BIPOLAR RESEARCH UPDATE

The genes that influence our circadian rhythms and sleep cycles also influence the clinical features and age of onset of bipolar disorder.
Benedetti, F., Dallaspezia, S., Colombo, C., et al., (2008). A length polymorphism in the circadian clock gene Per3 influences age at onset of bipolar disorder. Neuroscience Letters, 14, 445(2), 184-187.

Cannabis abuse causes bipolar-related psychosis to start an average of three years earlier than for people who did not abuse cannabis.
Ongur, D., Lin, L., & BM Cohen (2009). Clinical characteristics influencing age at onset in psychotic disorders. Comprehensive psychiatry, 50(1), 13-19.

Treating even minor depressive symptoms after a first manic episode is integral to recovery after depression following a first manic episode because only depression was found to be related to functional outcomes at 6 months post a manic episode.
Kauer-Sant’anna, M, Bond, DJ, Lam, RW, Yatham, LN (2009). Functional outcomes in first-episode patients with bipolar disorder: a prospective study from the Systematic Treatment Optimization Program for Early Mania project. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 50(1), 1-8.

A 16-week trial found that aripiprazole seems to show promise as an adjunctive treatment or monotherapy in people with bipolar disorder who are unresponsive to mood stabilizers. Akathisia (inner restlessness) and slight weight gain were the main side effects. However, double-blind, placebo-controlled studies are necessary to measure the drug’s efficacy, tolerability and safety for bipolar patients.
Mazza, M, Squillacioti, MR, Pecora, JD, et al (2008). Beneficial acute antidepressant effects of aripiprazole as an adjunctive treatment or monotherapy in bipolar patients unresponsive to mood stabilizers: results from a 16-week open-label trial. Expert opinion on pharmacotherapy, 9(18), 3145-9.

A study of the effectiveness of acute treatment with interpersonal and social rhythm therapy on occupational functioning found that despite the lack of statistical significance, there was more improved occupational functioning than with a pscyhoeducational and supportive approach with no emphasis on functional capacity.
Frank, E, Soreca, I, Swartz, HA et al. (2008). The role of interpersonal and social rhythm therapy in improving occupational functioning in patients with bipolar I disorder. American Journal of Psychiatry, 165(12), 1559-65.

Bipolar 101- The Book

1.

Bipolar 101 : A Practical Guide to Identifying Triggers, Managing Medications, Coping with Symptoms, and More by Ruth C. White, John Preston

The best primer ever written on the topic of bipolar disorder.
-Stephen Hinshaw, editor of Psychological Bulletin and chair of the department of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley

Qty:

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Today my sister called me to tell me that my book, Bipolar 101, was now listed on Barnes and Noble and Amazon. My book comes out in February and I had been slow at getting my marketing going but now here it was. and my website was not up. and it was a cool moment to realize that i had published my first book and i had joined the literary hordes writing about bipolar disorder. but i also had the stamp of approval from the head of psychology at UC Berkeley who as the editor of Psychological Bulletin pulls some weight in the psychology community and that feels awesome.

i thought i was going to be modest but instead i emailed all my close friends and family and let them know that my first book was listed online. 

in the meantime i tried to figure out what the focus of my blog was going to be. For many good reasons I decided that the travails of my challenges and joys of living with bipolar disorder was not a topic for public consumption.

however, as a scholar I could continue to keep current on the breaking scientific news on the illness and share that with my readers in lay language with the practical applications that could be discerned from the findings.

i won't retell the story of my past up until today because it's been told in another forum. in particular, 3 years of my life are told in another book entitled

Breaking the Silence : Mental Health Professionals Disclose Their Personal and Family Experiences of Mental Illness

I encourage people to post questions or other scientific news as my goal for this blog is to be a repository of the 'best' information that science has to offer about bipolar disorder. My book brings us up to 2008 and the blog will continue this further. I have a vested interest in knowing what more there is to know about the illness that in many ways controls my life and i will read the journals and share what i learn with you.