Her Self-Proclaimed “Nervous Breakdown”

In the fall of 2010 Demi pulled herself out of the spotlight and her touring responsibilities in order to address her “physical and emotional issues” by checking into a treatment facility geared for such rehabilitation. During her stay at the treatment facility she was diagnosed with bipolar II disorder. And as is common amongst sufferers of such conditions, many other problems sat right alongside Demi, such as bulimia, self-mutilation (in the form of cutting) and substance abuse.

Demi Bravely Speaks Out

After stepping out of treatment and back into the spotlight, Miss Lovato bravely opened up to the public about her breakdown and the personal struggles that led to it. She discussed her diagnosis of bipolar disorder and how her experience with her treatment has allowed her a window to see how she can overcome its obstacles and use them to grow stronger as a person. The experience has given her a lot of personal insights and foundations to build from. In 2012 MTV aired a documentary called “Stay Strong” about her time in treatment and diagnosis of bipolar II. It is believed that Catherine Zeta-Jones possibly came out about her personal struggle as a bipolar II sufferer, inspired by Demi Lovato’s own brave stand. That rumor is merely speculation, but it may very well be true and demonstrates the power of one voice to give strength to many. It becomes a chain reaction that inspires and gives hope to an isolated minority.

Indeed, the experience seems to have only strengthened Lovato as we have seen her prominence in entertainment only expand. She has been a returning judge on the American “X-Factor” show and continues to release albums that garner increasing acclaim and popularity.

Here’s what Lovato had to say about her eating disorder (bulimia) and substance abuse:

“I was about 12 or 13 when I developed my eating disorder, and at that time nobody in the public eye talked about their body issues. I feel that if someone had admitted they had a problem, then I wouldn’t have gone down that route myself. That’s my goal in talking about my problems: I want to be the person for other girls that I needed to admire when I was looking for help and strength, and it’s OK to love your body the way it is, and it’s OK to reach out for help if you have drug and alcohol problems, or if you’re self-harming or being bullied.”

Bipolar Disorder

Bipolar is a psychiatric condition categorized in the mental health system that is characterized as a mood disorder. There are actually two forms of bipolar – Bipolar I and Bipolar II. Bipolar II has been nicknamed “Soft Bipolar” and although very difficult itself, it is usually not as severe and debilitating as Bipolar I. Demi Lovato was diagnosed with Bipolar II just as Catherine Zeta Jones has been.

What other celebrities have been known sufferers of Bipolar II ?

Catherine Zeta-Jones | Kurt Cobain | Trent Reznor | Russell Brand

What is Bipolar II?

The DSM IV is the bible and diagnostic dictionary for psychiatric conditions. It stands for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders and offers a list of criteria to diagnose mental health or psychiatric disorders. It presents the following criteria for Bipolar II:

• The presence of a hypomanic or major depressive episode.
• If currently in major depressive episode, history of a hypomanic episode. If currently in a hypomanic episode, history of a major depressive episode. No history of a manic episode.
• Significant stress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning.

What is a Hypomanic Episode?

A mood characterized by persistent and pervasive elevated (euphoric) or irritable mood. In other words you feel a little like you’re on top of the world and have surges of energy and creative thoughts or ideas.

What is a Major Depressive Episode?

A major depressive episode is a depressed mood and loss of interest and enjoyment of most every day activities for two weeks or greater. Other symptoms usually accompany this general characteristic and include sadness, emptiness, anxiety, hoplessness, feelings of being worthless, guilt, irritability, appetite loss or overeating tendencies, difficulty concentrating, memory impairment, thoughts of suicide, insomnia or excessive sleeping, general malaise (aches or pains), fatigue or sluggishness and excessive worrying.

Typical Characteristics of Bipolar II Sufferers

Sufferers of this mood regulation disorder usually experience chronic depression or euthymia (low level depression that does that does not affect ability to function in social or occupational settings) for long periods of time with brief episodes of hypomania or elevated mood and surges of stimulation and creativity. Often times sufferers will be mood “labile” which means their mood can fluctuate rapidly depending on circumstances and stimulus.

What About Bipolar I?

Jim Carrey is a fairly well-known sufferer of Bipolar I. His wife Jenny McCarthy has spoken about it publicly. It can be extremely debilitating.

