There are many myths about what it's like to live with bipolar disorder. People constantly make assumptions about it based on media portrayals, but life is not a movie or a news report. Living with bipolar disorder is complex and varied, and what happens to some is not necessarily common to everyone. So let's dispel…
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I told you there was a new book coming out about bipolar disorder. I've been working on it for months, and while it's not here yet, here is the title and cover. I hope you enjoy this Natasha Tracy bipolar book title and cover image. 'Bipolar Rules! Tips for successfully living with bipolar disorder Bipolar…
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Don't ask me how I am. Just don't do it. Asking me how I'm doing will only do one of two things: a dishonest answer or sincere tears. I don't particularly care for either outcome. It's because I'm unhappy. I am very depressed and have had a few unfortunate situations recently. I try my best…
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As an Elf Economist, research on obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) often escapes my attention. As the authors of a recent article Comprehensive Psychiatry Note that there is relatively little economic evidence on OCD. Indeed, a quick search of PubMed reveals that 5 papers in total Published in 2023, tagged with MeSH terms for OCD and Economyalthough…
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I am very excited to announce the release of my second book. For those of you who don't know, I released a book in 2016, The Lost Marbles: Insights into My Life with Depression and Bipolar. This a combination of memoir and self-help. It has been very well received by people with bipolar disorder and…
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When I started working in acute mental health units in the mid-1990s, the ward doors on my unit were never locked, nurses were sometimes placed over the door if there was a particularly high risk of a patient wanting to leave the ward. self-injury, the rest of the time staff were anxiously alert (Bowers et…
Read MoreIn primary care, people with a history of depression often choose to take antidepressant medication; National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance recommends antidepressant medication for those at risk of recurrence of depression for up to 2 years (NICE, 2022). When someone reaches a point where they want to stop taking protective antidepressant…
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I hate empty words in general, but I especially hate empty words when they are applied to mental illness. It's so condescending when people offer some simple advice and say it will fix everything. It's obnoxiously religious when people tell you that you're looking at things or doing things the wrong way, because they know…
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I lost many years of my life due to bipolar disorder. No, I don't mean I have reduced lifespan due to bipolar disorder (though this is probably true too). I mean, there are years living those missing due to bipolar disorder. At 46, I can look back over the decades and see those years of…
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People with noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) have a two- to threefold increased risk of depression (Lloyd et al., 2018; Mendenhall et al., 2014). There is a bidirectional relationship between depression and AIDS (Singer et al., 2017), with one condition negatively influencing the outcome of the other. Adverse effects go beyond adverse health outcomes and include financial…
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