Or is it something more?

Pediatric bipolar disorder is a genetic, neurobiological illness that can present in childhood or the teen years.

It is often misdiagnosed  as ADHD, or dismissed as defiance, out-of-control behavior, and even a symptom of poor parenting.

But pediatric, or early onset bipolar disorder is very real and requires appropriate diagnosis and treatment.

Here are some of the most common symptoms:

Mania

• Severe mood swings — overly irritable or overly silly, giddy
• Inflated sense of self — seems to feel superior
• Talks too much, too rapidly, and/or changes topics quickly
• Easily distracted
• Decreased need for sleep
• Aggressive behavior
• Destructive
• Hypersexuality

Depression

• Sad
• Irritable
• Loss of interest in previously enjoyed activities
• Moves and/or talks slowly
• Cries often or excessively
• Feels worthless
• Feels unnecessarily guilty
• Talks of death or suicide

Bipolar disorder puts kids at increased risk of school failure, substance abuse, self-harm and suicide.

Bipolar disorder is serious, but it is treatable.

If you suspect your child’s moodiness may be something more, see your doctor immediately.

For more information on Pediatric Bipolar Disorder, visit Child and Adolescent Bipolar Foundation or Juvenile Bipolar Research Foundation.

Personal happiness — a happy, healthy life — is dependent on a firm foundation.

If you’re living with depression, anxiety or bipolar disorder, you know how shaky your foundation can sometimes feel.

With good medical care, skill development and a support system, you can shore up your foundation and make it a solid base upon which you can build a happy healthy future.

One great resource for shoring up your personal wellness foundation is The Facing Us Clubhouse.

The Clubhouse, an interactive online site affiliated with Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance, was built to be a comfortable environment where users can feel at home.

Here are some of the things, as listed on the Clubhouse site, that you can do there:

Develop a wellness plan to help keep your days balanced and positive.

Keep a personal online journal of your daily feelings and emotions. Entries are completely private.

Share wellness tips with others on ways to maintain good mental and physical health.

Create a wellness book filled with tips for maintaining a healthy life. These tips can be a combination of personal tips and those chosen from a library of shared tips posted to the site by other users. While each person’s book remains private, you also have the option to create books for friends and family members as a way to offer inspiration and support.

Print a copy of your wellness book, wellness plan and personal journal with beautiful artwork as a cover.

Browse the multimedia room for a variety of art, audio and video presentations, public messages and personal video stories. You can also create your own personal video stories to share.

Send an e-postcard with a birthday greeting or simple message of support.

Connect to important resources that offer additional information about mood disorders.

Feel secure knowing that all of the site’s activities are completely private and confidential.

Learn more about The Facing Us Clubhouse. If you like what you learn, sign up for your free membership and begin that happy life built on a firm foundation.

Seek  The Truth

Accept Your Current Reality

Work For the Betterment of All

Choose To Be Happy

Live The Good Life

Simple

Often Not

In the media and in personal circles I hear of medical practitioners, educators and community members who dismiss or deny the existence of mental illness, but a recent Baylor University study determined that one of the most dismissive of all professions is…

…are you ready for this?

…clergy …pastors …spiritual leaders …men and women of God!

Researchers at Baylor surveyed 293 parishioners who approached church leaders for guidance in response to  previously diagnosed serious disorders, including schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.

In one-third of those situations, religious leaders told family members and significant others that their loved ones did not really have a mental illness — even when they had been properly diagnosed by licensed mental-health care providers.

Church members were told that symptoms and behaviors resulted from one or more of the following causes:

1.- The commitment of sin

2. - A lack of faith

3. - A satanic or demonic influence

Lead researcher, Matthew Stanford, professor of psychology and neuroscience at Baylor University said during an interview, “The results are troubling because it suggests individuals in the local church are either denying or dismissing a somewhat high percentage of mental health diagnoses. Those whose mental illness is dismissed by clergy are not only being told they don’t have a mental illness, they are also being told they need to stop taking their medication. That can be a very dangerous thing.”

Very dangerous indeed.

Can you imagine caring for a medically non-compliant loved one whose clergyman encourages him to stop or resist taking medication? This is sheer ignorance at work. And I thought the dark ages had passed!

Equally disturbing was the additional finding that women were far more likely than men to have their legitimate mental health concerns denied or disregarded by their religious leaders.

I’m stunned by the degree to which patriarchy thrives. How do we educate these good ole boys?

How do we guide institutions that cling to darkness, resist enlightenment, and fail at understanding?

Are finger-pointing and blame-laying so much more expedient than seeking the truth, accepting reality and working for the betterment of all?

Not in my God’s house.

