Did You Know....?

Creativity Center

...that there's a new course in the Dave's Spark Creativity Center that can help you find your creative side? "Tapping Your Creative Flow" shows you how outlets like music, scrapbooking, photography, etc., are personal wellness tools that anyone can use--not just "artists." This self-paced course discusses how to handle creative barriers, create the time and space you need for your activity, find focus, deal with criticism, and much more. DBSA expresses its sincere thanks to Lana Castle, author of Finding Your Bipolar Muse, for her collaboration on this course. Also the author of Bipolar Disorder Demystified, Lana is a speaker and mental health advocate with a passion for the creative arts.

Wellness Tracker

...that you can keep track of both your emotional/mental and physical health with the DBSA Wellness Tracker? Using the DBSA Wellness Tracker can help you better recognize potential health problems and mood triggers in your daily life. Each section of the DBSA Wellness Tracker Report provides helpful information to help you better partner with your clinicians on treatment plans that address your overall health and well-being. With this tool, you can track key health trends related to:

Overall mood Mood disorder symptoms Lifestyle (including sleep, exercise, etc.) Medication (and side effects) Physical health

Check it out now at www.DBSAlliance.org/Tracker. Stay well and stay on track! 

Stand-up Comedy

...that you could have the chance to learn stand-up comedy from a professional? Find your comedic voice and make your stand-up debut this September at "Peer Connections," the DBSA 2009 National Conference in Indianapolis. Back by popular demand is DBSA's Stand-Up Comedy Night featuring David Granirer, a smash hit at last year’s conference that takes a look at the lighter side of taking meds, seeing counselors, getting diagnosed, and surviving the mental health system.  David is a stand-up comic, counselor, and author of The Happy Neurotic. He's also the founder of Stand Up For Mental Health, a project teaching comedy to people with mental illness as a way of building confidence and fighting public stigma. And he's offering a virtual summer course that culminates in the debut of 10 participants at our conference. Classes start in August! Interested? Only 10 stand-up student spots are available, so don't miss your chance to apply now at www.DBSAlliance.org/StandUp09. And be sure to register for the conference, too! (You must be registered for the conference to be eligible to apply.)

2009 National Conference

…that the DBSA 2009 National Conference, Peer Connections, is happening this September 10-13, in downtown Indianapolis? While some of the details are currently still in the works, we’re thrilled to tell you now that two of last year’s “blockbuster conference hits” will return:

• The wit and wisdom of Stand Up Comedy Night with David Granirer
• The “light-bulb moments” of the Peer Roundtable sessions

DBSA and the chapters involved in the 2009 Conference Committee are in the process of selecting and/or finalizing our conference presenters...and we hope to have exciting news for you shortly! Currently confirmed are the following leading
experts & advocates:

• Darby Penney (community integration advocate, author). Darby is co-author of The Lives They Left Behind: Suitcases from a State Hospital Attic and co-creator of the stirring Willard Suitcase Exhibit which examines the rich, complex lives of those committed to a New York state institution. Learn more at http://suitcaseexhibit.org/.
• David Granirer (stand-up comic, counselor, author). In addition to Stand-Up Comedy Night, David will speak on humor & stigma in a session called “I’m OK but YOU Need Professional Help.” Learn more at http://www.standupformentalhealth.com/.  
• Victoria Maxwell (actress, playwright, educator, consultant). Besides offering the post-conference institute, “Staying Well & Productive at Work,” Victoria will close out the conference with a performance of her latest one-woman show, “Funny…You Don’t Look Crazy?!” Learn more at http://www.victoriamaxwell.com./

For a chance to win a FREE conference registration, connect to our online survey and let us know the issues/topics that you’d like to see addressed this year in our breakout sessions. And stay connected to the latest conference news at www.DBSAlliance.org/Conference2009!   

Facing Us Clubhouse

...that you can use your own creativity as a wellness tool in the Dave's Spark Creativity Center? In this new addition to the Facing Us Clubhouse, you can

• “Eavesdrop” on musicians, authors, researchers, artists & other experts as they talk about the creative process in our podcasts.
• Participate in workshops like “Sparking Creativity in Healing: Expressing Yourself on Paper.”                            
• Take a creativity course (coming soon!).         
• Listen to the Facing Us Radio to hear the winning songs that were voted finalists in our 2008 Music Contest.
• Be inspired in the Art Gallery, featuring art created by peers.
• Create a personal playlist, or buy a digital album, of the ’08 Music Contest winning entries that run the gamut of musical styles—rock, bluegrass, instrumental, folk, experimental, country, alternative, hip hop, contemporary piano.

