Category Archive for : ‘bipolar’

 How to Journal for Better Mental Health 

Something we encourage our patients to do is keep a journal. The reasons we do this are many, so we thought we’d outline them in this post. 

Journaling is an excellent form of stress management. It forces one’s mind to slow down and concentrate on the task at hand. Staying in the fight-or-flight state isn’t so easy when writing about your stressors. 

Visions and goals become that much more real when written down. Journaling isn’t just for writing about our problems. Your

TMS and Addiction: Neuromodulation for Substance Abuse 

Addiction/substance abuse and depression walk hand in hand. Many times, it’s impossible to tell which came first, but that point can be moot, as the two quickly mesh. Substance abuse and depression make each other stronger; a pair of destructive best friends. Today, we’re going to take a look at how brain stimulation can be used as a form of neuromodulation to help patients fight substance abuse and achieve remission for depression. We’ll use “addiction” and “substance abuse” interchangeably. 

But first, why

 Beyond Type 2: The Other Types of Bipolar Disorder 

In recent articles, we covered bipolar types 1 and 2, as well as TMS for bipolar disorder, resources, its relation to manic depression, etc. Bipolar disorder is tricky enough as it is, but there are patients with characteristics and symptoms that do not fit into types 1 or 2 and need their own designation to better identify and treat. 

Research is ongoing, but the following are the general types we’ve identified as being on the spectrum of bipolar disorder. 

Unspecified

What is Bipolar 2? 

Bipolar disorder is something some of our patients struggle with every day. We don’t know for sure  what the cause is, but some of the issues connected to bipolar disorder are a family history of mental  illness, a history of trauma, or unusual brain structures. The usual age of onset is one’s mid-twenties, but  bipolar disorder has been known to manifest in children. There is no connection to one’s sex. According  to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, about 2.8% of the population of the United States

Pros and Cons of ECT and TMS, Part 1 

We get a lot of questions about how brain stimulation and neuromodulation work, and we celebrate  that. We want to make sure that our patients are informed at every step of the process, from the initial  call to treatment to follow-up. Always ask us anything you want to know. Today, we want to discuss  electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) versus transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). We’ve mentioned some  key differences, but the next thing is to talk about how those differences manifest.  

Always remember, your mileage

Pros and Cons of ECT and TMS, Part 1 

We get a lot of questions about how brain stimulation and neuromodulation work, and we celebrate  that. We want to make sure that our patients are informed at every step of the process, from the initial  call to treatment to follow-up. Always ask us anything you want to know. Today, we want to discuss  electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) versus transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). We’ve mentioned some  key differences, but the next thing is to talk about how those differences manifest.  

Always remember, your mileage

Pros and Cons of ECT and TMS, Part 2 

Today, we’re continuing our discussion of the pros and cons of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) and  transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). We’re often asked about the nature of brain stimulation and  neuromodulation, and what naturally follows is wanting to know about the pros and cons of ECT and  TMS. This is vital for the conversation about what will work best for the patient.  

Pros of ECT  

− ECT is currently approved to treat more conditions than TMS is. ECT be used effectively on  conditions like bipolar

What is Bipolar Type 1?  

We talked about general bipolar disorder (formerly known as manic depression) in a recent post, but we  need to narrow down the types of bipolar disorder and describe each of them. There are 4 kinds of  bipolar disorder. Some sources say there are 3 kinds, but research is progressing, and we want to be as  specific as we can to cover our bases.  

Today, we’d like to talk more about bipolar disorder, which we’ll call BD. In general, BD is characterized  by unpredictable periods of mania and