Category Archives: Mental Health

Bipolar Disorder Has Genetic Links to Autism, Study Shows

06 May 2016
Written by Science Daily / Science Daily

A new study suggests there may be an overlap between rare genetic variations linked to bipolar disorder (BD) and those implicated in schizophrenia and autism. The study, by researchers at the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, and Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory and published recently in JAMA Psychiatry, adds to the growing understanding that many psychiatric diseases share genetic roots, but is among the first to suggest a genetic overlap between bipolar disorder and autism. Bipolar disorder is one of the most important psychiatric illnesses because it is fairly common — affecting between 1 and 3 percent of the population — and quite debilitating. Although many patients are helped by treatments, such as lithium, about one third of people affected by BD do not do well with current therapies. Although it’s long been known that bipolar disorder is highly heritable, identifying specific genetic variants that contribute to the illness has proven difficult.

Kristen Bell Opens Up About Her History of Mental Illness

05 May 2016
Written by Kimberly Truong / Refinery 29
Kristen Bell may be famous for her sense of humor and bubbly personality, but she’s no stranger to struggling with mental illness — and she wants you to know that there’s absolutely no shame in that. The actress, known for her roles as the spunky Veronica Mars and as Frozen’s whimsical Princess Anna, recently sat down for an interview on Off Camera and revealed her experiences dealing with anxiety and depression. “I’m extremely co-dependent,” she told interviewer Sam Jones. “I shatter a little bit when I think people don’t like me. That’s part of why I lead with kindness and I compensate by being very bubbly all the time, because it really hurts my feelings when I know I’m not liked. And I know that’s not very healthy and I fight it all the time.”

Oliva O’Leary Opens Up About Struggle With Depression

04 May 2016
Written by Colin Gleeson / The Irish Times

Broadcaster Olivia O’Leary has described how she would miss her stop on the train because she could not motivate herself to stand up and get off during past struggles with depression and anxiety.

“It isn’t until you’ve been through the hell and isolation of depression and anxiety that you have any idea of what it’s like to what it takes to get over it,” she said on RTÉ Radio 1’s Drivetime.

Creed’s Scott Stapp Talks Candidly About Bipolar Disorder: ‘It Shattered Me’

03 May 2016
Written by Lindsay Carlton / Fox News

In the late ‘90s and early 2000s, hard rock band Creed was at the top of its game, selling over 40 million albums worldwide and winning a Grammy in 2001 for best rock song, “With Arms Wide Open.” But by 2014, lead singer Scott Stapp was far from the top of his game when a very public drug and bipolar-induced breakdown sent him on a downward spiral.

In December 2014, Stapp released a video claiming he was homeless and “under some kind of vicious attack.” His delusions went so far that he told his wife he was a secret CIA agent on a mission to kill President Obama.

In May 2015 Stapp and his wife, Jaclyn, came clean about what was behind his psychotic meltdown: bipolar disorder. Stapp’s mental illness had gone undiagnosed for over a decade. His doctors originally diagnosed him with depression in 1998.

“I was treated with depression without knowing that at the time I had bipolar starting to manifest,” Stapp, 42, told FoxNews.com. “Looking back, had I been properly diagnosed in ’98, I venture to say my whole life would be vastly different.”

According to a National Depressive and Manic Depressive Association (DMDA)survey conducted in 2000, 69 percent of respondents with bipolar disorder were misdiagnosed. The National Institute of Mental Health describes bipolar as a brain disorder that causes unusual shifts in mood, energy and activity levels.

There is no single cause for bipolar disorder, but some research suggests factors like brain structure, genetics and family history may play a role.

“Mental health issues run on both sides of my family,” Stapp said. “We’re pretty certain I was innately predisposed to it and that it was going to take a hold through my DNA whenever that time was coming.”

Mental health problems are commonly associated with substance abuse. Approximately 60 percent of patients with bipolar I disorder have a lifetime diagnosis of a substance abuse disorder. In the midst of living the rock and roll lifestyle, Stapp started to depend on alcohol and marijuana to compensate his extreme moods.

“Alcohol and marijuana gave me temporary relief,” Stapp said. “The marijuana took me out of depression at times and alcohol took me out of my mania. After a long period of time of using those things to get balanced, that’s when addiction manifested. It took a number of years before it went from a self-medicating tool to full-blown alcoholism.”

Music Therapy Cuts Through Barriers of the Heart

02 May 2016
Written by Taylor Sisk / North Carolina Health News

“I never sang when I was drunk,” says Richard Miller. “I was too busy getting into trouble.”

“She’s got me singing,” he then adds, nodding toward Cindy Morris.

Morris is a music therapist who specializes in working with individuals with previous or current substance-addiction issues. Here at Hospitality House of Boone – which offers both immediate shelter and long-term housing – she’s known as the Music Lesson Lady.

