Into the Void

Someone asked what is the difference between a psychiatrist and a psychologist. There are other helping professionals too. They have different levels of education and licensing, and in bipolar disorder it’s important to make sure you get the right one.

Psychiatrists are real medical doctors who specialize in diagnosing and treating mental disorders. After getting a real medical degree they went back and took more courses, then did their internship in psychiatry - well, some are only “board certified,” meaning that they took the exams after the fact. Look at the diplomas. Psychiatrists are the only mental health care professionals who can prescribe drugs *in most states.* They are - and there’s no question here - the only people who are qualified to distinguish between organic disease and mental disorders.
http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=5107

A psychologist has a PhD, also called a doctorate, in the study of psychology. It is very important to remember that even though you call the psychologist “Doctor” he or she is NOT a medical doctor. He probably did an internship in which he did quick evaluations as to mental status. And he’s not qualified to dispense medications because he doesn’t have to have even basic medical training. He isn’t even qualified to put a bandaid on a boo-boo. He certainly isn’t qualified to diagnose physical illnesses - bipolar disorder is associated with brain chemicals, and that’s a medical issue. He is required to send you to a psychiatrist for that. NOT to a nurse practitioner or even a GP. A psychologist is versed in sociology and culture, and their job is to help you gain insight into the experiences that made you whow you are. This is called psychoanalysis or depth therapy. And of course to *adjust* to your circumstances in life.
http://www.apa.org/about/

A psychotherapist is a person who tries to do the same things that the psychologists do. Obviously psychologists and psychiatrists do short-term psychotherapy. Some psychotherapists, however, hold a Master’s Degree in something else. Social workers - MSWs - are trained to hook people up with the right resources, but they often get involved in helping people identify and solve their problems. EdD’s - doctors of Education - again, not medical doctors or even psychologists - often perform psychotherapy. Caveat Emptor: if someone is going to do psychotherapy on you, make sure they’ve gone through it themselves. And make sure they’ve gone through it successfully. Oh, and try to get one from your culture so that they don’t try to cure you of your race or religion. If a psychotherapist other than your own psychiatrist starts giving you a hard time about your meds, think about switching one or the other. Psychotherapists, I like to say, are the gatekeepers of Consensus Reality.

A therapist is a person who helps you make changes in your life - but you have to want to change. They aren’t qualified to do depth psychotherapy and may rely on doubtful modalities - you know, pop psychology out of the latest book by the latest guru.
http://helpyourselftherapy.com/topics/th_job.html

A counselor helps clients solve problems in specific areas - marriage, career, that sort of thing. Most of the time they have Master’s degrees, in some states they don’t have to.
http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos067.htm

I hope this motivates you to check the credentials of your mental health professionals. It is absolutely essential to do so if you want to heal rather than spend the rest of your life helpless and hopeless.

Technorati: difference+between+psychologist+and+psychiatrist psychiatrist psychologist therapist depth+psychotherapy social+worker incompetent+idiots counselor

Any day that starts with an email from someone named “Bad Alice” simply has to be a great day!

Bad Alice is the acoustic duo formed by Suzy Johnston (author of The Naked Bird Watcher - the positive account of developing and learning to manage a serious psychiatric disorder that included depression, psychosis and self-harm)

Leslie interjects: The other half of the duo is Lindsay Robertson. So far as I can tell, she is horribly normal except when she gets a hold of a box of crayons.

The CD by Bad Alice is now available.

Titled ‘Walk in my Shoes’ it is a further positive and reflective message on mental illness, self-harm and the issues that face the young of today.

The CD is available on the Bad Alice website where individual tracks can also be downloaded. http://www.badalicemusic.com

The hope is that the music will help people to feel less isolated and offer reassurance that they can get through this. It is also meant to raise further awareness, understanding and - hey - people might even like the songs!

Cheers,

Bad Alice
http://www.badalicemusic.com/
http://www.thecairn.com/

Excellent CD. It’s only number two in my 6-disc changer, but Bad Alice would have to play tuned chain saws to get ahead of Herbie Hancock’s Headhunters - classic Jazz Fusion c. 1972.

