DBSA-NOVA Weekly News

Sunday, August 19, 2007

Volume 1, Number 6

This Week

· 8/21 Centerville Bipolar Support Group. 6400 Old Centreville Road, Centreville, VA 20121. 7:30 p.m.

· 8/22 Woodbridge Bipolar Support Group. 15941 Donald Curtis Drive, Woodbridge, VA 22191. 7:30 p.m.

· 8/22 Free Back-to-School Mental Health Screening for Children and Adolescents. Ashburn Psychological Services. 2^nd Floor. 44110 Ashburn Shopping Plaza. Ashburn, VA 20147. 11 a.m. – 5 p.m.

· 8/22 Ashburn Bipolar Support Group. 44110 Ashburn Shopping Plaza. Ashburn, VA 20147. 5:30 p.m.

Later

8/28 Loved Ones Support Group

8/28 Centreville Bipolar Support Group

9/1 Free Back-to-School Depression and Mood Disorder Screen Day..

9/4 Centreville Bipolar Support Group

Support Group Pages

Resources

This is the web page for our program to help those in the hospital and their loved ones

National DBSA

The web page for the national Depression Bipolar Support Alliance

Publications

DBSA publications for those with mood disorders and their loved ones

Suicide

Links to suicide prevention hotlines and resources

Support Groups

Links to our Loved Ones, Ashburn, Centreville and Woodbridge meetings

http://www.dbsanova.org

bipolarhope@dbsanova.org

The news in this newsletter is brought to you from novabipolarhappens.blogspot.com

New facilitator for the Woodbridge Bipolar Support Group

Michael Salmon, a resident of Woodbridge who has recurrent depression, an illness leading doctor’s now say falls within the bipolar spectrum, will be taking over as the first permanent facilitator of the Woodbridge Bipolar Support Group.

The group, which has temporarily been facilitated by several members of the Centreville Bipolar Support Group, has grown significantly in recent weeks. Michael facilitated his first meeting, quite successfully, on August 8.

For more information on the Woodbridge Bipolar Support Group:

www.dbsanova.org/woodbridge.html

Brittain, Ashburn group and mental health screenings featured in Loudoun paper

Angela Brittain, the Ashburn Bipolar Support Group and DBSA-Northern Virginia’s Free Mental Health Screening days, co-sponsored with Ashburn Psychological Services, were featured in this week’s edition of the Loudoun Easterner.

Of the advantages of the screenings, Angela said, “People often can’t figure out the reasons for interpersonal problems … Sometimes, there is a treatable illness that can be addressed.

For more information:

www.dbsanova.org/events.html

www.easterner.com

Army suicides reach 26-year high point; 20 percent had mood disorders

Army soldiers committed suicide last year at the highest rate in 26 years, and more than a quarter did so while serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, a new military report says.

The 99 suicides in 2006, which included 28 soldiers deployed to the two wars, amounted to a rate of 17.3 per 100,000, the report said. The average rate over the last 26 years has been 12.3 per 100,000.

Preliminary numbers for the first half of this year indicate the number of suicides could decline Army-wide but increase among troops serving in the wars, officials said.

Failed personal relationships, legal and financial problems and the stress of their jobs were factors motivating the soldiers to commit suicide, the report shows.

About a quarter of those who killed themselves had a history of at least one psychiatric disorder. Of those, about 20% had been diagnosed with a mood disorder such as bipolar disorder or depression; and 8% had been diagnosed with an anxiety disorder, including post traumatic stress disorder.

Firearms were the most common method of suicide.

More information 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 at 7:30 p.m.

More information:

www.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.