Insight What can we learn from Lincoln?
Understanding Our very lives depend on how well we manage stress.
Experience Learning to appreciate the positive.
Intelligent Choices What to do if your second antidepressant fails.
Knowledge is Necessity. Recovery starts with knowledge. I can't emphasize this enough.
My name is John McManamy. I am an award-winning mental health journalist and author. I have dedicated the last 11 years of my life to researching and writing on depression and bipolar disorder for people like yourself - patients and loved ones. I know where you are coming from. I am also a patient, as well as a loved one.
Here, you will find articles that will give you greater insight into your illness and behaviors and help you make your own choices in your treatment and recovery. Thanks for stopping by. Jump in wherever you like ...
Anza-Borrego Desert, March 6, 2009.
Lincoln and Darwin were born on the same day, 200 years ago in 1809. These two articles discuss how their actions and ideas apply to you:
His unremitting despair and constant failures steeled his character.
Is there a selective advantage to depression and bipolar?
Now that you're familiar with the DSM-IV, forget everything you've read.
A leading anthropologist explains the birds and the bees.
We're depressed way more than we are manic. Now if psychiatry only knew how to treat us.
Mindfulness - The Ultimate Mood Stabilizer
What is arguably the most effective recovery tool requires a highly disciplined mind.
Dopamine - Serotonin's Secret Weapon
A smart dopamine med may do wonders for your depression or bipolar or mental acuity. The problem is one doesn't exist.
No, it's not normal kid behavior.
An innovative researcher discovers that patients know best.
The world's oldest wind instrument brings out my playful and spiritual side.
Knowledge is Necessity
Copyright 2009 John McManamy Contact
Mood 25 articles on what we need to know about feeling bad, good, or too good for our own good.
Behavior 11 articles on what is wrong with us - and right - what holds us back and makes us shine.
Treatment 24 articles on smart meds strategies, talking therapies, supplements, and ECT.
Recovery 14 articles on leading a disciplined life in order to acheive a satisfying life.
Science 14 articles on what makes us tick - or tock. Featuring your favorite neurons.
Issues 12 articles on things we can change - and need to accept.
Famous 20 articles on your favorites, from Marilyn to Van Gogh to - uh - Hitler.
Stories 16 articles from people like us, each a masterpiece, bearing eloquent witness.
Populations 13 articles on age, gender, income, family, ethnicity, work, school.
My Book: Living Well With Depression and Bipolar Disorder
(HarperCollins, 2006)
"This book belongs in the hands of every person who has suffered from depression or bipolar disorder, and every mental health professional who treats them." - Pete Early, author, "Crazy."
Keep Track
You're in the right place. Check out your video guide to McMan's Web.
"Be warned! These musings are addictive." - Kimberly Read, About.com - Bipolar.
Featured Blogs
"We are who we pretend to be. You can’t go wrong pretending to be JFK or Martin Luther King." Plus more words of wisdom from the newly-anointed family patriarch and elder.
Advice to a New Grandson - Part II
"God has a funny way of treating people He loves most. Just ask Joan of Arc." Plus more stuff I wish I knew when I was two days old.
Latest Blogs
Schizophrenia in a seven-year-old? Impossible, you say? An eye-opening account from the family.
Scott Gregory Hawkins - Who Will Speak Out?
When a college student with Aspergers is found beaten to death in his dorm room, one can't help but ask the obvious questions.
My Zombie State is Other People's Normal
My normal can be very unpredictable, but at least I know I won't embarrass myself when I feel out-of-it and depressed.
Think you can't be manipulated? The people who signed a petition to ban dihydrogen monoxide (another name for water) didn't think so, either.
Robert Spitzer and the DSM - Part V
This five-part series (and counting) looks at the brief history of diagnostic psychiatry and the man responsible for how we (and our clinicians) view ourselves.
My Life as an International Awardee - Conclusion
A speedy traverse of my life (in three parts) as the surprise recipient of a major award and why it didn't change my life but sure helped in my recovery.
How a conversation with my daughter triggered a long-suppressed happy memory and offered a healing moment.
How two five-second Zen moments 30 years apart changed my life.
Recent Videos
"Nicely produced and edited. I'd love to see more frequent updates." - Sandra Kiume, journalist
The world's oldest wind instrument brings out the playful and spiritual side in me.
Mindfulness - Living in the Present
We forget. The present is where life is happening - here, right now.
Don't just sit there. Build yourself a tree.
Don't be fooled. There's always a somewhere.
Nature heals. So do our brains.
No koalas were harmed making this movie.
Mindfulness: The Ultimate Mood Stabilizer
The Buddha was on to something ...
Do people with bipolar cycle in and out of time? Call me bichronic.
In the Spotlight
Lincoln and Darwin were born on the same day, 200 years ago in 1809. These two articles discuss how their actions and ideas apply to you:
His unremitting despair and constant failures steeled his character.
Is there a selective advantage to depression and bipolar?
A Random Sampling
Now that you're familiar with the DSM-IV, forget everything you've read.
A leading anthropologist explains the birds and the bees.
We're depressed way more than we are manic. Now if psychiatry only knew how to treat us.
Mindfulness - The Ultimate Mood Stabilizer
What is arguably the most effective recovery tool requires a highly disciplined mind.
Dopamine - Serotonin's Secret Weapon
A smart dopamine med may do wonders for your depression or bipolar or mental acuity. The problem is one doesn't exist.
No, it's not normal kid behavior.
An innovative researcher discovers that patients know best.
Living Well With Depression and Bipolar Disorder by John McManamy (HarperCollins 2006)
"I doubt there is a person in the world who knows these conditions better, inside and out, than John McManamy ... He weaves together the science and the inner experiences of depression and bipolar disorder in a way that is quite rare. This book is full of studies and personal insights, in about equal measure, leavened with the practical conclusions of its even-handed and often humorous author. It breaks new ground." - Nassir Ghaemi MD, Tufts University
Sample Amazon Reviews
"John McManamy has an outstanding ability to describe his and other's experience of having bipolar disorder in all its complexity. He never tries to take the place of the patiet's psychiatrist. He refers his readers to other sources of excellent more detailed clinical information. He tells the human side of the story. He teaches patients how to be better informed consumer's of psychiatric care. He encourages patients to be active participants in their recovery." - Raymond
"This is one of the best books I've read on the subject of Bipolar Disorder or Depression. Filled with real world examples, and crammed with information this book will empower you to take charge of your illness." - Eileen
