DBSA-NOVA Weekly News

Monday, September 3, 2007

Volume 1, Number 8

This Week

· 9/4 Centreville Bipolar Support Group II. 6400 Old Centreville Road, Centreville, VA 20121, 7:30 p.m.

· 9/5 Woodbridge Support Group. 15941 Donald Curtis Drive, Woodbridge, VA 22191, 7:30 p.m.

· 9/6 Norman E. Rosenthal, MD: Seasonal Affective Disorder, 900 Twenty Third Street, Washington, DC 20037

· 9/8 Ashburn Bipolar Support Group, (in the middle of the Ashburn Village Shopping Center) 44110 Ashburn Shopping Plaza, Ashburn, VA 20147, 5:30 p.m.

Later

9/11 Centreville Bipolar Support Group II

9/12 Woodbridge Support Group

9/15 Norman Rosenthal, M.D., on seasonal affective disorder

9/17 Centreville Bipolar Support Group I

Support Group Pages

Ashburn

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

Second meeting in Centreville to start on Sept. 17

A second weekly meeting at Centreville United Methodist Church for those who have bipolar will begin meeting on Sept. 17 at 7:30 p.m. in Room 218. The meeting, known as Centreville Bipolar Support Group I, will be held each Monday and is designed to be smaller gathering and to help with overcrowding in the Tuesday night meetings, which will continue to be held each Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. in the same room.

The Monday night meetings will be a trial for the next three months, and at that time it will be determined whether they will be continued into the future. A facilitator, or facilitators, have not been announced for the Monday meeting yet. If you are interested, write Jayson Blair at jayson@jayson-blair.com.

Psychosocial rehab helps depressed bipolar patients

Psychosocial interventions are effective adjuncts to pharmacotherapy in delaying recurrences of bipolar disorder; however, to date their effects on life functioning has been given little attention. In a randomized trial, the authors examined the impact of intensive psychosocial treatment plus pharmacotherapy on the functional outcomes of patients with bipolar disorder over the 9 months following a depressive episode, according to an article in the American Journal of Psychiatry.

Rosenthal to discuss seasonal affective disorder this week

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:

http://dbsanova.org/events.html

Woodbridge group now focuses on bipolar and depression; begins meeting weekly

The Woodbridge group has changed its name to the Woodbridge Support Group and will begin accepting participants who suffer from depression as well as those with bipolar.

The support group, which has grown rapidly since beginning in July, also will begin meeting each week starting Sept. 5.

The group is expanding its mission beyond those with bipolar due to the lack of support groups for those with depression in southern and eastern Prince William County.

Members of the group overwhelmingly have said that they would like to see the group meet more often than the every other week schedule the group was on before Sept. 5.

If you have any questions about the Woodbridge Support Group, feel free to contact Mike at woodbridge@dbsanova.org.