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How To Cope With Major Depression On A Day-To-Day Basis – Bridges to Recovery
Depression is more than just feeling down. For over 20 million Americans, it’s a persistent mental health condition that affects daily life. Executives and professionals in Southern California, living fast-paced, high-pressure lives, are not immune. This blog article explores how to cope with major depression on a daily basis and how to take actionable steps for seeking help.
Treatment-Resistant Depression: What Is It & How to Treat It - Bridges to Recovery
Living in Southern California means access to top-notch healthcare, yet some forms of depression remain stubborn. Treatment-resistant depression (TRD) persists despite standard treatments like medications and therapy. If you’re among the many who struggle with TRD, understanding advanced treatment options is key to finding relief and reclaiming your life.
Guest Blog - Psilocybin: Potential Psychedelic Treatment for Depression - Bridges to Recovery
.Mark S. Gold, MD, is an author, inventor, and mentor who has had over 1,000 peer-reviewed publications since beginning his academic career at the University of Florida College of Medicine and Yale University School of Medicine in the 1970s. He is best known for developing the pioneering translational laboratory to human research methods of discovery for addiction and psychiatry. He has over 30,000 academic research citations and an H index of 93. He has made impactful contributions to psychiatry, neuroendocrinology, radiation oncology, transplant biology, orthopedic surgery, public health, pain, obesity medicine, and substance use disorders. Gold was a founding member of the McKnight Brain Institut
Speedballing: The Current Fourth Wave of the Overdose Crisis – Bridges to Recovery
We are in the midst of a speedballing crisis. The fourth and current wave of the drug overdose crisis is comprised of the use of fentanyl (an opioid) with cocaine or methamphetamine, both stimulants. (This combination use is often referred to as "speedballing.") For the first time, according to a report from Millennium Health, methamphetamine and cocaine have overtaken heroin or prescription opioids in nearly every state’s fentanyl combination. In addition, the increase in overdose deaths from speedballing is shocking: Deaths from fentanyl with stimulants soared from less than 1 percent in 2010 to about a third of all overdose deaths in 2021.
Addicted to Food: When sugar and processed foods take over the brain – Bridges to Recovery
Some people depend on opioids or methamphetamine (or both), while far greater numbers of individuals in the United States and worldwide depend on sugar and highly processed foods to feel better or even normal. We’ve known about food addiction for some time; for example, in July 2007, Yale University brought together 40 experts on nutrition, obesity, and addiction to discuss the addictive potential of foods.
Ask the Expert: An Interview with Yale's Dr. Brian Fuehrlein - Bridges to Recovery
In this interview with one of our nation's experts on emergency and addiction medicine as well as addiction psychiatry, we hear from Yale University's Brian Fuehrlein, M.D., Ph.D., an associate professor of psychiatry and director, Psychiatric Emergency Room, VA Connecticut Healthcare System.
When Substance Abuse and Psychiatric Issues Collide – Bridges to Recovery
Substance use disorder often includes co-occurring disorders that take a toll on celebrities and regular folk alike. Many people have a substance use disorder (SUD) and serious psychiatric issue at the same time. Experts and the public have struggled with whether drugs caused psychiatric illness or vice versa.
Supporting a Partner Through Complicated Grief and Knowing When to Get Help – Bridges to Recovery
It's distressing to recognize that your partner may have complicated grief disorder. But this awareness is an important first step toward recovery when you can see the value of reaching out for help in a professional treatment setting. Here, they can process their grief and pain while opening up to the future.
Living With the Aftermath of Childhood Trauma: How I’m Surviving – Bridges to Recovery
Many adults live with the complications of untreated past trauma. Professional mental health care, social support, coping strategies, and other factors can help anyone who went through trauma at a young age learn to survive and thrive.
How to Cope With Crippling Anxiety and Knowing When to Seek Treatment – Bridges to Recovery
You don’t have to live with constant, crippling anxiety. You learn to stop anxiety attacks before they get out of control, to change your life to minimize stress and anxiety, and to make healthy lifestyle choices that promote good mental health.
Living with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Major Depression – Bridges to Recovery
The best way to manage and live with PTSD and depression is to get expert, focused treatment that addresses both conditions at the same time and to use the tools learned in treatment to continue making healthy choices.
Understanding Gender Differences in Bipolar Disorder: Bipolar in Women & Men - Bridges to Recovery
Bipolar in men and women can show up differently. It's worth looking at some of these differences in order to better understand the common barriers to recovery and the best directions for individualized treatment.
