Jayson Blair

My first psychiatrist in New York warned me not to become "a professional patient." In the midst of news reports about me I had been approached by all sorts of people, including pharmaceutical companies whose medications I had not yet taken, to speak on their behalf with partially made-up narratives of a recovery that had not yet happened. Andy Behrman is the most high-profile bipolar "professional patient" out in the world of bipolar. I met Andy in late September 2007 after my friend Moira, at board member of Depression Bipolar Alliance-National Capital , introduced me to him and we arranged for him to come speak to all the DBSA groups in Washington and Baltimore. The event was sponsored by DBSA-NCA and the Depression Bipolar Support Alliance-Northern Virginia . I was being filmed that day by Samantha Grant, a documentary producer, and her crew from GUSH Productions, so the entire event was recorded. I can't bring myself to ask Sam for a copy of the recording, ...

Re-reading Kay Redfield Jamison's "An Unquiet Mind" and was struck by how this description of mania was absolutely accurate and pitch-perfect, as if Dr. Jamison had conjured up the ghost of manic episode past as she wrote this passage: "There is a particular kind of pain, elation, loneliness, and terror involved in this kind of madness. When you're high it's tremendous. The ideas and feelings are fast and frequent like shooting stars, and you follow them until you find better and brighter ones. Shyness goes, the right words and gestures are suddenly there, the power to captivate others a felt certainty. There are interests found in uninteresting people. Sensuality is pervasive and the desire to seduce and be seduced irresistible. Feelings of ease, intensity, power, well-being, financial omnipotence, and euphoria pervade one's marrow. But, somewhere, this changes. The fast ideas are far too fast, and there are far too many; overwhelming confusion replaces...

I often get questions about what can be done, in addition to medical therapies, to help with depression. Here are a couple of recommendations. First and foremost, regular and full sleep is perhaps the most important factor in preventing manic episodes and it has been shown to contribute to preventing depressive relapses. Another excellent tool is exercise, particularly exercise that promotes overall wellness and meditation, such as yoga. The fitness center website at McLean Hospital in Cambridge, Mass. has two good articles on the topic . In addition, adding omega-3 fatty acids -- found in fish and fish oil, as well as flax seed oil -- can be of great assistance. The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry has a nice piece on omega-3s.

Just finished listening to Frederick M. Jacobsen, MD, a psychiatrist-scientist and clinical professor of psychiatry at George Washington University, give a cool talk last night at the GWU Hospital auditorium on research on the response of people who have bipolar, depression and ADHD/ADD to strong emotional stimuli, a surgical treatment for depression, diagnosing bipolar disorder, the bipolar spectrum and the degenerative nature of mania and depression (e.g. more episodes increases the likelihood of more and worse episodes). Dr. Jacobsen pioneered research into the use of Trazadone, an anti-depressant, as a sleeping medication, and has a special interest in bipolar. He is a researcher, a teacher and treats patients. Dr. Jacobson discussed research by Helen Mayberg, M.D., a professor at Emory, into the reactions at patients with bipolar, depression and ADHD/ADD have in the amygdala portion of the brain when given stimuli. The amygdala is the region of the brain that governs memory and em...