This morning Andrew Johns completed his walk from Newcastle to Sydney to raise funds for the Black Dog Institute research and awareness of bipolar and depression.

Raised $2 million

Even though it was a magnificent effort to raise these funds I think Andrew’s greatest contribution was to talk openly about his own experiences. I know from the feedback I have had from BACK FROM THE BRINK, that personal stories help bring down the bricks of stigma. I remember doing  a book signing in Perth where every third person commented that they felt comfortable discussing their depression with family after Geoff Gallop, the ex Premier of WA, admitted to his own struggles with the illness when resigning from parliament.

Real stories move hearts

It may seem like a courageous thing to do but I have been amazed how supportive people have been when discussing my own illness. Inevitably it leads to the person then feeling comfortable discussing their own story of a loved one (or even themselves) - and I now know that everyone has a story.

I encourage you to share your story with family and friends so that we can discuss mental illness as easily as we do physical illnesses. I encourage you to read the story on this topic from the Mayo Clinic in the news section of www.IamBackFromTheBrink.com

Kind Regards

Graeme

Tags: andrew johns, bipolar, depression, mental illness, stigma

One of the biggest problems you have when you google depression or anxiety disorders is that you get 6 Trillion websites - where do you start?

I am very proud of the new resources section for  www.IamBackFromTheBrink.com . It is extremely comprehensive and covers helplines, organisations, websites, support groups, and books for Australia, New Zealand, USA, UK, and Canada.

It was put together with a huge contribution from a friend of mine, who wishes to remain anonymous. It is broken down into subcategories which include:

General Mental Health

Depression

Bipolar

Child and Adolescent

Carers

Post and Antenatal Depression

Anxiety Disorders

Seasonal Affective Disorder

Support Groups

There is also a large listing of books that is broken down into the same categories and are linked directly to Amazon so that you can read more about each book to see if it is for you.

You can check out the resources section at: http://www.iambackfromthebrink.com/resources.html

Hopefully this directory will save you lots of time in identifying websites that have good material.

Have a look at the section and let me know by answering this blog if there are any other sites that you think should be included. http://www.iambackfromthebrink.com/resources.html

Kind Regards

Graeme Cowan

www.IamBackFromTheBrink.com

 

Tags: anxiety, bipolar, depression, depression books, depression resources

In a recent book by Professor Jane Plant called “Beating Stress, Anxiety and Depression” she lists substantial evidence of how often mental illness is misdiagnosed. (see news story at www.IamBackFromTheBrink.com) I suspect one of the reasons for this is that it is a very inexact science (eg. you can’t take a blood test) and it often takes someone with substantial skill and experience to properly diagnose. Another contributing factor is that some medicines taken for other conditions have depression as a side effect.

When I interviewed over 250 people for my latest book Back from the Brink Too, carers say that their biggest regret is not getting their loved one to a competent doctor sooner to get an accurate diagnosis.

Startling delay in diagnosis

Yesterday, I met with Wendy Williamson from the Blackdog Institute and she told me that it takes 15 years on average from the time someone first presents with syptoms of bipolar till when they are actually diagnosed. There is a lot of unnecessary suffering because of this. I’m not sure what the figures are for depression but I suspect they would be equally worrying. What further complicates things is that different types of depression respond better to different types of drugs. Is it any wonder that some patients and their loved ones are frustrated by trialling drugs that don’t seem to work.

A probable solution

Wendy showed me a new software program developed by the Blackdog Institute called “Mood Assessment Program” or “MAP” which seeks to address this frustrating situation.

The patient is required to sit down and answer a number of questions about their history which takes about an hour. The questions cover the symptoms they are experiencing, their psychological profile, physical health, stressful life events that may contribute to the mood disorder, and what drugs and therapy you have tried.

Save time save suffering

The resulting report provides doctors with a comprehensive overview of your personal experience with depression and provides a probable diagnosis of type of illness you are suffering from. It then presents doctors with the treatments that are most likely to effectively treat depression. The MAP system is in pilot mode at the moment but the results are looking extremely promising. The Blackdog Institute is one of the preeminent mood disorder units in the world and this software allows GP’s, Psychiatrists, and Psychologists to leverage their expertise.

If you have any frustrating experiences about delayed diagnosis or comments on MAP I would like to hear them.

Kind Regards

Graeme

 

Tags: antideppressants, anxiety, bipolar, depression