Welcome to the October 2, 2007 edition of carnival of depression, bipolar disorder, and mental health journeys.

Deborah’s Bipolar II Misdiagnosis Problem offered me a flash back to the past; she was diagnosed with depression but she suspects that she is suffering from type 2 bipolar disorder. Therefore she has been taking antidepressants but doesn’t seem to have gotten relief for her symptoms. I was misdiagnosed with type 2 bipolar disorder when I actually had depression. Therefore I was prescribed mood stabilizers that offered me no relief. With most mental illnesses, half the battle is a correct diagnosis because the treatment plan that ensues is directly based on the diagnosis.

Dr. Martin shares his hilarious list called The Quicksand Guide To Professional Help to laugh at the ‘experts’ that are meant to help people. My favorite is: Homeopath - “Here is some watered down glue.” (I’m sure the homeopaths out there will take offense to this one).

Dr. Deb wrote a nice article to help you build resiliency: Ten Tips For Building Resiliency. Study after study suggests that a combination of medication therapy and cognitive therapy work well for depression, and part of the goal of cognitive therapy is to help the person become more emotionally resilient.

As always, GrrlScientist shares thoughtful information on depression and bipolar disorder research that are well-referenced so you can check out the study sources and decide for yourself. The first study looks at Running Your Blues Away, where exercise is again shown to improve major depression symptoms. The second study looks at the role of light-based treatment for Bipolar Disorder

Thank you to all those who submitted articles to this edition of my mental health carnival. Congratulations to those whose entries made it into this carnival! Please note that even if your entries were not selected (my selection criteria have become stricter, and I limit each edition to include only 3-4 entries), I personally visit and read each and every one of your submissions. To submit your best articles for consideration in a future carnival, please use this link.

Until Next Time!