Gaining Clarity: Understanding Your Loved One’s Bipolar Disorder – Bridges to Recovery
Recently I was in a coffee shop waiting for my latte when I heard a woman complaining to her friend about her boss. “She’s crazy!” she said, launching into a monologue about the boss’s antics. I waited, holding out hope that my coffee would be ready before she could say what I knew was coming, but while the barista was pouring steamed milk in the shape of a perfect heart I heard it. “I swear she’s bipolar!” Perhaps it was true. Perhaps it wasn’t. But the fact that I could see the conclusion coming from a mile away says something disturbing about what bipolar disorder has come to mean in our cultural vernacular. Instead of being recognized as a discrete diagnosis with very specific symptomatologies, bipolar is often imagined to just be a general and nebulous kind of craziness and irrationality—a word to describe difficult people, mean bosses, and mother-in-laws you dislike. Rather than an illness, “bipolar” is deployed as an insult and brings with it a host of baggage, much of which has little if anything to do with true experiences of the disorder. At the same time, there is a different and contradictory cultural narrative about bipolar disorder, one in which it is framed as rare and extreme psychiatric condition that precludes normal functioning and lends itself to danger and delusion. Here, bipolar disorder is imagined as a kind of distinctly clinical craziness that goes far beyond your unlikable boss, entering the territory of monstrosity. The duality of these powerful mythologies surrounding bipolar illness can make it particularly difficult to find out that your loved one is suffering from the disorder. In the absence of widespread recognition of what bipolar disorder truly is, you are often left to fill in the blanks yourself, sifting through the abundance of misinformation, damaging stereotypes, and half-truths to find some semblance of understanding. By exploring popular myths surrounding bipolar disorder, you can gain a more accurate picture of what the illness really means, helping you develop greater insight into what your loved one is experiencing, allay unfounded fears, and create new pathways to healing.
A Vital Checklist for Families: Supporting Your Loved One's Recovery - Bridges to Recovery
While it’s possible for an individual to recover alone, support is always best. Having the support of loved ones increases the chances of a successful recovery with no or fewer relapses. Family support is especially important because family members play a role, whether they realize it or not. Family should always be involved in the recovery plan to the extent allowed but should also work on their own mental health and prepare to support a loved one in recovery.
Thriving Amidst Co-Occurring Borderline Personality Disorder and Depression: A Journey of Resilience – Bridges to Recovery
Living with BPD and depression makes normal functioning difficult. Treatment, healthy lifestyle habits, stress relief, social support, and building stronger relationships all help improve function and make living with this dual diagnosis easier.
New Year’s Depression: Yes, It’s Real. What You Can Do. – Bridges to Recovery
Many people struggle with holiday depression, and for some it peaks on New Year’s Eve. Those with existing depression are particularly vulnerable to the mental health challenges of this big night with major expectations. The start to the new year does not have to be stressful, sad, or lonely. A few changes and new traditions can turn the holiday into something positive and an evening that supports good mental health.
Navigating Grief During the Holiday Season: Coping with the Loss of a Loved One – Bridges to Recovery
Losing someone you love is never easy, but it takes on an extra dimension and poses challenges when it happens just before the holiday season. Facing this joyful time of year with fresh grief is complicated. It’s essential to find healthy ways of coping, from leaning on supportive friends and family to seeking professional mental health care.
Self-Care Strategies: 8 Ways to Handle Challenges and Find Joy Amidst Holiday Stress – Bridges to Recovery
The holidays can be a difficult time for anyone. Take steps to connect with others, limit activities, cope with grief, recognize gratitude, and if necessary, reach out to a mental health professional.
Empowering Your New Year: A Resilience Guide for Women Overcoming Emotional and Psychological Trauma – Bridges to Recovery
The coming of the New Year means it’s time for a fresh start. Your traumatic experiences don’t have to define who you are indefinitely. Recovery is possible if you take the initiative.
What You Can Do to Help When Your Loved One Is in Recovery: The Essential Family Checklist – Bridges to Recovery
While it’s possible for an individual to recover from addiction alone, support is always best. Having the support of loved ones increases the chances of a successful recovery with no or fewer relapses. Family support is especially important because family members play a role in addiction, whether they realize it or not. Family should always be involved in the recovery plan to the extent allowed but should also work on their own mental health and prepare to support a loved one in recovery.
Is Your Job Affecting Your Generalized Anxiety? Coping With Daily Stress – Bridges to Recovery
For someone living with generalized anxiety disorder, the workplace is full of landmines that worsen their symptoms. In addition to professional help, coping strategies such as meditation, getting outside for a break, and reaching out to others can help.
6 Tools for Recovering From Relational Trauma – Bridges to Recovery
Later in life, relational trauma expresses itself in several damaging ways and can make establishing healthy relationships difficult. Tools like therapy, mindfulness, and positive lifestyle habits can help anyone with relational trauma heal and recover.
Are You Suffering From Summer Depression? How to Tell If You Have It – Bridges to Recovery
Some unique characteristics of summer depression include increased agitation and irritability, decreased sleep, insomnia, and weight loss. It’s important to recognize the signs and to get professional help to alleviate symptoms.
Coping With Complicated Grief When You’ve Lost a Loved one to COVID – Bridges to Recovery
Mental health experts expect to see a significant rise in the number of complicated grief cases as the COVID-19 pandemic winds down. The combination of loss, isolation, and fear created a perfect brew for grief that goes beyond the healthy response.
5 Ways Social Media Is Affecting Your Mental Health – Bridges to Recovery
Social media can be a fun distraction. It can also be detrimental to mental health. The use of social media has been connected with destructive social comparison, low self-esteem, depression and anxiety, social isolation, and bullying. Social media may provide some benefits when limited, but the addictive nature of the cycle of posting, clicking, and liking makes it hard to stop or set boundaries.