Health Expert John McManamy shares health management news and commentary at HealthCentral.com. HealthCentral.com is one of the top health destinations on the Web, with more than 35 condition-specific, wellness and general health Web properties. http://www.healthcentral.com/profiles/c/15/index http://www.healthcentral.com/profiles/c/15/rss self application/xml en-us 15 120 19 http://www.healthcentral.com/images/hc_logo_sm.gif http://www.healthcentral.com/profiles/c/15/index http://www.healthcentral.com/bipolar/c/15/161409/thoughts-neighborhood-question Mon, 17 Jun 2013 23:11:55 -0400 John McManamy Do you ever entertain dark and evil thoughts? Here’s the situation: Below me lives an old woman with an outdoor cat. I know the cat’s name, but not its owner’s. I work from home, so I am treated to daily choruses of “Here, Mufasa! Fassi, Fassi! Where are you?” Don’t get me wrong. I adore cats, and Fassi is a beauty.   The other voice I hear throughout the day comes from a parrot, who occupies a... http://www.healthcentral.com/bipolar/c/15/161409/thoughts-neighborhood-question http://www.healthcentral.com/bipolar/c/15/161382/deconstructing-cognitive Sat, 15 Jun 2013 22:56:45 -0400 John McManamy This post is about cognitive control, which is part of an involved series that investigates what is going on in our brains when we think and react and behave. There are no definitive answers, but the questions are intriguing.   We kicked off the series in early May with a piece that reported on a provocative blog by Thomas Insel, head of the NIMH. In his blog, Dr Insel referred to the DSM as a “dictionary” rather than the... http://www.healthcentral.com/bipolar/c/15/161382/deconstructing-cognitive http://www.healthcentral.com/bipolar/c/15/161277/paradox-choice-bipolar-question Sun, 09 Jun 2013 15:06:00 -0400 John McManamy Have you bought something recently? I did and I’m exhausted. The other week, I invested in an iPad 3. If you go to an Apple store, you will see the iPad 2 and the iPad 4 on display, but not an iPad 3. Apple doesn’t sell them. But they may be selling refurbished models on their website at a considerable discount to a near-equivalent iPad 4. Easy as pie, right?   The iPads 3 and 4 have retina display. The iPad 2 doesn’t.... http://www.healthcentral.com/bipolar/c/15/161277/paradox-choice-bipolar-question http://www.healthcentral.com/bipolar/c/15/161272/dsm-bipolar-bipolar-difference Sat, 08 Jun 2013 17:16:00 -0400 John McManamy This is the second (and final) of our look at the DSM-5, the latest version of psychiatry’s diagnostic bible, which has superseded the DSM-IV, dating from 1994. In case you’re wondering, the stylistic change from the Roman numeral IV to the modernistic 5 represents the DSM’s major innovation. Just about everything else is distressingly same-old, same-old.   Last week, in The DSM-5 Debacle, we looked at the failure of... http://www.healthcentral.com/bipolar/c/15/161272/dsm-bipolar-bipolar-difference http://www.healthcentral.com/bipolar/c/15/161174/cultivating-bipolar-question Sun, 02 Jun 2013 13:04:00 -0400 John McManamy Pruning is a very essential element in cultivating life. Our personal lives are no exception, especially if we expect to keep growing. Typically, the choices are painful, ones that take us well outside our comfort zones, leaving a lot that is precious to us behind. Then we adjust and new things open up.    I experienced one of these transitions three years ago when I moved into a new place. Along with a new location (actually only 15... http://www.healthcentral.com/bipolar/c/15/161174/cultivating-bipolar-question http://www.healthcentral.com/bipolar/c/15/161171/dsm-5-debacle-bipolar Sat, 01 Jun 2013 13:39:00 -0400 John McManamy As you may know, the DSM-IV, the fourth edition to psychiatry’s diagnostic bible dating from 1994, has just been superseded by the DSM-5. I just received my 800-plus pages copy, which has that intoxicating new book smell. The content, however, is the same-old same-old, as if we have learned absolutely nothing about bipolar and other mental illnesses in the last two decades.   The challenge for the academic experts charged with... http://www.healthcentral.com/bipolar/c/15/161171/dsm-5-debacle-bipolar http://www.healthcentral.com/depression/c/15/161133/behavioral-life-experience Thu, 30 May 2013 16:48:00 -0400 John McManamy Since this is a depression site, I can safely assume most of us here have experienced cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). Accordingly, I am not going to presume to write a piece about what you already know. Instead, I am seeking your wisdom. Let’s get started.   Okay, here’s the deal, as set out in an article of mine on mcmanweb:   You're stuck in traffic. But now, instead of you thinking that your day is ruined, you see... http://www.healthcentral.com/depression/c/15/161133/behavioral-life-experience http://www.healthcentral.com/depression/c/15/161111/music-depression-oppression Wed, 29 May 2013 12:43:00 -0400 John McManamy This is a short piece about music and depression.   A few days ago, the young Korean violinist, Ji-Hae Park, gave a TED Talk, entitled, The Violin and My Long Dark Night of the Soul. Ms Park began with an exuberant rendition of Vivaldi. Then she put down her violin and revealed that she had once suffered from severe depression and had been in total despair.   Depressives, of course, are drawn to music and the arts and literature. The... http://www.healthcentral.com/depression/c/15/161111/music-depression-oppression http://www.healthcentral.com/bipolar/c/15/161056/latest-didgeridoo-didgeridoos Sun, 26 May 2013 13:46:00 -0400 John McManamy Here is a little story that happened to me:   Nine or ten days ago, on a Friday, I stopped into our local plant nursery to purchase two hanging plants for my balcony. To my surprise, the place was now set up like a farmer’s market. An enthusiastic man - Glen - welcomed me and told me where I could find my plants. Later, he helped me get my plants in the trunk of my car, where I had stored a portable PA system and other musical... http://www.healthcentral.com/bipolar/c/15/161056/latest-didgeridoo-didgeridoos http://www.healthcentral.com/bipolar/c/15/161055/attention-perception-bipolar Sun, 26 May 2013 12:55:00 -0400 John McManamy This is the third in our series of looking at brain circuits to better understand our behavior and emotions, based on research priorities set out by the NIMH. Last week, we investigated positive and negative emotions. This week, under the broad heading of cognition, we look at an intriguing distinction between attention and perception.   Attention   Rather than look for a definition, it is much easier to conceptualize attention as a... http://www.healthcentral.com/bipolar/c/15/161055/attention-perception-bipolar