30T08:00:00Z http://www.healthline.com/health-blogs/bipolar-bites/bipolar-disorder-inflammatory-disorder Bipolar disorder is a complex disorder that interacts with many systems in the body. For decades, bipolar disorder and other psychiatric disorders were thought to be caused by issues with monoamines (neurotransmitters and neuromodulators like s... Wed, 23 Jan 2013 08:00:00 GMT http://www.healthline.com/health-blogs/bipolar-bites/bipolar-disorder-inflammatory-disorder Natasha Tracy 2013-01-23T08:00:00Z http://www.healthline.com/health-blogs/bipolar-bites/does-interpersonal-and-social-rhythm-therapy-work-bipolar-disorder Last week I talked about the basics of interpersonal and social rhythm therapy (IPSRT). This therapy combines psychotherapeutic techniques along with behavioral elements to help get and keep bipolar disorder on track and in studies this approac... Wed, 16 Jan 2013 08:00:00 GMT http://www.healthline.com/health-blogs/bipolar-bites/does-interpersonal-and-social-rhythm-therapy-work-bipolar-disorder Natasha Tracy 2013-01-16T08:00:00Z http://www.healthline.com/health-blogs/bipolar-bites/what-interpersonal-and-social-rhythm-therapy Interpersonal and social rhythm therapy is not surprisingly an integration of interpersonal therapy (IP) and social rhythm therapy (SRM). Interpersonal social rhythm therapy (IPSRT) is unique, though, in that it was actually developed for the t... Wed, 09 Jan 2013 08:00:00 GMT http://www.healthline.com/health-blogs/bipolar-bites/what-interpersonal-and-social-rhythm-therapy Natasha Tracy 2013-01-09T08:00:00Z http://www.healthline.com/health-blogs/bipolar-bites/tis-season-be-unstable Fa la la la la la la la la. The holidays have landed squarely in our laps, and that is both good and bad. Many people look forward to the holiday from work, seeing their families, opening gifts, and eating too much food. That is the good. On... Wed, 19 Dec 2012 08:00:00 GMT http://www.healthline.com/health-blogs/bipolar-bites/tis-season-be-unstable Natasha Tracy 2012-12-19T08:00:00Z http://www.healthline.com/health-blogs/bipolar-bites/how-handle-treatment-resistant-bipolar-disorder As I discussed last time, treatment-resistant bipolar disorder is often the exception and not the rule. But once standard treatments have been tried, what is left for those who have been designated treatment-resistant? Standard Treatment of ... Wed, 12 Dec 2012 08:00:00 GMT http://www.healthline.com/health-blogs/bipolar-bites/how-handle-treatment-resistant-bipolar-disorder Natasha Tracy 2012-12-12T08:00:00Z http://www.healthline.com/health-blogs/bipolar-bites/what-treatment-resistant-bipolar-disorder Treatment-resistance exists for any disorder or disease. It’s simply the description of a disease not responding to treatment. However, what constitutes a “treatment-resistant” illness is up for debate, particularly in bipolar disorder. There i... Thu, 06 Dec 2012 08:00:00 GMT http://www.healthline.com/health-blogs/bipolar-bites/what-treatment-resistant-bipolar-disorder Natasha Tracy 2012-12-06T08:00:00Z http://www.healthline.com/health-blogs/bipolar-bites/how-can-wellness-recovery-action-plan-help One of the things about bipolar disorder and other mental illness is the unpredictability of it. You can be going along with a great life, everything going according to plan, when all of a sudden – WHAM! Mental illness pops out of nowhere. Sudd... Wed, 28 Nov 2012 08:00:00 GMT http://www.healthline.com/health-blogs/bipolar-bites/how-can-wellness-recovery-action-plan-help Natasha Tracy 2012-11-28T08:00:00Z http://www.healthline.com/health-blogs/bipolar-bites/pharmaceutical-companies-being-disease-mongerers “Disease-mongering” isn’t a word that’s defined, as such. It’s more of a colloquial term. It is defined by Dictionary.com’s 21st Century Lexicon as, “efforts by a