Why Am I Still Depressed Recognizing And Managing The Ups And Downs Of Bipolar Ii And Soft Bipolar Disorder

Tried everything but still not feeling better? If your depression keeps coming back or is even getting worse, then you may be suffering from bipolar II or “soft” bipolar disorder. Commonly misdiagnosed, these mood disorders are characterized by recurring bouts of depression along with anxiety, irritability, mood swings, sleep problems, or intrusive thoughts. Why Am I Still Depressed? shows you how to identify if you have a nonmanic form of bipolar disorder and how to work with your doctor to safely and effectively treat it. Author James R. Phelps, M.D., gives you the latest tools and knowledge so you can: Understand the Mood Spectrum, a powerful new tool for diagnosis Know all your treatment options, including mood-stabilizing medications and research-tested psychotherapies Examine the potential hazards of taking antidepressant medications Manage your condition with exercise and lifestyle changes Help family and friends with this condition understand their diagnosis and find treatment

Approaching depression as a complex disorder with many different facets rather than all-or-nothing. Depression confuses the mind, strips away hope, and causes people to blame themselves for an illness they never asked for. This book presents a revolutionary new understanding of the concept of depression and offers readers skills and strategies to manage it. No longer is this a one-size-fits-all diagnosis, and antidepressants are no longer the one-size-fits-all treatment. Mood disorders are now seen to form a spectrum of problems, from common depression on one end to full bipolar disorder on the other. In between these extremes are multitudes of people who are on the middle of the mood spectrum, and this book is for them. The first part of the book helps readers answer the question, “Where am I on the mood spectrum?” By laying the foundation for understanding this spectrum, Aiken and Phelps highlight the key distinctions that define unipolarity, bipolarity, hypomania, mania, and depression. Readers will be able to discern which definition best fits their experience, and use this understanding to learn which treatment methods will work best. The authors also empower readers to look beyond antidepressants. They walk readers through new medications for the mood spectrum, and offer a guide to non-medication treatments that anyone can use on their own, from diet and lifestyle changes to natural supplements. The book also discusses other innovative technologies that can aid in recovery, including dawn simulators, mood apps, and blue-light filters. This thoughtful and beneficial book will offer readers skills and strategies, as well as hope, in the face of debilitating mental challenges.

How to understand your clients' true illnesses, not just their DSM checklists. Though the DSM discusses the criteria for mood disorders in absolute terms—either present or absent—professionals are aware that while such dichotomies are useful for teaching, they are not always true in practice. Recent genetic data support clinicians' longstanding recognition that a continuum of mood disorders between unipolar and bipolar better matches reality than a yes/no, bipolar-or-not approach. If we acknowledge that continuum, how does this affect our approach to diagnosis and treatment? In A Spectrum Approach to Mood Disorders, nationally recognized expert James Phelps provides an in-depth exploration of the signs, symptoms, and nuanced presentations of the mood disorder spectrum, focusing on the broad gray area between Major Depression and Bipolar I. Combining theoretical understanding and real-world scenarios, Phelps offers practical treatment guidelines for clinicians to better understand the subtle ways mood disorders can show up, and how to find the most beneficial path for treatment based on the patient's individual pattern of symptoms. Is it trauma, or is it bipolar? Borderline? Both? Phelps's expertise and wealth of personal experience provides readers with unparalleled insight into a subject that is by nature challenging to define. His emphasis on non-medication approaches, as well as chapters on all the major pill-based treatments (from fish oil to lithium to the avoidance of atypical antipsychotics and antidepressants), creates a comprehensive resource for any clinician working with patients on the mood spectrum. Appendices on the relationship between bipolar diagnosis, politics, and religion; and a plain-English approach to the statistical perils of bipolar screening, offer further value. Phelps has written an invaluable guide of the critical information professionals need to treat patients on the mood disorder spectrum, as well as a useful tool for highly motivated families and patients to better understand the mood disorder that effects their lives. This book seeks to alter the black and white language surrounding these mood disorders to influence a shift in how patients are diagnosed—to insure that treatment matches their specific needs.

The only academic and clinical management review focused entirely on bipolar II disorder - a unique educational and clinical resource.

The Wiley Concise Guides to Mental Health: Bipolar Disorder uses clear, highly accessible language to comprehensively guide the reader through the entire spectrum of bipolar and related disorders. This concise, informative reference provides a complete overview of the history of the field, diagnosis, treatment, research, emerging trends, and other critical information about bipolar disorder. Both pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic interventions are thoroughly covered. Like all the books in the Wiley Concise Guides to Mental Health Series, Bipolar Disorder features a compact, easy-to-use format that includes: Vignettes and case illustrations A practical approach that emphasizes real-life treatment over theory Resources for specific readers such as clinicians, students, or patients Early chapters in Bipolar Disorder lay out the descriptive and diagnostic issues for classic bipolar I disorder, the more subtle "soft" bipolar disorders, and other disorders, such as hyperactivity and borderline personality, that are often misdiagnosed as bipolar. The text then covers the medical, psychiatric, and substance abuse disorders that can accompany bipolar disorders, and offers practical tips for non-medically trained therapists on how to spot these disorders. Finally, pharmacological, psychosocial, and additional treatments and interventions are covered. This straightforward resource is admirably suited for a wide variety of readers, including students and practicing mental health professionals, as well as individuals and others directly and indirectly affected by bipolar disorder.

Although the mainstay of bipolar therapy is drug treatment, psychoeducation is a technique that has proven to be very effective as an add-on to medication, helping to reduce the number of all types of bipolar recurrences and hospitalisation. The object is to improve patients' understanding of the disorder and therefore their adherence to pharmacotherapy. Based on the highly successful, evidence-based Barcelona program, this book is a pragmatic, therapists' guide for how to implement psychoeducation for bipolar patients. It gives practical guidance for how to conduct a psychoeducation group, using sessions and cases drawn from the Barcelona Psychoeducation Program. Moreover, it provides the reader with a great amount of practical tips and tricks and specific techniques to maximize the benefits of bipolar psychoeducation. The authors formed the first group to show the efficacy of psychoeducation as a maintenance treatment and have a long history of performing bipolar psychoeducation.

Provides a one-stop evidence-based guide to the management of all types of mood disorders.

This is a major international textbook for psychiatrists and other professionals working in the field of mental healthcare. With contributions from opinion-leaders from around the globe, this book will appeal to those in training as well as to those further along the career path seeking a comprehensive and up-to-date overview of effective clinical practice backed by research evidence. The book is divided into cohesive sections moving from coverage of the tools and skills of the trade, through descriptions of the major psychiatric disorders and on to consider special topics and issues surrounding service organization. The final important section provides a comprehensive review of treatments covering all of the major modalities. Previously established as the Essentials of Postgraduate Psychiatry, this new and completely revised edition is the only book to provide this depth and breadth of coverage in an accessible, yet authoritative manner.