DBSA-Northern Virginia and Ashburn Psychological Services are offering free mental health screenings for depression and bipolar disorder on August 25 and September 1 as a part of both groups’ community service efforts. The screenings will be held at the offices of Ashburn Psychological Services, which are located at 44110 Ashburn Shopping Plaza, which is just off Ashburn Village Boulevard. More information can be found at www.dbsanova.org/events.html.

These mental health screenings provide a safe and confidential way to determine the likelihood of whether you suffer from depression and bipolar disorder, and information on how to get help through mental health care providers, support groups, government agencies and others.

The first screening will be on Saturday, August 25, from 11 AM to 5 PM, and it will be for children and adolescents. Parents and children do not need to register in advance. All they need to do is show up at the Ashburn Psychological Services offices in the Ashburn Shopping Plaza . The second screening will be for adults, adolescents and children of all ages on Saturday, September 1, from 11 AM to 5 PM.

These screenings allow for diagnosis and intervention. Mental health problems can become worse, even devastating, if left untreated.

Untreated bipolar may lead to brain shrinkage

Researchers discover people with bipolar disorder — or manic depression — suffer from an accelerated shrinking of their brain, according to an article on Psychcentral.com.

The study shows for the first time that bipolar disorder — a condition characterized by periods of depression and periods of mania — is associated with a reduction in brain tissue and proves that the changes get progressively worse with each relapse.

This discovery has implications not only for the way we research the disease, but may also impact the way this condition is treated.
The University of Edinburgh study is published in the Journal of Biological Psychiatry.

More information can be found at:

http://novabipolarhopenews.blogspot.com/

Boston columnist questions theatrical renditions of mental illness

Insanity is an irresistible metaphor except for those who've seen it close up. Our culture is filled with tales of madmen who are saner than the society that imprisons them, complete breakdowns that turn out to be creative breakthroughs, inner chaos that's more lovely and liberating than order could ever be, according to Louise Kennedy in The Boston Globe.

Those of us who have endured the disability of a beloved relative know better, she writes. Continuing, she says that we know that while people with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder or severe depression may have flashes of creative genius and almost spooky moments of intellectual and emotional insight, the facts of their illness are scary, repetitive, and debilitating. In the long run, it doesn't lift you up to be crazy; it wears you down. And so, try as we might to surrender to the power of psychosis as a symbol, we just can't stop noticing the difference between reality and fantasy.

More information can be found at:

http://novabipolarhopenews.blogspot.com/

Rosenthal to discuss seasonal affective disorder

Norman E. Rosenthal, MD, will discuss seasonal affective disorder, light therapy and other ways that those with bipolar and depression can fight the impact of season changes. The talk will be at the GWU Hospital Auditorium on Sept. 6

http://dbsanova.org/events.html

Join us at any meeting

Just because you already attend one group does not mean you cannot attend another. Now that we are bipolar support groups meeting in Ashburn, Woodbridge and Centreville you are welcome to attend all of them – all you have to do is have the illness. You can finding meeting dates and times, as well as those for the Loved Ones Group, by clicking on the !Yahoo Calender at www.dbsanova.org.