Balanced Between Mind And Body Is A Wonderful Place To Live

In my experience I have found that most of us sort of reside in either our minds or in our bodies. Both are very intriguing places to focus our energy and provide very different vantage points. The people that I know who are basically in their heads display the following qualities. They are amazing analyzers of information and want to look at a subject from many different perspectives/angles. It is of utmost importance to gather as much information about the subject as possible and weigh out, all the so called facts, in as many combinations as they can think of. These ‘head’ people are very quick with their verbal responses to situations and usually win arguments. They are more guarded and are difficult to get a genuine read on. These people do not tend to be very grounded and are likely to hurt themselves physically on a regular basis. Little things like stubbed toes and paper cuts mostly. Read more

Avoid Panic Attacks - Tips to Help You Cope with Panic Attacks

1.  Skip Alcohol and Caffeine

One easy way to avoid panic attacks is to stop or severely limit your consumption of alcohol and caffeine. Alcohol, while you would think it would have a relaxing effect and reduce the instance of panic attacks, actually has been shown in clinical studies to make panic attacks worse. Caffeine though is a no-brainer since it is a stimulant, and it will magnify the effects of anxiety and panic. Caffeine consumption can greatly increase your odds of having a panic attack. Read more

B/C>K : Cooperation and Evolution

What does psychiatry have to do with evolution?

Or, the other way around, what does evolution have to do with psychiatry?

Granted, the connection is not direct. On the other hand, the mood disorders I treat are intimately embedded deeply in the way we interact with one another, our social context. Some theorists have speculated that both depression and mania are some form of our social hierarchy system gone awry.

Dedicated readers of my website know that I have been writing there about evolution in several contexts. I am interested in good science, and it is nearly impossible to do good science without ending up looking at evolutionary principles, if you are dealing with living creatures.

In any case, I am most interested in the evolution of cooperation, particularly since at this stage in human history we had better figure out how to be much better at it, or we are all cooked, so to speak.

Therefore, anyone who is paying attention to world affairs like the warming of our planet might be quite interested to know that cooperation is under good scientific study from an evolutionary point of view, with a recent result that makes sense intuitively as well as fitting very well with the research in this area so far. A nice summary article about this appeared in the New York Times recently; linked below.

The "bottom line" of that article is this (e.g. if you are not registered and so cannot read it there): from a research point of view, the likelihood of cooperation seems to be reducible to an equation B/C>K , where (B) represents the benefits of cooperation, (C) represents the costs, and (K) represents the size of the population involved, which you can think of as how many neighbors are around. In other words, the benefits must be greater than the costs, but that ratio must be particularly large if there are many individuals involved. In a small group, cooperation is more likely.

This research has also shown that a person's reputation strongly affects how they interact with others, how much people will cooperate with them or not. You can imagine that reputation quickly comes to substitute for direct personal experience with an individual, when the size of the group goes up.

As one of my friends says, "science is the rigorous demonstration of the obvious". On the other hand, perhaps this equation (from Dr. Nowak at Harvard) also helps make it more obvious what must now happen to avoid the incredible social disasters that face us as the planet warms. Because K, in this case, is so large, B will have to be much greater than C. We are going to need a culture that places cooperative behavior at the very pinnacle of social respect.

If we were to expect our public systems -- our political system, for example -- to use available science to insure that our safety and that of our children will not decrease rapidly in the face of global changes, then we should expect those systems to incorporate this simple equation into their planning processes.

I know, that is sort of a joke. What politicians do you know that focus on long-term risks and safety for all humanity? What political system do you know that rewards cooperative behavior far more than "personal freedom"? Perhaps worse yet, what corporations do you know that focus on their long-term success, not their short-term return to stockholders?