I’m grateful that more and more information and light is being shared, understood, and reflected back into the community. It’s time to illuminate those dark places once and for all.

Be prepared to wait.

Wherever you’re going, whatever errand or task you must perform, assume you will have to wait.

Give yourself 15-30 extra minutes to make the drive and avoid the angst associated with running late and getting caught in traffic. This simple tactic would eliminate road rage if universally practiced.

Always carry a book to read, a notebook in which to write, or greeting cards to personalize and mail. Wait time spent performing useful tasks isn’t irritating or stressful at all.

It’s productive.

It’s stress-free. YIPPEE!

You may even find yourself hoping for a wait in order to read that next thrilling chapter!

Scientists have long known that chronic stress increases the levels of certain hormones, but until the results were released from a recent National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) study, the process was not understood.

Published in the February 2, 2009 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the findings reveal the mechanisms by which cells adapt to cope with sudden or extreme stress, and how repeated or prolonged exposure to stress is likely related to many physical and mental illnesses.

Findings

Cortisol, a type of hormone called a glucocorticoid,  plays a key role in the brain’s ability to adapt and recover from injury. It also plays a part in getting hormone receptors to the right places, where brain chemicals exert their effects.

Recently scientists learned that glucocorticoid receptors (GRs) move into energy-producing structures in cells called mitochondria, in response to glucocorticoids.

Building on the GR findings, Jing Du, M.D., Ph.D., of the NIMH Mood and Anxiety Disorders Program (MAP) and her colleagues found that in brain cells of rats treated with corticosterone (the equivalent to human cortisol), GR latched onto Bcl-2, a protein that affects how substances get in and out of mitochondria. The GR/Bcl-2 complex moves into the mitochondria and regulates mitochondrial functions.

Significance

Brief increases of corticosterone improve mitochondrial functions, but high doses or long-term exposure led to decreased levels of GR and Bcl-2 in mitochondria. The results show that, at first, glucocorticoids boost mitochondrial functions and provide cells with more energy for coping with and adapting to acute challenges. This process appears to be critical in allowing a person to act quickly in an emergency.

However, chronic stress may lead to chronically elevated levels of glucocorticoids, which reduces cell functioning, via the interaction between GR/Bcl-2 and mitochondria. The decrease in proper cell function is at the root of some mental illnesses.

In addition prolonged, excess cortisol triggers the body to store abdominal fat leading to hypertension (high blood pressure), hyperlipidemia (elevated lipids), hyperglycemia (elevated glucose), cardiovascular disease, type II diabetes mellitus, and cerebrovascular disease according to Dr. Len Kravitz at University of New Mexico.

Application

This information will help researchers better understand stress-related illnesses at a cellular level, including those mentioned above, as well as anxiety disorders, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and may lead to new improved treatments.

When my son Michael required inpatient or residential treatment for addictions and bipolar disorder, I carefully discovered the treatment approaches of available facilities.

Early in our years-long journey I learned that some treatment philosophies denied the existence of biologically-based mental illness. Others eschewed drugs of any sort, regardless of who prescribed them and why. And still others functioned under the assumption that every addiction was caused by childhood trauma, not biology or choice.

Finding treatment centers that respected the concept of dual-diagnosis and treated the whole person proved challenging.

Finally a well-respected scientific entity, The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), part of the National Institutes of Health, released a new report, Comorbidity: Addiction and Other Mental Illnesses that verifies what I know to be true and that will hopefully revolutionize the treatment model for dual diagnosis.

Documenting phenomena that doctors, families and some treatment programs have known for decades, the report summarizes the science underlying the complex relationship between substance abuse and other mental disorders, a phenomenon often referred to as dual diagnosis.

“We do not know enough yet to predict precisely whether one disorder will lead to the other(s) or how to prevent comorbidity,” said NIDA Director Nora D. Volkow, M.D. “We do know, however, that the high rate of comorbidity means that we need a comprehensive approach to intervention that identifies, evaluates, and treats each disorder concurrently.”

The report describes factors leading to comorbidity or dual diagnosis, including biology and genetics, issues of gender vulnerabilities, brain function abnormalities and similarities, and the influence of developmental factors.

The report also addresses diagnosis and treatment. Several examples of behavioral therapies tested in patients with comorbid conditions — as well as potential medications — are outlined, as are the challenges of treating these conditions concurrently.

What’s more challenging: Being a Teen or Raising a Teen?

The teenage years are a time of transition for both parent and child as each struggles with boundaries of dependence, responsibility and independence. We learn what is ours and what is not. But lets face it, parents have the advantage of years of wisdom and experience, while teens are just getting started.

Teens can be overwhelmed by waves of normal emotional and physical changes as they navigate a sea of pressures to fit in, do well in school, participate in activities like sports or part-time jobs and prepare for the future.

