Recap of Fred Jacobsen's talk to DBSA-National Capital Area

Frederick M. Jacobsen, a professor of psychiatry and practicing scientist, gave a talk on the state of research into bipolar disorder and depression.

A recap of Dr. Fred Jacobsen's talk can be found here.

Hunt for bipolar depression gene

Scientists are hunting for the specific genes that make millions of people vulnerable to the highs associated with the mania and the lows associated with the depressions of bipolar disorder. On July 13, the University of Michigan Depression Center will offer the public an update on that gene hunt, with the first-ever Heinz C. Prechter Bipolar Research Fund Lecture.

The lecture will be given by a noted researcher from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore who is working closely with U-M scientists to find genes related to bipolar disorder.

Long-term psychotherapy more effective that other treatments of bipolar depression

Psychotherapy for as long as nine months is significantly more effective than short-term treatment for alleviating depression associated with bipolar disease, new research suggests. The drugs used to treat depression are of limited use in treating the repeating depressive episodes of bipolar illness, according to background information in the article, published last week in The Archives of General Psychiatry.

“This is a monumental study,” said Myrna M. Weissman, a professor of psychiatry at Columbia who was not involved in the work. “There are no pharmaceutical companies willing to pay for research in psychotherapy, so we don’t have many clinical trials.” But, she added: “Psychosocial treatment for bipolar illness is not an alternative to medication. It’s a supplement. The authors, one of whom has received grant support and consulting fees from several pharmaceutical companies, found that the median time to recovery for the patients in long-term therapy was 169 days, compared with 279 days for those who received the brief treatment.

The cost of long-term therapy is high, and insurance companies are reluctant to cover it. But according to Dr. Weissman, the cost of not covering it could be higher. “It isn’t just the cost of the therapy. It’s the long-term cost. Bipolar illness has devastating effects on families as well as on the patients themselves.”

bp magazine launches new online features

bp Magazine, a publication for those with bipolar launched in the fall of 2004, has re-launched its complementary website www.bphope.com, offering the bipolar community a new online resource to connect with each other and the opportunity to generate relevant editorial content for future bipolar magazine issues.

bp Magazine’s www.bipolarbuzz.com (bp Buzz blog) launched simultaneously with its new site, features articles and up-to-date information of interest to those living with bipolar disorder. bp Buzz will prove to be one of the most innovative approaches to further connecting the bipolar community—addressing everything from bipolar symptoms to shared issues and concerns that affect family members.

In addition to a new look and feel, the bipolar resources on www.bphope.com include engaging feature articles from bp Magazine. From the summer 2007 edition, readers will enjoy its cover story “The Many Faces and Facets of bp” which examines one of the most complex and misunderstood forms of mental illness. The featured article, “A Delicate Balance” takes a look at how achieving a balance with bipolar disorder is a constant work in progress.

A novel feature, In Your Words, allows readers to submit their own personal stories and comments. On My Mind encourages readers to share full essays about their experiences with bipolar disorder; Sound Off asks readers to contribute to a specific topic proposed for each issue of bp Magazine; and For Myself invites those with bipolar to tell about the big and little things that make each day more balanced and rewarding.

Readers are also encouraged to participate in future issues of bp Magazine by signing up for an interview on a specific topic concerning bipolar disorder on Talk to bp Writers.

Among the information that makes www.bphope.com a more comprehensive resource for the bipolar community are an in-depth history of bipolar depression along with statistics and definitions; book reviews with a link to Amazon.com; and a section devoted to other, outside resources. Individual and bulk subscriptions to bp Magazine are also available online.

Update: Electroboy confirms for September 29

Andy Behrman, the author of Electroboy: A memoir of mania, has confirmed that he will be speaking at one of our events in Northern Virginia on September 29.

For years Andy hid his raging mania under a larger-than-life personality. He sought a high wherever he could find one, and changed jobs as some people change outfits -- filmmaker, art dealer, hustler; whatever made him feel like a cartoon character, invincible and bright. Electroboy is about living life at breakneck speed. Andy hopped on flights from New York to Tokyo and Paris at a moment's notice, spent $25,000 without a bit of thought on a huge shopping spree and stayed awake nights exploring the underworld of nightlife in Manhattan or whatever city he happened to be visiting, in search of the perfect high. But when Andy turned to art forgery, he found himself the subject of a scandal lapped up by the New York media, then in jail, then under house arrest. And for once he didn't have a ready escape hatch from his unraveling life.