Like Bipolar II, Bipolar I is a mood disorder but instead of long periods of depressions interrupted by relatively brief episodes of hypomania it is almost flipped around. Bipolar I sufferers have longer manic periods than depressive periods. Mania or a manic period is similar to hypomania but much more extreme. Mania is a state of being marked by intense amount of energy, euphoria, ideas of grandiosity and impulsive or reckless behavior. Full blown mania also includes hallucinations both auditory and sometimes visual. Many people experiencing a manic episode (i.e. experiencing mania) will have hallucinations and delusions related to a religious context such as being a savior, the devil or a prophet of God warning of the world’s impending doom. This doesn’t necessarily occur with all sufferers but is a fairly common theme. There is little need for sleep during a manic episode. People experiencing them will continue on for days without sleep until they finally crash. This condition severely impacts their social relationships and ability to function in society such as holding a regular job. Violent mood swings are very common, including bursts of anger due to high degree of irritability and heightened senses.

Although Bipolar I can be more debilitating than Bipolar II both have their significant battles that must be fought. Medication is usually prescribed for both. In Bipolar I, during depressive episodes, patients usually receive an anti-depressant as well as a mood stabilizer such as lithium, valproic acid (Depakote), an anti-psychotic such as olanzapine (Zyprexa) or an anticonvulsant such as  carbamazepine (Tegretol). The mood stabilizer keeps the bipolar patient from entering a manic or hypomanic episode. Sufferers of Bipolar II are usually not prescribed mood stabilizers as their hypomanic episodes are not so severe that they cause serious harm to themselves or others or require psychiatric hospitalization.

Brave Souls Like Demi Lovato

We must thank those who are brave enough to not only step forward and accept their own diagnosis for their own growth and improvement but those who are also willing to share their affliction publicly so as to spread awareness and offer a voice to those who feel alone and alienated with their struggle.

Demi not only speaks openly about her struggles or past struggles with bipolar, cutting, bulimia and substance abuse but also bullying. She was bullied growing up and it affected her immensely. She is a firm voice speaking out against bullying and those who bully others.

Help Despite the Perceived Stigma & Taboo

If you are suffering from any sort of problems or issues that leave you feeling alone, isolated, depressed, angry, confused, embarrassed or ashamed, please reach out and talk to someone you trust. Whether that someone is a friend, family member, hotline volunteer or counselor, just make sure you do. There is nothing to be ashamed of. We all have our battles, the important thing is facing them bravely and seeking help to improve ourselves. We can’t do it alone.

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If you are reading this than most likely you are aware of the condition known as seasonal affective disorder. This disorder is characterized by the loss of motivation, energy and positive mood during the seasonal change occurring around the time of fall. The effects can be anywhere from mild to nearly paralyzing. Many are unaware of this vicious cycle that plagues them year in and year out. Productivity and quality of life mysteriously seems to take a nose-dive during the fall and winter. Many people attempt to rationalize this change in mood and motivation to external circumstances in their lives, not realizing the very real biochemical factors that precipitate this through the loss of light in our daily schedules.

Fall / Autumnal Equinox

The timing of the fall equinox usually falls around September 22nd or 23rd. To explain in astronomical terms, the plane of the Earth’s equator has fallen in line with the center of the Sun. This marks the time of year or season where there is increasingly more dark hours than there are light hours. From that point forward there will be less and less light during the day until the winter solstice, at which time the amount of light during the day starts to increase again.

Autumn Equinox Consequences in Relation to Mood Disorders in General

The autumn equinox has powerful consequences to those who are sensitive to such changes, mainly those who suffer from mood disorders, such as seasonal affective disorder, depression and bipolar. An unnerving statistic is the fact that during the autumn equinox there is a giant influx of psychiatric based hospitalizations. Many suffering from bipolar are hospitalized for mania or “manic sprees.” During the spring equinox the impact is seen again but on the other side of the spectrum. This period is marked with some of the highest suicide attempts and completions during the year. If you haven’t been one to believe that you and your body are tied to and interwoven with nature, these startling, verifiable facts conclude otherwise.

