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explaines what bipolar is and how it affects the patient., delicious.com

For the first time in almost four years of following and reporting on this issue, I'm really hopeful. We have someone, President-elect Obama, who cares about this issue at the very top. (It's also wonderful to know that the lady most intimate with the President, Mrs. Obama, says she will be aggressively taking up the cause of helping our military families.), delicious.com

Research in Nursing & Health, Vol. 24, No. 6. (2001), pp. 518-529.An instrument to measure the stigma perceived by people with HIV was developed based on the literature on stigma and psychosocial aspects of having HIV. Items surviving two rounds of content review were assembled in a booklet and distributed through HIV-related organizations across the United States. Psychometric analysis was performed on 318 questionnaires returned by people with HIV (19% women, 21% African American, 8% Hispanic). Four factors emerged from exploratory factor analysis: personalized stigma, disclosure concerns, negative self-image, and concern with public attitudes toward people with HIV. Extraction of one higher-order factor provided evidence of a single overall construct. Construct validity also was supported by relationships with related constructs: self-esteem, depression, social support, and social conflict. Coefficient alphas between .90 and .93 for the subscales and .96 for the 40-item instrument provided evidence of internal consistency reliability. The HIV Stigma Scale was reliable and valid with a large, diverse sample of people with HIV. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Res Nurs Health 24:518-529, 2001Barbara Berger, Carol Ferrans, Felissa Lashley, citeulike.org

Journal of Mental Health, Vol. 12, No. 5. (2003), pp. 521-535.Background: The development of healthcare services which address patients' perspectives of treatment and illness has been advocated. However, little is known about patients' beliefs and experiences of taking antidepressant medication. Aims: The current study aimed to identify factors of importance to patients beginning courses of antidepressant medication, in order to inform the development of partnerships between patients and healthcare professionals. Method: Patients beginning courses of antidepressant medication were recruited from general practice surgeries. Semi-structured interviews were performed. Interviews were audiotaped, transcribed verbatim and coded. Results: Antidepressant medication was found to have a paradoxical role in affecting the return to normal life and functioning. Medication enabled respondents to return to normality by reducing symptoms associated with the condition. However, it also had a stigma attached which reduced interviewees' sense of being normal. Respondents reported mechanisms of dealing with stigma, the majority of which reconciled taking antidepressant medication with previous self identity. Conclusion: Knowledge of mechanisms used to deal with stigma may aid healthcare professionals in building partnerships with patients with a diagnosis of depression. Declaration of interest: None.Sara Garfield, Felicity Smith, Sally-Anne Francis, citeulike.org