How can adults best help teens?

Giving unconditional love is most important. Kids develop a sense of self based largely on how the adults in their life treat them. A warm, loving relationship will ease the challenges of the teenage years.

It’s also important to communicate your values and set expectations and limits. Insist on and always model honesty, respect and self-control. Treat everybody the way you want to be treated, especially your kids. If you cannot do this, get the help you need and develop these skills so that you can impart them to your kids.

Its easy for adults to get caught up in the need to teach and then get in the habit of criticizing and correcting. Although teens need guidance, they respond better to positive reinforcement. Praise appropriate behavior to give kids a sense of accomplishment and to reinforce desired values.

Here are guidelines to prepare for a child’s teenage years, developed by The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP):

-Provide a safe and loving home environment

-Create an atmosphere of honesty, trust and respect

-Allow age-appropriate independence and assertiveness

-Develop a relationship that encourages your teen to talk to you when he or she is upset

-Teach responsibility for your teen’s belongings and yours

-Teach basic responsibility for household chores

-Teach the importance of accepting limits

What is normal, what is not?

Teenagers experiment with values, ideas, hairstyles and clothing in order to find their own preferences and define themselves. This is normal. Don’t panic! But inappropriate or destructive behavior is usually a sign of a problem.

Teens are at risk for a number of self-destructive or dangerous behaviors including drug or alcohol use,  inappropriate or unprotected sexual relationships, self-injury and verbal aggression or physical violence toward others. In addition, biologically-based illnesses like depression, anxiety, eating disorders, and mental illnesses often emerge in the teen years. If you suspect these issues, learn all that you can and seek professional help.

The following may be warning signs that a teen needs professional help:

-Agitated or restless behavior

-Weight loss or gain

-A drop in grades

-Trouble concentrating

-Ongoing feelings of sadness

-Not caring about people and things

-Lack of motivation

-Fatigue, loss of energy and lack of interest in activities

-Low self-esteem

-Trouble falling asleep

-Run-ins with the law

What to do if there is a problem?

Maintain open communication. If you suspect a problem, ask your teen about what is bothering him or her. Don’t ignore a problem in the hopes that it will go away. It’s easier to cope with problems when they’re small. This also gives you the opportunity to work through problems together. Seek professional help. Talking to your family doctor or school counselor are good first steps.

You can also check out these online resources:

American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry

American Psychiatric Association

National Alliance for the Mentally Ill

National Institute of Mental Health

National Institute on Drug Abuse

National Mental Health Association

Increased Viewing = Increased Depression

Every Hour Per Day Your Teen Spends

-Watching television

-Playing on the computer

-Surfing the net

-Playing electronic games

-Listening to his I Pod

increases the likelihood that he will develop depression as an adult according to a study conducted by Dr. Brian A. Primack, an assistant professor of medicine and pediatrics at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

In 1995, Primack and his associates interviewed 4,142 adolescents with no history of depression to determine the number of hours they spent watching television or videos, playing computer games, or listening to the radio.

The average daily exposure was 5.7 hours, including 2.3 hours of television viewing.

Seven years later, 308 (7.4 percent) of the young people had symptoms of depression. Among those who were depressed, symptoms increased at a rate directly related to the number of hours they watched television and used other electronic media at the start of the study. Interestingly, the phenomenon was more prevalent in males than in females.

What exactly is the correlation between electronic media and depression?

There are several theories. As a classroom teacher, I had concerns about what wasn’t happening when kids were watching TV and playing video games.

Social, intellectual and athletic activities that safeguard against depression don’t take place in front of a monitor.

Another issue is that late-night watching disturbs normal sleep cycles, a phenomenon well-known to hamper emotional and intellectual development.

According to Primack, another “…theory is that you see a lot of depressing events on television and are likely to internalize them. Television emphasizes bad news, and repeated exposure to it might be internalized.”

Commercials and ads are also factors. “You see about 20,000 television advertisements a year, and a large proportion of them dwell on the fact that life is not perfect,” Primack said.

The message is this:

Help your children and teens develop into active, happy young adults by limiting the amount of time spent watching TV, playing video games, and listening to music alone.

It’s that simple.

“Never put off until tomorrow what you can do today.”

-J. A. Spender

It seems that Mr. Spender got this one right. Procrastination is stressful. The thought, energy and worry devoted to the task put off are oftentimes greater than completing the task itself.

The solution is simple, and Nike got it right:

Just Do It

Whatever you want to do tomorrow, do today; whatever you want to do today, do it now. Simple.

This is the most recent installment in an ongoing series elaborating on 52 proven stress relievers identified by researchers at Texas Woman’s University.

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