The East Renfrewshire group will be meeting on Wednesday 23 May 2012, 6.30pm – 8pm, Sandlers Cottage, Eastwood Park, Giffnock, G46 6UG.

The group is open to anyone affected by bipolar disorder.

Researchers from Heriot-Watt University in conjunction with SAMH (Scottish Association for Mental Health), are conducting an independent survey to understand employees’ experiences of psychological well-being at work and broader attitudes to mental health and employment.

All information gathered in this questionnaire will remain confidential. Your employer will not be fed back any of your individual information and will not be able to have any knowledge of your responses to these questions. Any information that you provide will be completely anonymised. Even the research team will not be able to identify you as an individual. If there are any questions that you do not wish to answer then please feel free to miss them out and move onto the next question or the next set of questions. (more…)

Bipolar Scotland has produced a booklet, “Rosie’s Mum”, which is aimed at very young children with a parent who has manic depression/bipolar disorder.  This book is no longer in print but we can provide colour photocopies at a cost of £2.50 each.

Dr Laxmi Kathuria has written an article on the stigma associated both with people diagnosed with mental health issues and those who work in the mental health field. To read the article please click on the following link –
http://www.www.heraldscotland.com/life-style/real-lives/forever-fighting-the-stigma-of-mental-illness-1.1111480?6072

If you or someone you care for has been diagnosed with bipolar, we want to hear from you.

PIP Health is a research organisation dedicated to improving mental health services through research. We are supporting Bipolar Scotland, the leading national bipolar charity, by donating £1 for every person who registers today.

Alison Cairns, Chief Executive of Bipolar Scotland said, “Through our partnership with PIP Health we hope to gain greater insights about people’s experience of Bipolar, and raise money for the charity so that we can help more people access the information, support and advice they need to cope with bipolar.”

Register for PIP Health by entering your details on the right hand side of the page from the following link
-http://www.piphealth.com/

You will receive short surveys about your experiences of bipolar about once a month. All surveys are voluntary, but we will donate a further £1 to Bipolar Scotland for every survey you complete.

By doing so you will help us increase awareness, raise money for Bipolar Scotland and improve the Quality of Life of millions of people who experience bipolar disorder.

You can take part in a new study into bipolar disorder at the University of Edinburgh. The research project aims to identify factors that might be helpful in predicting and monitoring mood states in adults diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

The study is based on four short questionnaires that are available online. Participation should not take more than 20-25 minutes and is completely anonymous. If you are interested in taking part in this research project please click on the following link http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/bipolarresearch

If you need any further information please contact Melanie Suettmann m.suettmann@smk.ac.uk

Bipolar Scotland is launching a self-help group for people from the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender community (LGBT), who experience bipolar disorder.

The first meeting of the self-help group will take place on Tuesday 6 September 2011, 7pm – 9pm, at the offices of the Terrence Higgins Trust, Rothesay House, 134 Douglas Street, Glasgow, G2 4HF. The group will then meet every 1st Tuesday of the month, at the same time and same venue.

You don’t need a formal referral to attend the group meetings, just come along. The group is also open to carers/friends of people who experience bipolar disorder from the LGBT community.

For further information please contact the Bipolar Scotland office on 0141 560 2050, or e-mail info@bipolarscotland.org.uk

Dr Nick Stafford has written a book, Lithium for Bipolar Disorder – A guide for patients, which is a comprehensive guide to lithium, the evidence for its use in bipolar disorder, its side effects and more…

You can view or download a copy of the book from the following link http://www.bipolarscotland.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/Lithium-for-Bipolar-Disorder-Dr-N-J-Stafford.pdf

You can also purchase a copy of the book from the Recommended Reading list on this website.

A public education campaign, National Bipolar Awareness Day will be launched on Wednesday 27 June 2012 by Bipolar UK, the Royal College of Psychiatrists and Bipolar Scotland.

As part of the launch, we have put together two surveys; one for service users & family members/carers and one for clinicians.

The surveys look at the difficulties in making a correct diagnosis of bipolar and we hope that you will be able to take part and further our understanding of these difficulties.

Click on the following link to complete the survey for service users and family members/carers http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/JX6LB66

Click on the following link to complete the survey for clinicians http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/JXNF6B9

The Department of Psychological Medicine and Neurology at Cardiff University, have developed three new online modules that cover:

Bipolar Disorder for Partners, Families and Carers –
http://www.beatingbipolar.org/families_and_carers/

Pregnancy and Childbirth in women with Bipolar Disorder – http://www.beatingbipolar.org/women_and_bipolar/

Diagnosing Bipolar Disorder for Primary Care practitioners – http://www.beatingbipolar.org/primary_care_practitioners/