Daylight Saving Time – “Fall Back” and Seasonal Affective Disorder ( SAD )

While the equinox is especially powerful for those suffering from bipolar disorder, there seems to be an equal stir amongst seasonal affective disorder sufferers and daylight savings time. After the fall equinox we see light slipping further and further from our day. This begins to impact those with seasonal affective disorder but because of the sunlights’ gradual decline it’s effect is gradual and not as dramatically felt. When we set our clocks back during daylight saving’s time, which takes place the first Sunday in November, we are suddenly punctuated with a dramatic loss of sunlight from our day. Many sufferers of SAD feel the hit of this dramatic light shift quite powerfully. This can start a tail-spin descent into the darker regions of depression. Its debilitating effects cause disruption to our lives in countless ways.

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What is Happening in a Scientific, Biochemical Way

You may be asking,

“Why does this happen? I loosely understand that light makes us happy and losing more throughout the day can make us feel gloomier… but why?”

The answer has multiple factors related mainly to the body’s response to light.

Vitamin D Production

Your body is an amazing factory capable of creating many compounds to regulate itself. Your skin has the unique ability to harness sunlight to synthesize vitamin D3. Your skin has 5 layers or “strata,” with the most exterior of which we are the most familiar with being the epidermis. The bottom two layers of these 5 layers ( the stratum spinosum and stratum basale ) use UV rays from light and produce Vitamin D3. Vitamin D helps regulate many things, positive mood being one of them.

Melatonin Production

Your pineal gland, is a little pine cone shaped gland, about the size of a grain of rice and sits in the middle of your brain. It is in charge of producing a hormone called melatonin. It produces melatonin in the absence of sunlight. Among other things melatonin helps regulate our sleeping patterns. During the fall and winter months, where there is an increase of darkness and the body is triggered to produce more melatonin. This can disrupt mood, energy and circadian rhythm.

Season of Frustration

This period of time marks a difficult time for many. Some choose to adapt and cope with their own unique strategies, many of which are mindset and psychological techniques. For some, their methods will help alleviate negative consequences but for others it may not be nearly enough to stave off ill effects. Relationships can suffer, mental activity can diminish, work and productivity can be slowed and self-esteem can plummet.

Treatment Strategies for Seasonal Affective Disorder

Light Box Therapy

Light therapy can be extremely effective at alleviating SAD symptoms and depression. It is causing the halt of melatonin production. There are different wavelengths of light that are given off by different light sources. Blue wavelength light (that the Sun contains) has been scientifically researched to cause melatonin inhibition. So make sure that if you get a light box it emits blue wavelength light. There are many good products. Lightbox devices made by Phillips are very good. I highly recommend the NatureBright Sun Touch Plus Light and Ion Therapy Lamp. I have personally used it and find it works extremely well. I had extreme doubts about the ion component but it proved to be a quite noticeable and beneficial feature of the product. Negative ions have a positive impact on our mood. Check out the WebMD article Negative Ions Create Positive Vibes to learn more.

Medication – Rx Prescription Drugs / Pharmaceuticals

The most common SAD prophylaxis and treatment is Wellbutrin (generic names: bupropion, budeprion). You will need to have your doctor write you a prescription. “Prophylaxis” is the fancy term for preventative treatment. Many people who know they suffer from SAD will begin taking Wellbutrin around the fall equinox before their symptoms start to manifest. This is known as prophylaxis.

Herbal / Over-the-Counter Preparations

St. Johns Wort and SAM-e ( S-Adenosyl methionine ) have been shown to help elevate mood. You can also supplement with Vitamin D because as we discussed earlier many times our skin isn’t getting enough sun to make sufficient amounts of Vitamin D. And Vitamin D helps regulate our mood. I would recommend taking 5,000 IU daily. The NutriGold Vitamin D is an excellent product. Most of NutriGold’s products are superior to their competitors and have high manufacturing standards. You can also see your doctor, have your vitamin D levels determined by a blood sample and if appropriate prescribed prescription Vitamin D which is 50,000 IU and only take once a WEEK.

Conclusion

Seasonal affective disorder can be a serious problem disrupting our lives. Losing an hour of daylight when we “fall back” during daylight saving time in the first week of November can cause our mood and energy to drop off dramatically.  Being aware of this and preparing for it annually can help you stay in your best health and prevent losses. There is no need to suffer the emotional, mental, physical and even spiritual consequences of SAD. Make sure you actively seek treatment that works for you. I invite you to share your related experiences, treatment strategies and recommendations to the community here.

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