Daniel Bader, Ph.D.
"Stigma": Reflections on Its Meaning and Use, Part II
In the first part of this blog post, I discussed what the problems were with the term “stigma”. Although I have still some reservations about the limitations of the term and the way that the term is employed, there are still some very good reasons to use the term. In this second half, I will discuss those reasons. Continue reading
The FDA Versus the WMA: Why the Recent Cariprazine Trial Was Unethical
This week, Forest Laboratories and Gedeon Richter announced that they have had success in testing cariprazine, an antipsychotic, as a treatment for bipolar disorder. With a number of atypical antipsychotics becoming generic in the next decade, profits will be smaller in a generically flooded market, and less research is likely to be done. As a result, it is always good to see new options available for bipolar people. Moreover, by all accounts, cariprazine did very well, proving itself more effective than placebo and also proving itself well tolerated. Continue reading
What Does "Bipolar" Mean?: Five Surprising Uses From Across the Internet
In order to put together this site, I need to do a lot of online searches. Most of those searches involve searching for the term “bipolar”. Along with information that I find useful for my daily news or my weekly blog, I also find something of a flotsam of other uses of the term that can be a little surprising. Since I’ve had to spend so much of my time wading through these alternative uses of the term, I figured I was entitled to get some use out of them. So, I’ve collected together these uses that are sometimes interesting, sometimes bizarre and sometimes offensive. Continue reading
Being Normal: Lessons From My Local Bipolar Support Group
For the last two years, I’ve been a member of a bipolar group of people who meet once a month to share information and just generally chat. The group is very laid back. Basically, we just introduce ourselves at the beginning, and then break into informal discussion. My psychiatrist last week pointed out that she thought that the group was very good for me psychologically, and I think she’s right. As such, I thought I’d write my blog today about why it is that such a group has been helpful, and hope that these reflections might be useful for my readers. Continue reading
In Search of Bipolar Humor
My wife had an idea today for this website, one that I’m considering. Perhaps I should add a comic strip to it, that would be about bipolar disorder and would be enjoyable at the very least to people with bipolar disorder. I couldn’t draw to save my life, but my wife can, and she used to do a comic strip during her university days that was very good. I have yet to make up my mind about this project, but I figure that writing about a question is often the best way to resolve it. Continue reading
Excuses, Excuses: Hypomanic Symptoms and Moral Responsibility
One of the primary problems with having bipolar disorder is that many of the symptoms of bipolar disorder don’t look pathological. They simply look like bad behavior. Going over the list of bipolar symptoms, there are some that one would certainly not confuse with bad behavior, such as psychosis, pressured speech, psychomotor agitation and so forth (though some of these might be confused with intoxication or drug use). However, there are other symptoms that could easily be confused with bad behavior, such as irritability, overspending, interrupting and lack of functionality. Continue reading
Abandoning Ambition: Coming to Terms With Bipolar Disorder as a Disability
Catholicism has a somewhat archaic term that one sometimes hears bandied about: “worldly respect.” The idea is that, while earned reputation might be a good thing, it shouldn’t be our goal in life. While virtue and earthly respect often go together, they just as often come apart. Sometimes, in especially unjust situations, virtue is actually punished. Other times, virtue, especially Christian virtue, may simply not be recognized because it isn’t flashy enough. Continue reading
Do I Need a "Real Me"?: Accepting Bipolar Personality Traits
One of the more common debates among people with bipolar disorder is whether or not we should consider bipolar disorder something external to us, like a disease that we have, or whether we should consider bipolar disorder internal to ourselves, as something we are. I don’t think anyone would say that it is something we are as a whole, except in some sense of political identity, but that is a concept that hasn’t really caught on among people with mental illnesses (for the better, I think). Continue reading
To find out more, please visit the website for his private practice, Bader Mediation & Counselling Services.