March 16, 2017 • Volume 10, Issue 11 • Subscribe to Hope & Harmony Headlines
Confidence game
Photo: razyph / iStock / Getty Images Plus
Belief that things can change for the better is called hope, and it’s crucial to living well with bipolar disorder. So is belief that you can influence things in your life for the better. In psychological circles, that’s called self-efficacy. You and I might call it self-confidence or self-trust.
Researchers have studied the role of self-efficacy in managing mood disorders and medical conditions like diabetes. The bottom line: Good things come from strengthening your sense that you can do what you need to do to.
In a 2014 study of 141 people with bipolar disorder, clinical psychologist Kristin M. Abraham and colleagues reported that higher levels of self-efficacy were associated with better mental and physical quality of life, irregardless of mood symptoms and co-existing medical conditions.
The authors of a 2000 study published in the British Journal of Psychiatry found that “efforts to establish and maintain a sense of control over one’s life and environment” appeared to build resistance against depressive recurrence.
Cognitive therapy can help with changing your self-view. Behavioral activation therapy teaches by example, since you learn how to set and achieve manageable goals. Bipolar depression, on the other hand, erodes self-efficacy.
As bpHope blogger Yvette Adams writes, “To say that my self-confidence takes a knock would be more than an understatement.”
In “4 Things to Remind Yourself After a Depressive Episode,” Yvette shares strategies for reviving your self-confidence after a downward mood shift. First on the list: Write out or create a picture of how you see yourself—who you are separate from bipolar symptoms.
Read “4 Things to Remind Yourself After a Depressive Episode.” >>
CBT for social anxiety normalizes brain structures
FEBRUARY 6, 2017, ZURICH, Switzerland—A study conducted by Swiss researchers shows that successful treatment of an anxiety disorder with cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) alters key brain structures involved in processing and regulating emotions. The more successful the treatment, the stronger brain changes. The research group was also able to demonstrate that brain areas involved in processing emotions were more interconnected after the treatment. Read more >>
Bipolar and Sugar – Ways We Unintentionally Sabotage Our Stability (video)
Do you ever know what’s good for you yet choose to do the exact opposite? Yeah. That’s me in the candy aisle. Especially when it comes to chocolate. Dark chocolate. Watch Jon Press’s video blog >>
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