Andy was misdiagnosed by more than eight doctors and even when he was finally diagnosed with this chronic illness, he was treated unsuccessfully with any regimen of medication. Ingesting handfuls of antidepressants and tranquilizers, he felt his mind lose traction. With no hope of his condition stabilizing, he turned to the last resort: electroshock therapy also known as electroconvulsive therapy (or ECT). Andy underwent nineteen electroshock treatments over the course of about a year and a half.

Now Andy is a mental health writer and speaker who has traveled to more than fifty cities across the United States and Canada, speaking to more than two hundred mental health organizations and support groups, psychiatric groups, college audiences, and book clubs. Electroboy: A Memoir of Mania has been translated into six foreign languages and is distributed worldwide in places as far away as Australia and New Zealand, Hong Kong, Latin America, and South Africa. His articles have been featured in The New York Times Magazine, New York Magazine, on the BBC, and in various mental health publications and websites. Recently Behrman was featured on CNN's "360" with Anderson Cooper, and NPR's "The Infinite Mind."

A graduate of Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut, he currently lives mania-free in Los Angeles with his wife and daughter. Electroboy is currently being made into a major motion picture. Not only is Andy working on a sequel to Electroboy, but he is also writing a self-help book for sufferers of depression and bipolar disorder.

New lifetime mania test

People can now measure their lifetime experience of mania through a new web questionnaire developed by Cardiff University School of Medicine researchers. The Bipolar Lifetime Mania Scale is the same test as that undertaken by entertainer Stephen Fry last year when he came to Cardiff to film a BBC documentary about his own struggle with bipolar. The test measures an individual’s place on the mania spectrum. At one end are those who have severe and frequent manic episodes and the other are those who have only mild and infrequent periods of elevated mood, if any at all.

An article on the test can be found here and a link to the Cardiff University School of Medicine can be found here.

Bipolar related speakers coming to the Washington, D.C. area

The following speakers are coming to the Washington, D.C. area in the near future. All of the events will be at the George Washington University Hospital auditorium unless otherwise noted. The auditorium is located at 900 23rd Street NW in Washington, D.C.

On Thursday, July 19,7:30 PM, Alan G. Mallinger, MD, Unit Chief of the Adult Outpatient Clinic, Mood and Anxiety Disorders Program, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, MD will present: "Pathophysiology of Affective Disorders and Potential New Treatments for Treatment Resistent Mood Disorders." Libby Jolkovsky, MS, Research Psychologist will present: "Participating in a Research Study: The Screening and Eligibility Process, What it's Like and Our Current Studies" Auditorium.

Frederick Goodwin, M.D. will return on Thurdsay, October 18.7:30 PM Dr. Goodwin will discuss the latest in research and treatment of recurrent depression and bipolar disorder. A substatial amount of time will be devoted to questions and answers on the treatment of mood disorders. Dr. Goodwin is the co-author of "Manic Depressive Illness" and former director of the National Institute of Mental Health. He is currently a research psychiatrist on the faculty of George Washington University School of Medicine. Auditorium.

DBSA National Capital Area and DBSA Northern Virginia Chapters co-sponsor Pete Earley in a Northern Virginia location to be announced. Mr. Earley is the author of "Crazy: A Father's Search through America's Mental Health Madness." Mr. Earley's book chronicles his son's struggle with bipolar disorder and his own response. It has been called "a unique book-one of the best!" by NAMI and a "godsend" bu Patty Duke who has bipolar disorder.

In addition, Andy Behrman, the author if Electroboy: A memoir of mania, is coming to Northern Virginia on an unspecified date in October.

New bipolar support groups in Woodbridge and Ashburn

DBSA-Northern Virginia, a local affiliate of the Depression Bipolar Support Alliance, has announced plans to start two new support groups for those living with bipolar.
The support groups will meet once every two weeks in Ashburn, Virginia and Woodbridge, Virginia, and will compliment the organization's two other support groups -- one for loved ones and one for those with bipolar -- in Centreville, Virginia.
The Ashburn Bipolar Support Group will hold its first meeting on June 30, 2007 at Ashburn Psychological Services , Suite 251 Conference Room, 44110 Ashburn Shopping Plaza, Ashburn, VA. The Woodbridge Bipolar Support Group will hold its first meeting on July 11, 2007 at Dr. A.J. Ferlazzo Building, Leesylvania Room, 15941 Donald Curtis Drive, Woodbridge, VA 22191.

New website for DBSA-Northern Virginia

DBSA-Northern Virginia, the local affiliate of the Depression Bipolar Support Alliance, has launched a new website at www.dbsanova.org.