I hope to get to Scotland on my next trip to Liverpool. If luck is with me, Bad Alice will have a gig when I’m there.

Suzy’s mum Jean is a great mum, I’m told, and a very cool lady. She even wrote her own book, To Walk on Eggshells, about her experiences helping her daughter navigate the dire straits of the mental health system in the UK. Family involvement is a big positive in handling bipolar disorder effectively.

The CD costs £6.50 postpaid in the UK. Not sure about the rest of the world, but it’s also available as mp3s. Buy it with PayPal and download it on the spot.

Technorati: bad+alice suzy+johnston indie depression psychosis self+harm The+Naked+Bird+Watcher mp3

It’s here, The Bipolar Planet® - Mobile Edition.

Since I got a data plan with the new cell phone I’m doing a lot more web browsing. My last cell phone had wireless so I didn’t bother with the data plan. Hmmm, it had a touchscreen too, and Windows Pocket PC rather than Windows Mobile phone edition. And was the size of a brick instead of the size of a candy bar.

Think about it: there are **scads** of middle-aged women driving around with handhelds looking to steal your bandwidth. Some of them want your files, too. Lock that wireless router, folks, especially if you share the C: drive on your home network.

Anyway, I’ve been spending more time on the mobile web and, well, sometimes you just have to say WTF. I got a .mobi domain and am distilling the entire planet into it. Sort of.

I’ll be adding content over the next couple of weeks. I’m evaluating chat sites now. This one looks ok.

Bipolar Planet® Chat
Chat with bipolars from around the world right from your mobile phone. This site is public and unmoderated. For more privacy, sign up for the email list instead.

In the name of the Turtle…

It’s the Bipolar Planet® email list! Email other bipolars - share files, pictures, and your unique take on life.

Powered by Yahoo!

Coming soon:

Into the Void - Mobile Edition

Technorati: mobile web Self-Help bipolar+disorder

Powerful Sleep - Health & Energy Blog >> How to Overcome Procrastination with 4 S

As a lifelong procrastinator, I have to say Kacpar nailed it down pretty well. I think that where most of us fall short is this: when I make a commitment to myself, I have to treat it as seriously as if I’d made a commitment to someone else.

Powerful Sleep is great. If the only thing I got out of it was the concept of avoiding delta sleep during daytime naps, it would have been worth every penny.

Sock puppet - Encyclopedia Dramatica.

Just found this wonderful site yesterday. It’s all about the Internets, “invented by Al Gore and pluralized by George W. Bush”.

It’s also a great place to get tips on making your life interesting and everybody else’s lives miserable. And how to deal with dramatis personae who wish to make all the world their stage.

Like the Drama Whores who hang out with the mentally ill in support groups, manipulating people who actually need support into throwing pity parties for them. Nobody heals if an environment like that gets out of hand.

There are tips on creating Drama, important definitions such as “Mary Sue” - see previous post - and psychological profiles of various Internets Personality Disorders (IPD).

One of the more disturbing IPDs is “species dysmorphia“, a paraphilia in which the sufferer identifies too strongly with the animal cartoon characters from Saturday mornings. You probably know one or two of these. The chubby neighbors with too many plushies in the back window of their car?

Confused? Don’t worry, The Governator will explain it to you.

All-in-all a good laugh. Unless you’re a Mary Sue.

I have chosen to step out of the darkness and into the cold light of day. I am bipolar. Accept me or fade away. I don’t have time for shadows.
I wonder about the wisdom of this decision, to embrace the bipolar disorder as part of who I am. Not to fight it, but to soothe it with the bare minimum of meds.
I have turned my back on the old sacraments, and have embraced the New God. I have recited the Thousand Names: Prozac, Lamictal, Ativan.
I have traded the hypomanias away for the illusion of safety from the depressions. And I wonder whether I am a coward.