According to the American Music Therapy Association, the first references to music therapy surface in the late 1700s, including an article in Columbian Magazine in 1789 titled “Music Physically Considered.”

Music therapy was practiced in Veterans Administration hospitals after World Wars I and II to treat soldiers suffering from shell shock, a condition that now falls within the definition of post-traumatic stress disorder. Music seemed to speak to many of these soldiers who otherwise were unreachable.

Llama Therapy? Why Pets Make Your Happier

01 May 2016
Written by Linda Blair / The Telegraph

Mountain Peaks Therapy Llamas and Alpacas was created by Lori and Shannon Gregory eight years ago. They’d heard that llamas are gentle and easy to keep, so they decided to buy a baby one. The friendly, playful animal began to attract increasing numbers of visitors, and they decided to register him as a therapy animal. They now own five llamas and three alpacas, and have taken them on over 1,000 visits to rehab centres and clinics. Patients are encouraged to play with the animals, offer them food, and stroke them. The animals have helped to calm the anxious and cheer up those suffering from depression. They even encouraged one mute patient to talk again.

Music Therapy Cuts Through Barriers Of The Heart

29 Apr 2016
Written by North Carolina Health News / North Carolina Health News

“I never sang when I was drunk,” says Richard Miller. “I was too busy getting into trouble.” “She’s got me singing,” he then adds, nodding toward Cindy Morris. Morris is a music therapist who specializes in working with individuals with previous or current substance-addiction issues. Here at Hospitality House of Boone – which offers both immediate shelter and long-term housing – she’s known as the Music Lesson Lady. According to the American Music Therapy Association, the first references to music therapy surface in the late 1700s, including an article in Columbian Magazine in 1789 titled “Music Physically Considered.” Music therapy was practiced in Veterans Administration hospitals after World Wars I and II to treat soldiers suffering from shell shock, a condition that now falls within the definition of post-traumatic stress disorder. Music seemed to speak to many of these soldiers who otherwise were unreachable.

What I Would Say If I Was Honest About My Depression

28 Apr 2016
Written by Fraser Speaks / The Mighty

I’m not OK.

I wish I could tell you this. I want to so many times. When you ask how I am.

I’m not OK.

Is what I want to say.

Instead I nod my head. Usually just one confident nod. Sometimes I’ll nod a few times. For security.

Tilt it slightly to the left.

Make sure my smile is big but not too big.

I am so good!

And then I immediately segue into talking about you. Asking how you are. What you have been up to. Steering as far away from the subject of me as I can get us. See how good I am at it? I amaze myself sometimes with how good of an actress I can be.

I feel myself dying a little bit more on the inside. Angry that I let another opportunity come and go. Another opportunity to open my mind up, just a little, and let some of the creatures out.

But I don’t. I can’t. I want to. I want to so badly. But I can’t.

Because here’s the thing: I was fine the day before. I was fine the week before. I’ve been fine for a whole month before!

Before it came back. Because it always does. It tricks me. But it tricks you more.

You see how good I have been. Maybe I was even great. Amazing. Fantastic. And I want you to know I really was. But you, like so many others, were tricked into thinking maybe it wouldn’t come back. That sense I had been doing so well. I’d been so happy. That I could do this.

You’re not the only one though. It got me too. Except, deep down, I always knew the truth. I knew it would eventually be back. It always comes back.

And so I can’t tell you. I like feeling as though someone is proud of me. I like seeing and hearing something other than concern when someone asks how I’m doing. As long as I don’t say it aloud.

I’m sick.

Then I can pretend for a little while longer that I am OK.

So I can’t tell you. I don’t want all of that to disappear yet.

Even though I need you. The longer I continue treading water, trying to keep a smile showing above the water, the more detached I become. Not just from you. From everything. Family. Friends. Strangers. The world.

A Brother’s Mental Illness Influenced John Kasich’s Views

25 Apr 2016
Written by Trip Gabriel / New York Times

Gov. John Kasich often speaks about mental health in his campaign for president. He has defended his decision to expand Medicaid in Ohio by highlighting its benefits for mentally ill residents. He is probably the only Republican candidate this year to ask a crowd, “Do you know what it’s like for somebody to live with depression?” The question, posed at a rally in upstate New York recently, threw a hush over a room of 1,000 people. Mr. Kasich went on: “There are people here who know exactly what I’m talking about.” Mr. Kasich is one who knows. His only brother, Richard, 59, has struggled with depression disorders since college. He was occasionally hospitalized and today receives disability benefits for mental illness. The Kasich brothers have taken vastly different paths from their hometown, McKees Rocks, Pa., an industrial suburb of Pittsburgh.