Visit the Creativity Center & spark your imagination!

Find A Pro

…that DBSA has a new search engine, Find A Pro, to help you find, and recommend, mental health professionals? At www.DBSAlliance.org/FindAPro, you can search a list of providers and facilities recommended by others living with a mood disorder. To find the right provider, you can search by city, zip code, type of professional, specialty, gender, age and language(s) spoken.

If you recommend a clinician or facility, you’ll be helping us build our database of mental health providers. But, more importantly, you’ll be providing an invaluable service to your peers. As a personal message from someone who has “been there,” your recommendation can help others through the often confusing, overwhelming process of finding a provider. The first 2,000 people to submit a Find A Pro recommendation will receive a special DBSA lapel pin, as a small token of our thanks, and will also be entered into a drawing for a beautiful Swarovski crystal bracelet, handmade by jewelry artist and consumer Sharon Baum Crawford.

Key Redfield Jamison, PhD

…that Kay Redfield Jamison, PhD—one of the keynote speakers at the DBSA 2008 National Conference next month—has produced three award-winning public television specials on bipolar disorder and artistic creativity … one on musical composers with the illness, another on artist Vincent Van Gogh and another on the poet Lord Byron?

Did you know….

• that she is the daughter of an Air Force officer—a pilot and meteorologist—and, as a school-age child, lived in Florida, Puerto Rico, California, Tokyo and Washington, DC?
• that she studied zoology at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, where she is also now an Honorary Professor of English?
• that she was in her late 20s and had just become an assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), when she experienced her first episode of bipolar disorder?
• that she founded UCLA’s Affective Disorders Clinic, now a large teaching and research center?
• that her best-selling books, like An Unquiet Mind and Touched with Fire, have been published in more than 12 languages around the world?
• that she is coauthor of the standard medical textbook on bipolar disorder?

These are just a few of the many facets to this world-renowned researcher, professor and author. You can learn more about Dr. Jamison—and the brilliant insight she has to offer in her keynote—next month at our National Conference, “The Power of Peers.” Visit www.DBSAlliance.org/Conference2008 for more details on speakers and registration.

Facing Us 2008 Music Contest

…that you can share your musical gifts, inspire others, and maybe even win cash prizes? The DBSA “Facing Us” 2008 Music Contest honors the power of music to heal the soul and soothe the spirit. And this summer, DBSA and Dave’s Spark: Start Something are celebrating the creative spark of musicians living with mood disorders.

Are you one of those artists who finds solace through song? Send us your audio clip … the contest begins July 4 and you could win up to $900! If you’re not musically inclined, you can still get involved, starting September 8, by voting online for your favorite contestant—you choose the winners! 

All of the “fine print” on contest details and rules can be found at http://www.FacingUsContest.org/, but here are the basics:

• Audio clip submissions will be accepted July 4-September 1, 2008.
• Songs must be original work, written and performed by the artist.
• Entrants must self-identify as having, or having had, a lived experience of depression or bipolar disorder.
• Online voting runs September 8-October 1, 2008.
• Prizes: 1st Place $900 / 2nd Place $600 / 3rd Place $300
• Winners will also be featured on a compilation CD and FacingUs.org

Celebrate the creative spark through the DBSA “Facing Us” 2008 Music Contest!

DBSA Brochures

...that DBSA just published a brand-new brochure? Hot off the press, Generic and Brand Name Drugs: Understanding the Basics, offers guidelines for consumers who want to make smart, informed decisions with their providers about medication. This 12-page brochure explores the similarities and differences between brand name and generic drugs, as well as their pros and cons. For a copy of this essential go-to guide, visit our online store at www.DBSAlliance.org/Brochures.

...that you can now listen online to one of our classic brochures? Introduction to Depression and Bipolar Disorder, an informative overview of these two illnesses' symptoms and treatments, is now available as a free audio recording on our website. To listen to this educational resource, visit www.DBSAlliance.org/Listen. And stay tuned to our website for more audio brochures! 

Online Support Groups

…that DBSA now offers online support groups? These online, real-time groups offer peer support to all those who don’t have access to DBSA’s local support groups, either because they live too far away or have limited mobility, or because they wish to remain anonymous. Launched last December, the online support groups (OSGs) now have nearly 600 registered users across the United States and beyond, including participants in Germany and Argentina!