pharmaceutical company to create or exaggerate a malady for the purpose of increa... Wed, 21 Nov 2012 08:00:00 GMT http://www.healthline.com/health-blogs/bipolar-bites/pharmaceutical-companies-being-disease-mongerers Natasha Tracy 2012-11-21T08:00:00Z http://www.healthline.com/health-blogs/bipolar-bites/can-mdma-help-people-ptsd-find-ecstasy Most people have heard of the illicit drug “ecstasy” (also known as “E,” “X,” or “XTC”) in the context of the underground rave scene. However, the active ingredient in ecstasy, MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine), is being investigated for... Wed, 14 Nov 2012 08:00:00 GMT http://www.healthline.com/health-blogs/bipolar-bites/can-mdma-help-people-ptsd-find-ecstasy Natasha Tracy 2012-11-14T08:00:00Z http://www.healthline.com/health-blogs/bipolar-bites/treatment-and-prevention-bipolar-depression-part-2 While antidepressants are not indicated in the treatment of bipolar depression as monotherapy, they are still commonly prescribed. Part two of this article looks at how the International Consensus Group viewed the evidence for antidepressant us... Wed, 07 Nov 2012 08:00:00 GMT http://www.healthline.com/health-blogs/bipolar-bites/treatment-and-prevention-bipolar-depression-part-2 Natasha Tracy 2012-11-07T08:00:00Z http://www.healthline.com/health-blogs/bipolar-bites/treatment-and-prevention-bipolar-depression-part-1 In February, an international group of psychiatric experts met to discuss the evidence base for treating and preventing depression in bipolar disorder. I am particularly interested in this subject because, as I mentioned last time, people with... Thu, 01 Nov 2012 07:00:00 GMT http://www.healthline.com/health-blogs/bipolar-bites/treatment-and-prevention-bipolar-depression-part-1 Natasha Tracy 2012-11-01T07:00:00Z http://www.healthline.com/health-blogs/bipolar-bites/which-worse-bipolar-i-or-bipolar-ii Many people, especially those reporting on mental illness, want to know, very simply, what is worse: bipolar I or bipolar II? People want to know which mental illness is more severe. And likely, the answer people propagate is that bipolar I is ... Wed, 24 Oct 2012 07:00:00 GMT http://www.healthline.com/health-blogs/bipolar-bites/which-worse-bipolar-i-or-bipolar-ii Natasha Tracy 2012-10-24T07:00:00Z http://www.healthline.com/health-blogs/bipolar-bites/saving-yourself-sins-psychopharmacology-part-2 Continuing from last week, here are more ways to avoid the sins of psychopharmacology. Sin: Not understanding a patient’s background Fix: Better communication between doctor and patient In all honesty, better communication fixes every ... Wed, 17 Oct 2012 07:00:00 GMT http://www.healthline.com/health-blogs/bipolar-bites/saving-yourself-sins-psychopharmacology-part-2 Natasha Tracy 2012-10-17T07:00:00Z http://www.healthline.com/health-blogs/bipolar-bites/saving-yourself-sins-psychopharmacology-part-1 Last week I wrote about the seven sins of psychopharmacology as identified by a few doctors. Identifying problems is, of course, the first step in finding solutions and I certainly respect doctors for taking this step. However, as patients, we ... Wed, 10 Oct 2012 07:00:00 GMT http://www.healthline.com/health-blogs/bipolar-bites/saving-yourself-sins-psychopharmacology-part-1 Natasha Tracy 2012-10-10T07:00:00Z http://www.healthline.com/health-blogs/bipolar-bites/7-sins-psychopharmacology-according-doctors I’ve been dealing with psychopharmacology for more than a decade now and I could easily write about the seven sins of psychopharmacology, psychiatry, or psychotherapy. It’s rare, however, to see a doctor admit to a mistake, let alone an ongoing... Wed, 03 Oct 2012 07:00:00 GMT http://www.healthline.com/health-blogs/bipolar-bites/7-sins-psychopharmacology-according-doctors Natasha Tracy 2012-10-03T07:00:00Z