Health & Fitness
bp Magazine for Bipolar
Winter 2021bp Magazine empowers people with bipolar disorder to live healthy, fulfilling lives. bp delivers success stories of people living with bipolar, including celebrities. It also includes features on building healthy lifestyles—with topics like sleep, exercise, stress, treatments, relationships, and employment—and offers cutting edge news and research.
in this issue
what is bipolar?
Bipolar disorder is a treatable illness marked by extreme changes in mood, thought, energy, and behavior. Bipolar disorder is also known as manic depression because a person’s mood can alternate between the “poles”—mania (highs) and depression (lows). The change in mood can last for hours, days, weeks, or months. What bipolar is not Bipolar disorder is not a character flaw or sign of personal weakness. Whom bipolar disorder affects Bipolar disorder affects more than 5.7 million adult Americans and 440,000 adult Canadians. It usually begins in late adolescence, often appearing as depression during teen years, although it can start in early childhood or later in life. An equal number of men and women develop this illness. Men tend to begin with a manic episode, women with a depressive episode. Bipolar disorder is found among all…
everyday challenges
What a strange and stressful year lies in our rear-view mirror. Our disrupted routines, financial hardships, and very real fears created by the worldwide pandemic—which coincided with the global uprising and recognition of the Black Lives Matter movement—sent our emotional distress skyrocketing. Like many, I was in survival mode, doing what needed to be done to get through each day. Then, one of the most inspirational women of our time, former First Lady Michelle Obama, spoke out about her low mood and insomnia. It made me pause and say, “me too.” With more than 1 in 3 Americans reporting symptoms of anxiety or depression (versus the 1 in 10 a year ago), our “club” has grown. Seems like everyone is concerned—and talking about mental health. It’s a conversation the mental health community…
we hear you!
TO ERR IS HUMAN … I AM RIGHT NOW in an “insulted friend” predicament, as writer Robin L. Flanigan so aptly described in “I Beg Your Pardon” (Fall 2020). I mouthed off in a text message to a very close friend, something rude and downright mean, while I was deep in my illness. I’ve apologized to her, but she ignored it. Here’s how I’m going to make from-the-heart amends: First, I have to work toward forgiving myself and coming to understand my nasty comment to her was not the end of the world. Here’s the thing of it: I made a mistake. I’m going to take some time getting my heart and head back together. Then, I hope, the right words will fall into place and we’ll be up and running…
drea
AGE: 53 LOCATION: BALTIMORE, MD OCCUPATION: TRAINER & MANAGER AT HOPE WELLNESS & RECOVERY RESOURCE CENTER; TRAINER FOR NAMI; MOTIVATIONAL SPEAKER DIAGNOSIS: BIPOLAR I DISORDER, ANXIETY, PTSD (2006) • • • NICKNAME: The Diva. FAVORITE MOVIES: Some Kind of Wonderful, Pulp Fiction, The Usual Suspects. 1ST JOB: At age 7, I loaded groceries into people’s cars with my brother. MOTTO: If you see someone without a smile, give them one of yours! STAND-OUT MOMENT: Hanging out with George Clinton of Parliament [funk band] after one of his concerts. MESSY OR TIDY: Messy! You make great discoveries that way. HERO: My mom. She raised four children alone, obtained a college education, and worked in the prison system. FAVORITE AUTHORS: I love Stephen King, but Maya Angelou was a huge influence on me. #1 EXERCISE: Playing Wii Fit. PROUDEST OF: Speaking at This Is My Brave;…
the pulse
“It's so powerful for Dak to let people know that the quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys, America's Team, struggled with depression. That outreach he has is huge. He helped change so many people's lives that he doesn't know about, that he will probably never know about.” —SOLOMON THOMAS, a defensive tackle for the San Francisco 49ers and a mental health advocate, on fellow NFL player Dak Prescott’s speaking publicly about experiencing depressive symptoms. Thomas, who also has experienced depression, helped launch the “End Stigma. Change Lives.” campaign in the fall. • Hope Awards go to veteran journalist and Empire actor Kudos to Jane Pauley and Taraji P. Henson, who were recognized by the nonprofit Hope for Depression Research Foundation for their contributions to normalizing mental health challenges. Pauley, host of CBS Sunday Morning, has…
the bookshelf
Getting It Done When You’re Depressed, Second Edition January 2021 • second edition An update of the guide by Julie A. Fast and John D. Preston, PsyD, ABPP, offers 50 practical and easily applicable strategies to break the cycle of inactivity that so often accompanies depression. These strategies will help you lift depression brain fog, create daily structure, and feel good about yourself again. New to this edition are tips to avoid the pitfalls of social media, as well as practical communication scripts to assist you and those around you in better understanding what you’re experiencing. • How to Sleep: The New Science-Based Solutions for Sleeping Through the Night December 2020 • hardcover Expert sleep clinician and Stanford University professor Rafael Pelayo, MD, does away with overly simplistic, one-size-fits-all sleep hygiene “rules,” offering practical, effective strategies…
