The Balanced Mind Foundation Live Event Transcript

Did you miss our chat with Jean Galovich? Read the transcript of this exciting and informative chat. The Balanced Mind Foundation will be hosting several more expert chats this Winter. Watch your email for more details.  

This is a transcript of a live chat held with Mary Fristad, Ph.D. on September 16, 2009.  Dr. Fristad is a Professor of Psychiatry and Psychology at the Ohio State University, where she has been on faculty since 1986. Dr. Fristad is the Director of Research and Psychological Services in the OSU Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Dr. Fristad’s area of specialty is childhood mood disorders. She is has published over 100 articles and book chapters addressing the assessment and treatment of childhood-onset depression, suicidality and bipolar disorder (manic-depression).

Biography
Leslie E. Packer, Ph.D., is a New York State licensed psychologist in private practice, specializing in children and adolescents with neurological disorders such as Mood Disorders, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Tourette Syndrome, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, and Asperger's Disorder. In addition to her treatment services, she also serves as a consulting psychologist to school districts to provide staff developments and to assist school teams in developing appropriate educational programs, behavior plans, and accommodations for students with neurological disorders.

She is the author of two web sites, School Behavior and Tourette Syndrome "Plus", for parents, educators, and clinicians. Her new book, Find a Way or Make a Way, provides helpful school accommodations for a variety of disorders.

Biography
Leslie E. Packer, Ph.D., is a New York State licensed psychologist in private practice, specializing in children and adolescents with neurological disorders such as Mood Disorders, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Tourette Syndrome, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, and Asperger's Disorder. In addition to her treatment services, she also serves as a consulting psychologist to school districts to provide staff developments and to assist school teams in developing appropriate educational programs, behavior plans, and accommodations for students with neurological disorders.

She is the author of two web sites, School Behavior and Tourette Syndrome "Plus", for parents, educators, and clinicians. Her new book, Find a Way or Make a Way, provides helpful school accommodations for a variety of disorders.

Did you miss our chat with Matt Cohen? Read the transcript of this exciting and informative chat.

To stay informed about monthly Expert Chats and other The Balanced Mind Foundation events, join our mailing list by entering your email address and zip code in the box in the top right corner of the website.

Did you miss our chat with Christopher Correll? Read the transcript of this exciting and informative chat. To stay informed about monthly Expert Chats and other The Balanced Mind Foundation events, join our mailing list now by entering your email address and zip code in the box in the top right corner of the screen.

Christoph U. Correll, M.D., is a child and adolescent psychiatrist and research scientist. He graduated from the Medical School at the Free University of Berlin in Germany before completing his training in child, adolescent, and adult psychiatry at the Zucker Hillside Hospital and Schneider Children's Hospital, New York. Dr. Correll's primary interest is in the timely identification and treatment of young people who are in the earliest stages of severe mental illnesses, including psychotic disorders. Dr. Correll is a member of The Balanced Mind Foundation's Scientific Advisory Council.

Did you miss our chat with Dr. Boris Birmaher? Read the transcript of this exciting and informative chat. The Balanced Mind Foundation will be hosting several more expert chats this Spring. Watch your email for more details.

                                       Biography

Biography
Laura Marshak, PhD is a licensed psychologist and the author of   Married with Special-Needs Children: A Couples' Guide to Keeping Connected, a book which addresses a broad range of parenting and marital issues common to parents of children with special needs. She is a professor of counseling at Indiana University of Pennsylvania as well as cofounder of a private practice clinic where she works with many parents of children with disabilities.             

Nanci The Balanced Mind Foundation 
Dr. Marshak, could you start out by sharing with us what prompted you to write your book? 

Laura Marshak PhD   
As a parent of children with disabilities myself, I know first hand a good bit about the impact of children with disorders on a marriage. Woodbine House actually approached me to write this book in recognition of the fact that so many marriages are under greater pressure as a result of intensified parenting. They were also aware of the higher divorce rate amongst such couples. 

So I very much wanted to write a book that realistically looks at the challenges as well as practical ways to make marriages work better under such conditions. I also want to add that one of my goals in writing this book was to share ideas from couples whose marriages work well while raising one or more children with disabilities.

Biography
Lizzie Simon is the author of Detour: My Bipolar Road Trip in 4-D. Lizzie has appeared on CNN, Fox, NBC, NPR, the New York Post, The Saturday Evening Post, and Nylon Magazine. She has traveled the country to speak to wide-ranging audiences about mental health. Lizzie also co-produced the MTV documentary “True Life: I'm Bipolar”, and has written mental health pieces forTime, CosmoGirl, and bp Magazine. She is a founding member of the Leadership 21 Committee of the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law.               

Nanci - The Balanced Mind Foundation   
Could you start out by talking a little about your book and what it meant to you to research and write it? 

Lizzie Simon
Sure. When I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder there weren't a lot of role models and there weren't books from the point of view of a young person with dreams who wants to know she'll be able to achieve her dreams, even after everything she's been through with bp. I knew if I just told the truth, my truth, that other people would relate and feel more comfortable with their truths. 

compassion   
Lizzie, My daughter, 15 was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in July. She entered an RTC (residential treatment center) a few weeks ago. The stabilization process seems to be taking a very long time. Any suggestions? 

Dr. Janet Wozniak is the Director of the Pediatric Bipolar Clinical and Research Program in Pediatric Psychopharmacology at Massachusetts General Hospital, and a member of The Balanced Mind Foundation's Scientific Advisory Council. Dr. Wozniak's research focuses on the characteristics, longitudinal course and treatment of pediatric bipolar disorder.     

sagabeanie    
How are bipolar disorder and anxiety issues connected? Which comes, first the chick or the egg?

Janet Wozniak MD    
There is a strong bidirectional overlap between anxiety disorders and bipolar disorder. That is, in a sample of bipolar youth, at least half have significant anxiety of various forms, and in anxious children we see higher than expected rates of bipolar disorder; so we know that they 'travel together' but we do not understand the nature of the relationship. It may be likely the genes that are associated with bipolar also produce changes that bring anxiety. 

Sometimes the child has anxiety first, sometimes mood first, and sometimes both come on together. A lot of kids start off with significant separation anxiety along with the moodiness of preschool age and then go on to have full-blown mania depression. We do not know the 'chicken and egg' part, but many parents feel that if their child’s anxiety is treated, the mood reactions would diminish. The problem with this approach is that the best medications for anxiety are the SSRI antidepressants, and these will make mania much, much worse!  

So if both co-occur, our standard treatment approach is to use a mood stabilizer, anti-manic treatment then sequence in an anti-anxiety treatment. We tend to use benzodiazepines, BuSpar, or Neurontin for the anxiety, as these won't make mania worse.