View The NY Times Wellness Blog on Walking in Nature here.
View the Wellness Blog on Happiness here.
Move, the best thing you can do for your body. Read Times column here.
Please read “Are YOU on too many meds?” from Medscape
If you live in Montgomery County PA, call MCES at any time for help with suicidal thoughts or of harming others. 610-279-6100 .
Suicide Prevention Resources click here.
If you live in Montgomery County PA and are involved in a crime, visit Justice Related Services here. Call them at 610-500-2111.
NAMI Mainline has suggestions for Family Conflict Resolution. View here.
NAMI Mainline has suggestions for Inpatient Hospitalization. View here.
PROJECT HOME HELPS THE HOMELESS – Plus resources. View here.
Watch Charlie Rose on The Brain Series. Mood Disorders are discussed with Eric Kandel, Helen Mayberg, Peter Whybrow, Andrew Solomon and Frederick Goodwin. From 5/29/2012. Watch it here.
CHECK OUT this Free Career Program from Montgomery County Community College. If interested, contact Lori Schreiber at end of program note.
– Michael Thase, MD, head of Mood and Anxiety Disorders at University of PA. Contact him at: 215-746-6680 OR thase@mail.med.upenn.edu
– Rajnish Mago, MD, head of Mood Disorders at Thomas Jefferson University. Contact him at (215) 955-9474 OR rajnish.mago@jefferson.edu
– Claudia F. Baldassano, MD
3535 Market St, Philadelphia, PA 19104
(215) 746-6700
Know Your Illness
Bucks County NAMI offers classes on understanding a loved one with mental illness. Read more.
To find a NAMI Group near you, click here.
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) offers excellent info
NIMH publications you can read online or download or order. You can also call them at 1-866-615-6464.
What type of Bipolar Disorder Do You Have? Learn here.
Bipolar Disorder strikes children, too. Make sure, however, your child is diagnosed correctly. Meds can damage a growing brain!
NIMH’s Mental Health Statistics
Notable InfoSites
Also ask your doctor to write the drug company about their Patient Assistance Plan for you!
Michael Ascher, MD, Clinical Associate in Psychiatry at University of PA.
Mad in America -State-of-the-Art Views on Meds by Patients like us
Harvard-trained psychiatrist Sandra Steinberg’s maverick views on meds.
Daniel Carlat’s Behavioral Health Blog
Employment Discrimination? Check Federal Website Here.
Dr Dan Hartman, Phila Guidance Center, The Sidewalk Psychiatrist
Mental Health Ministries – Ideas for Educating the Community about Mental Illness
All about Bipolar including great videos, & questions to ask your doctor
International Bipolar Foundation
Wealth of information on Anxiety from Mike Nichols
Siblings of those with Mental Illness
AHEDD find jobs for people with disabilities
JEVS finds jobs for people with disabilities
Michael Walling is an expert on Social Security benefits, including those with disabilities. See his website here.
Institute for Recovery and Education
The Famous WRAP Program from Mary Ellen Copeland of VT
Bruce E Levine, uncommon psychologist
Mad in America: Bob Whittaker, Science and Psychiatry
SAMHSA’S Wellness Recovery Initiative (Fed Govt Agency)
Temple University’s Help for Psychiatric Conditions
Junk? Clutter? Hoarding? Read more.
Attn: Family members: PLAN OF PA offers services for your adult child with disabilities. See their website.
What does a family member want? Write a Letter of Intent to provide for your child’s future when you’re no longer here.
Pennsylvania Recovery – great resources
Bipolar USA – Peer Specialists
MHA: Recovery from Mental Illness
Brain and Behavior Research Foundation
Jim Phelps, MD, Bipolar website
Rachel Aviv, writer, has several fascinating essays on Mental Illness – see menu on Left
Joshua Walters: 6-minute video on his Bipolar D/o – good film to show someone in denial
Healthy eating with Andrew Weil, MD
Find a therapist at Psychology Today
Find a therapist at Network Therapy Referral
Peter Breggin, MD, Empathic Therapy
Bipolar Foundation, serving the bipolar world from its UK headquarters
Psychiatric Times, sign up for free
Montgomery Co Emergency Service – involuntary commitments
MCES offers information about suicide:
Click here for MCES patient info re suicide.
Click here for MCES supporter’s info re suicide.
Homeless shelters: CodeBlue is a program that takes in the homeless when the temperature is below 20.
Click for CodeBlue in Montgomery County.
Click for CodeBlue in Bucks County.
Click for CodeBlue in Philadelphia.
WE’VE BEEN WRITTEN ABOUT!
Jewish Exponent, 2005.
New York Times, 2008 Part One.
New York Times, 2009 Part Two.
