Depression

Having a close friend or two to talk to---someone on whom you can depend for emotional support---can be great when little things accumulate or you temporarily feel down in the dumps. But can a friend talk you out of depression or lessen its pernicious effects? Read More

If you believe recent news reports linking the Internet to depression, you might decide to unplug or confront that friend who spends too much time on Facebook. But not to worry, when you look more closely this news is media hype weakly connected to the actual research being cited. While we all want to know what our emerging culture of simulation is doing to us, this research says nothing more alarming than depressed people do depressing things online—despite the alarming headlines. Read More

When your mood is low, try some of these stress- busters! Serotonin is one of the most important brain chemicals that regulate mood. Chicken and turkey, nuts and seeds, beans and whole grains are some of the foods that can increase serotonin and help you feel better. Also, throwing some avocado on your salad can raise your folate level, which can help beat depression. Read More

How did we get to this point, this point in our history where it is common, if not mandatory, to think of our unhappiness as a disease? That's the big question in Manufacturing Depression: The Secret History of a Modern Disease. Gary Greenberg has written a blistering, rambling and entertaining attack on the biomedical disease model of depression. Read More

Thrivers can be pushed to their limits -- just like the rest of us -- but they have the ability to persevere in the face of challenge. They can do this because they have the Thriving Mindset, which is the most essential resource for spinning challenge, fear and risk into the ‘good life’.  Read More

In this month's Wired magazine, author Ethan Watters asks: "What will we call our new, collective, global economic anxiety?"

Watters suggests that the frontrunner is "posttraumatic embitterment disorder," first noticed among East Germans following the fall of the Berlin Wall. Pervasive insecurity took hold once the society they had become accustomed to all but disappeared. Read More

Welcome to the first posting of Bipolar You - a blog about bipolar disorder. What distinguishes this from the many blogs you'll find across the web is the specific focus upon bipolar disorder during the university years.
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Our smiles broadcast, hey world, I am pleased. Our frowns say, don't mess with me.  

What about the other way around? Do we use our facial muscles to read emotion in the world?

Our default assumption is that our eyes and our brains are the organs dedicated to processing emotional information. Read More

My cyber silence has been wrought of two things. Read More