Ah, here is one, perhaps: organized religion, at least some forms of it. Okay, okay, there are many exceptions and many egregious examples of the opposite, of greed and personal interest and narrow-mindedness and all that, in nearly any religion. But most religions include some form of group cooperation, at least within their own particular group. They focus on taking care of one another, looking after those who are suffering or struggling, and seeing that the group as a whole prospers in the long run (in the past this often included making many more members by having many children, the foolishness of which in our current circumstances has yet to become incorporated in religious culture, unfortunately).

What an odd pairing, religion and evolutionary science. But here is one realm in which they both seem to agree without any hesitation or qualification: cooperation is at the very core of being human.

Dr. Phelps

link to NY Times article

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Cures For Anxiety Attacks

Most anxiety is caused by stress. For many people stress is part of their everyday life and they don’t even notice it anymore. Only when the anxiety builds up and they get symptoms such as shortness of breath or palpitations do most people recognize that they have a problem. This means that the first step in curing anxiety and anxiety attacks is reducing causes of stress in your life. Read more

OPRAH.com Posts bp Magazine Cover story; Benard Appears on Oprah\’s TV Show

Count Oprah Winfrey among the growing allies of people with bipolar disorder -- and bp Magazine. Her phenomenally successful Web site features bp Magazine\'s interview with daytime serial star Maurice Benard, the subject of our upcoming fall issue\'s cover story, and posts the story on the site.

Use this link -- to find entertainment writer John Anderson\'s revealing interview with Benard, who plays Sonny Corinthos on the ABC soap opera \"General Hospital,\" as well as a summary of Benard\'s appearance on the Sept. 24 \"Oprah Winfrey Show.\"

OPRAH.com has become one of the most popular Web sites in the country, averaging 75 million page views and 5 million unique visitors a month. Those logging on stay an average of just under 10 minutes per visit. It\'s rated No. 4 among all content sites for women 21 years and older.

Benard talks openly on the show and Web site about his ongoing struggle with bipolar disorder, including his dark period when he stopped taking his medication. In the BP article, Benard tells Anderson how he has become a better actor because of his ability to acknowledge and deal with being bipolar.

The fall issue of BP magazine is available Oct. 2. and can be ordered by visiting www.bphope.com.

Bi-Polar Disorder

Bipolar disorder is a very complex disease to many people, including medical doctors, and rightly so. As with every other disease in allopathic medicine, there will never be a cure for bipolar disorder. You can’t solely treat this disorder from the physical, and especially with harmful, man-made pharmaceutical drugs. Plus, Western medical doctors admit that they don’t know the cause of this disorder. Read more

Symptoms of Bipolar Disorder

One of the prevailing disorders that many people suffer from is called manic depression or today it is more commonly known as bipolar disorder. The symptoms of bipolar disorder are not detected easily so the patient, the family or the friends may not even be aware of the disorder. Read more

Bipolar Chat Room Tips For Newcomers

Most people when they first join a bipolar chat room have several concerns and questions. Because of this I am going to share with you a few tips for using bipolar chat rooms.

First off, a bipolar chat room can provide you with great benefits no matter what your present condition may be. It doesn’t really matter if you are a manic, depressed or just plain silly, in a bipolar chat room you will be able to find somebody to talk it over with. Read more

How To Find A Bipolar-Resistant Job And Bipolar-Proof It

When bipolar disorder hits at work, it all hits the fan. A public display of excess emotion or over-the-top behavior is usually seen as unacceptable. There goes your reputation as a good worker, several fair-weather friends, perhaps pay for the time you’re off work. And then when you’re ready to return, the boss sacks you. You have lost a job, and you might lose an entire career if word gets around your industry quickly. Read more

Loving Someone With a Bipolar Disorder Can Be Tough Yet Rewarding

Often you will be ignored, mistreated, and spoken to with disrespect making even more difficult to love them.  It is never easy to lend a hand to those who think grandiosely of themselves. However, we must remember that it is not there fault the bipolar disorder is dictating their behavior.  Imagine yourself having to deal with disorganized thoughts and feelings. Read more

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