Our Musical Fundraisers:
in Brooklyn, Dec. 31, 2012. Read more.
AMBIEN, sleep drug, CAUTION. Read more. And do yourself a favor. Find another sleep med.
GENERIC WELLBUTRIN XR INEFFCTIVE!
ASK YOUR DOCTOR ABOUT DEPLIN! It may help your DEPRESSION. Read on.
Lack of funds? Click here for dental clinics. Click here for medical clinics.
SOAR, a govt agency, will speed up the process of getting on Disability.
We’re Goalsetters! We divide into small groups – bipolar, depression, family members – and set a manageable goal for the next meeting. Peers helping peers.
SUMMERTIME and the livin’ is….Well, a cautionary note if you’re on psych meds. Lithium-users: Make sure you drink plenty of WATER. Go to ER if suddenly you feel dizzy or confused. Other med-users: Use sunscreen if you’re on certain drugs. Check w/your doctor.
ENERGY assistance programs, such as CAP or LIHEAP. Click here.
L A B T E S T S — Does your psychiatrist order VITAL lab tests for you? We like the Mayo Clinic’s website where you can query about tests such as liver or thyroid function tests, nec’y if you are taking psychotropic meds.
WHAT IS Bipolar Disorder? Read this from NIMH.
MED QUESTIONS? Ask retired pharmacist Larry DiBello. Call him at 215-514-5110.
MED questions? Click here.
GOVT SERVICES, including Disability, courtesy of NAMI Mainline
MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES ON THE MAIN LINE, courtesy of NAMI Main Line
OUR HARRIET RELLIS, RN, will answer your questions about fibromyalgia and sleep problems. Email her at harriet.rellis@gmail.com.
Parkinson’s Support Group meets the Fourth Tuesday of the Month at The Willow Grove Giant Food Store from 1 to 3 pm. Call Lorna Glassman at 215-542-2931.
Learn about a Doylestown Hospital support group for folks with fibromyalgia & chronic pain – info@doylestown-fms-cfs.org
OUR BLOG – above – READ JUDY KROLL‘s essay “Bicycling.” Submit your own by emailing us at Compass123@comcast.net.
BOOK REVIEWS BY LINDA BARRETT and others Submit your own.
A booklist from Bipolar Disorder Significant Others.
A HEALTHIER YOU! Nutrition initiative! Overweight or tired from your meds? Make an appt w/Mary Ann Moylan, RD, LDN, CDE of Willow Grove Giant Supermarket by calling 215-784-1960. Listen to the prompts.
MAKE HEALTHY EATING a lifestyle. Read about the Beck Institute’s Diet Solution.
MAJOR COMPANIES WHO HIRE EX-OFFENDERS
More resources for hiring ex-offenders. Click here.
OUR SOCIAL ACTIVITIES
– Sunday Hikes. Read why a walk in the park helps depression.
– Pursue the Wonderful, things to do on your own or with your ND buddies
ESSENTIAL READING written by us!!! – Who knows better than we do?
Newly Diagnosed with Bipolar or Depression? Tips from Ruth Deming
FOR MORE of our informative writing click here.
Question & Complaint Department
Creekwood Mental Health Center in Willow Grove, PA, has closed. Read about it in the Inquirer, June 20, 2014.
A new MH Facility will take the place of Creekwood in Willow Grove. View Central Behavioral Health here.
Send questions about mental health to Pam Howard, adult services director at Montgomery County Office of Behavioral Health. <phoward@montcopa.org>
Dave Mauermann, administrator at Horsham Clinic, would also like constructive criticism. Email him at Dave.Mauermann@uhsinc.com.
We encourage you to SPEAK UP about the treatment you receive. THIS IS YOUR LIFE!
Meds for life? A New Paradigm
Watch Ruth Z Deming, MGPGP, director of New Directions, on YouTube for her 2008 Comcast CN8 interview. She mentions she no longer has bipolar disorder as it often resolves itself later in life.
Meds are not necessarily forever. Half a dozen mature people in our group are no longer on meds for BP or depression.
Again, we encourage taking meds and getting talk therapy.
We encourage people in their forties, fifties & sixties to see if your own illness has resolved itself and you, too, can go off meds. Many psychiatrists are willing to work with you on this. We strongly caution you to work with your doctor.
READ WHAT HARVARD-TRAINED PSYCHIATIST SANDRA STEINBERG SAYS ABOUT MEDS.
Growing concern over psychiatric drugs. Do they work? Read Robert Whitaker’s book “Anatomy of an Epidemic.” Again, stay on your meds and talk to your doctor. Terrific interview w Whitaker about Anatomy and his other books.
NY Review of Books reviews 3 books on rise of mental illness – Why now?
Psychotherapy has often been shown to be as helpful as meds. Read article here.