Just like DBSA’s nearly 1,000 in-person support groups, our online groups follow the same format and guidelines and are facilitated by volunteer peer facilitators. Each online group meets once a week, and consumers and loved ones may attend as many sessions as they’d like. “For anyone who doesn't have a local support group available to them, I would recommend the online group as a good substitute,” says a regular OSG participant. “You can participate as little or as much as you are comfortable doing.”

The OSGs are the newest addition to DBSA’s larger online community that includes discussion boards and live events such as DBSA Recovery Chats and the Peer Specialist Continuing Education webinars. Everyone with access to the Internet is invited to participate; registration is required, but there’s no charge.

Sign up or learn more here.

DBSA Blog

…that every week DBSA President Sue Bergeson posts a new entry on her award-winning blog site? Over this past year, she has shared personal insights and anecdotes on all kinds of issues: veterans, celebrities and mental illness, smoking cessation, spirituality, relationships and the mental health screening debate, to name just a few.  

And last fall, Sue’s blog site was named one of the Top 10 for bipolar disorder by Psych Central, the Internet’s oldest and largest mental health resource. “The top ten list in bipolar disorder was compiled with input from our readers, one of my associate editors, and myself,” said Psych Central CEO and publisher John M. Grohol, PsyD. “It reflects the excellence in regular writing of entries related to this mental health concern that we feel is consistent and worthy of people's time.” Psych Central was created, and is run, by mental health professionals and is one of Forbes magazine’s “Best of the Web.” 

Here’s a sampling of some of Sue’s recent noteworthy entries, which you can read by visiting HealthCentral’s BipolarConnect site or our own site at  http://www.DBSAlliance.org/blog

• Mental Health Heroes: Strong at the Broken Places
• Wellness Windows
• Psychiatric Research: Thoughts and Frustrations 

Get the scoop from Sue … log on to her blog!

Share Your Story

…that you can share your story online, either through video or words, of life with depression or bipolar disorder? Verbalizing your story can be a very empowering recovery tool—for yourself as well as for those who hear it. Hearing about a peer’s lived experience helps others realize they are not alone and that a life in recovery is, in fact, a real possibility. And hearing, or seeing, someone’s story can also help eliminate stigma. As DBSA President Sue Bergeson said, “According to researchers, the only thing that seems to put a dent in the stigma attached to mental illness is not education … not shame and blame … but instead, putting a real face on the illness.”

On the “Share Your Story” pages of our website, be moved by a medley of honest, heartfelt narratives written by consumers, friends and family members. You can add thoughts on your own, or a loved one’s, journey to wellness by clicking here.

In the Facing Us Clubhouse, be encouraged by a kaleidoscope of personal video stories of people just like you who live day in, day out with a mood disorder. You can contribute your own personal account to this inspiring collection; click here to learn more and submit a video online. 

Please share your story, through words or video,
with countless others who visit our website
for support and encouragement.

Survey Center

…that you can help DBSA determine our position on important issues, the types of programs needed in communities, what research to support and more? On our Survey Center, we frequently post anonymous, confidential surveys to get feedback about what matters most to consumers and families. We’ve used this information to inform organizations and individuals like the following about the mental health community’s needs and concerns:

• the National Institute of Mental Health, the largest research organization in the country
• The Institute of Medicine, whose mission is to serve as adviser to the nation to improve health
• training directors of all the psychiatric residency programs in the U.S.
• mental health community thought leaders at the Carter Center
• major insurance companies
• policy makers on Capitol Hill

Currently, the DBSA Survey Center needs your help to address the following topics:

• Cultural Competency of Peer-Run Programs
• Diagnosis & Treatment in Minority Communities
• Smoking & Mental Health

If these topics don’t interest or apply to you, please check our Survey Center periodically, as new surveys and topics are posted frequently.

To make your voice heard, visit www.DBSAlliance.org/SurveyCenter.

Prescription Drug Assistance Programs

…that DBSA has a web page dedicated to helping you save money at the pharmacy? If medication is part of your treatment plan, you know that some prescriptions can be quite expensive. And as we head into 2008, many of us are reviewing our health insurance policies and budgeting for the new year.

That’s why, on our "Prescription Drug Assistance Programs" page, we list 15 different resources that offer financial assistance for certain prescription medicines. Many drug companies—and nonprofit services—have created programs to provide medication free of charge to doctors whose patients might not otherwise be able to get the prescriptions they need. Each program has different eligibility requirements and application processes.

Click here to check out this part of our website and learn more.