Bipolar disorder or manic-depression

1. Well-connected's comprehensive overview of bipolar disease, written by physicians at Harvard University and Massachusetts General Hospital
   
2. English Royal College of Psychiatrists
3. Emedicine comprehensive review aimed at physicians
4. Group sites:
1. bpso.org's comprehensive bipolar resources. bpso is an intensive Internet support group for significant others of individuals with bipolar disorder. You may apply to subscribe to the bpso Internet support group. There is always a waiting list, but it is worth the wait.
2. Bipolar disease resources: a comprehensive list of worldwide bipolar links

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5. Research group sites:
1. Stanley Center for the Innovative Treatment of Bipolar Disorder, the major bipolar research institute
2. Harvard Bipolar Research Program includes information about Harvard clinical programs and research studies. You will also find basic information about bipolar disease and its treatment.
3. Mental Health Source Bipolar Disorders Information Center, consensus guidelines, newsletters, continuing medical education for your psychiatrist
6. Personal pages:
1. The witty Chris Malcolm's Bipolar Disorder page, including tips on getting a college degree in spite of bipolar disorder.

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7. Social Security Disability: Many bipolar individuals cannot work or can only work part of the time, so must apply for disability. Here are Social Security's rules for qualifying for disability.

   If you do not qualify on your first attempt, keep trying. It sometimes takes as many as three tries before your application is approved. It may help to hire a disability appeal attorney, but first try on your own, because Social Security may approve your first application, saving you the attorney's fees, which can be 1/3 of your disability settlement.
1. Social Security Online
2. Disability Evaluation Under Social Security ("The Blue Book") (1/98; SSA Publication No. 64-039) contains the medical criteria that SSA uses to determine disability. It is intended primarily for physicians and other health professionals.
3. Disability Based on Drug Addiction or Alcoholism


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4. Work Incentives for People with Disabilities
1. SSA Redbook on Work Incentives: A Summary Guide to Social Security and Supplemental Security Income Work Incentives for People with Disabilities
2. Working While Disabled How We Can Help
5. Plans for Achieving Self-Support (PASS)
   1. Plans for Achieving Self-Support (PASS) for Blind or Disabled People, March, 1999
   2. Neighborhood Legal Services, Inc. March, 1997 explanation of SSI's PASS Plan for Achieving Self Support
   3. December, 1997 changes to make the PASS program more accessible:
   • SSI's December, 1997 statement
   • SSI's December, 1997 emergency instructions
   • Neighborhood Legal Services analysis of December, 1997 changes
8. Bipolar individuals are often discriminated against in the workplace.
Reasonable Accommodations for People with Psychiatric Disabilities for employers and educators can help you negotiate reasonable accommodations.
9. Parents of disabled adult bipolar children worry about what will happen to their children after their death. Planned Lifetime Assistance Network, or PLAN provides case management, guardianship and trustees for trusts for your disabled adult child after your death. Unfortunately, this is currently only available in 18 states.


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10. Medications:
1. Harvard Medical School psychopharmacology algorithm project including Depression and Bipolar Treatment Algorithm
2. Medications for treatment resistant bipolar disorder from the June, 1997 Second International Conference on Bipolar Disorder
3. Dr. Bob's Psychopharmacology Tips: Dr. Robert Hsiung is a University of Chicago psychopharmacologist, a psychiatrist who subspecializes in psychiatric medication. Dr. Bob's tips come from a psychopharmacology discussion group, which focuses on tough medication problems.
4. Look up your medications at RxList, which provides comprehensive medication information, including both technical package insert information and easier to understand patient drug information. Type your medication name in the search box below to find information about it on RxList:
5. Alternatively, look up your medications in the United States Pharmacopeia (USP) USP DI® and Advice for the Patient®.
6. Psych meds are very expensive. You can obtain meds more cheaply from Canada:
1. McNights Pharmacy, Winnipeg Manitoba, toll free 800 841 8598, fax 866 662 3689
2. Canada Drugs, Winnipeg, Manitoba, toll free 866 444 3784, fax 877 525 8539
3. CanadaRx
4. NorthlandMeds Pharmacy 1239 Unit B Manahan Ave, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada R3T-5S8, Toll-free phone: 1-866-317-MEDS(6337), Toll-free fax: 1-866-251-MEDS(6337)

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11. Finding and evaluating medical information:
1. Online free English psychiatry textbook chapter Depressive disorder and bipolar disorder Stevens, Psychiatry An Illustrated Colour Text


2. American Journal Psychiatry
3. British Journal Psychiatry
4. Using Internet search engines:
1. google
2. Copernic free version
3. Kartoo
5. Find lists of books about bipolar disease. Read reader reviews at amazon.com bookstore.
6. Purchase second hand books inexpensively at AbeBooks
7. Purchase books cheaply at EBay books US online auction and EBay medical books
8. Evaluating medical information on the Internet: Patient Power: Turning a Medical Mountain Into a Manageable Molehill by Susan Coburn of the New York Times, a free site that requires registration for use
9. Finding medical articles aimed at physicians:
1. At Medscape Psychiatry. Medscape is a free service, aimed at doctors, but open to anyone who registers. It is updated frequently and features articles and psychiatry conference summaries.
2. You may also search Medscape's free Medline search engine. Medline includes abstracts of medical articles, not full-text articles. Use the abstract to find the full-text article. You may purchase full-text articles at this site, but they are very expensive. It is cheaper to read them at a hospital or medical school library.

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10. Determining how reliable medical journal articles are: Trisha Greenhalgh explains how to evaluate medical articles in these British Medical Journal articles:
1. Is the article valid? This includes a clear explanation of levels of evidence, from single case reports, which are the least valid to randomized controlled studies, which if properly performed, are the most valid.
2. Were the methods valid?
3. Evaluating papers that summarize other papers, including review articles and meta-analyses (analyses of multiple other research studies)
4. Evaluating drug trials
5. Understanding statistics Part I
6. Understanding Statistics Part II "Significant" relations and their pitfalls

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Help for Disorganized Households

which are common in families with bipolar members
1. FlyLady baby step reminders throughout the day
2. What's for Dinner? Leanne Ely's menu mailers, which include recipes and grocery lists

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