Depression May Be Contagious, Experts Say by Radha Chitale. Quoting: "Some studies show that if one spouse is depressed, the other can become depressed, and that up to 40 percent of people whose spouses have bipolar disorder get clinical depression. That's according to Dr. Igor Galynker, director of the Family Center for Bipolar Disorder at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York and professor of clinical psychiatry at Albert Einstein College of Medicine."

The Cost Of Creativity: Bipolar Disorder and the Stars by Lauren Cahoon, Radha Chitale and Aina Hunter. In this article about bipolar celebrities, Dr. Igor Galynker is quoted as saying "There is such a thing known as artistic temperament, and it's kind of conducive to creativity." Still, it is hard to determine whether celebrities have bipolar disorder at unusually high rates. In any group of people, odds are that 2 percent are bipolar. Among the celebrities discussed in the article are Linda Hamilton, Phil Spector, Richard Dreyfuss, Margot Kidder, Carrie Fisher, Burgess Meredith and Patty Duke.

Dr. Igor Galynker, director of the Family Center for Bipolar Disorder, gave a lecture on "Care for the Patient, Care for the Family: Family Inclusive Treatment for Mood Disorders" to the Mood Disorders Support Group of New York City on March 4, 2008. For more information, see mdsg.org/lectures2008.html

Andrew Solomon, the author of The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression, delivered an insightful and inspiring lecture at Grand Rounds at Beth Israel Medical Center on Thursday, February 21, 2008 at the Podell Auditorium. See it at Google Video. 1 hour, 23 minutes.

ABC recently launched a new medical website which includes a video of Dr. Igor Galynker answering questions on Bipolar Disorder. Here he describes Family Inclusive Treatment, the model followed at The Family Center for Bipolar Disorder.

Dr. Igor Galynker participated in a podcast called Avoid a Breakdown: How to Care for Someone with Bipolar Disorder at HealthTalk, where you can listen to the discussion online. Oriented to the caregiver, the discussion focuses on how to care for yourself while helping someone with bipolar disorder. Topics include: how to handle a major crisis, ways to set healthy boundaries for yourself, communication and coping tips, and resources to reduce the isolation you may feel when a family member has bipolar disorder.

Dr. Igor Galynker wrote an article, available at the web site of ABC news, about the mass murder at Virginia Tech in which he addresses the "astounding lack of public knowledge about mental illness and its relationship to dangerousness". He discusses ways to improve the mental health tretment for students. See Four Months After the Massacre, Lessons to Be Learned.

Letting Your Family In on Your Therapy
Approach Enlists Loved Ones To Participate in Treatments
By Elizabeth Bernstein
online.wsj.com/article/SB118462797560068164.html

Article summary:
Frustrated by the often ineffective treatment plans that keep loved ones in the dark, a growing number of therapists are turning to "family-based" therapy. Instead of excluding family members for reasons of privacy, this approach includes spouses, parents or siblings in therapy. Often family members know the patient better than anyone else does.

The duration of family based therapy is limited, typically nine months to a year. The idea is that families will gain the skills to continue on their own. Research has shown that the family-based approach can reduce hospitalization and relapse rates and help patients take their medications more regularly. This appproach is not to be confused with traditional family therapy which typically focuses on families' dysfunction.

The article describes the approach used at The Family Center for Bipolar Disorder for outpatient treatment. While a Family Center patient agrees to share information with their family, the center's director, Dr. Igor Galynker, is quoted as saying that The Family Center does not disclose private issues discussed in therapy.

When treated on an outpatient basis, Family Center patients receive both medication and psychotherapy. The patient and caregivers are evaluated on a quarterly basis. If the patient has children, they too are evaluated by a therapist. Indicative of the inclusive approach at The Family Center for Bipolar Disorder, Dr. Galynker gives his cellphone number to all patients and their families.

Making Treatment for Bipolar Disorder a Family Affair
By Sara Selis
Online Associate Editor, CMPMedica USA

This article describes how Dr. Igor Galynker came to start the Bipolar Family Treatment Center.

A number of studies have shown that patients with bipolar disorder fare better when their families are involved in treatment. Quoting from the article: "Mounting evidence shows that patients with bipolar disorder benefit significantly when their families are involved in treatment. Despite the challenges entailed, clinicians can successfully implement a family-focused approach if they're willing, flexible and patient."

Among the results of the studies described in the article:

• If their family is highly critical and hostile, the patient will have more severe symptoms and more frequent relapses compared with patients whose families are supportive and understanding.
• Patients who completed up to 21 sessions of family-focused therapy, in addition to medication, had fewer relapses, less severe symptoms and better medication adherence compared to a control group who receved only two sessions of family education, medication and crisis intervention as needed.

The past president of the American Psychiatric Association, Dr. John S. McIntyre, is quoted in the article as confirming that "over the last two decades, we've seen an increasing movement to involve the family in treatment for bipolar disorder and other serious mental illnesses. The APA has been very strong in encouraging that. The evidence shows that family interventions make a real difference."

In regard to how long treatment should continue, Dr. David Miklowitz reported the results of a study he conducted that showed that just a few family sessions aren't enough to provide real benefit. He found that it takes 6-9 months of family-focused therapy to see clinically meaningful benefits, such as fewer hospitalizations and relapses.

Another Doctor's Take on the Bipolar Study
By Julian Kesner
www.nydailynews.com/blogs/nymd/2007/04/another_doctors_take_on_the_bi.html

Dr. Igor Galynker offers his comments on a study reported in the New England Journal of Medicine that looked into the possible benefit of using antidepressant medications in depressed persons who are bipolar. See Treating Bipolar Disorder With Antidepressants? Fughedaboutit. The study concluded that adding standard antidepressants to mood stabilizers like lithium or depakote added no benefit than treatment with the mood stabilizer alone.

Dr. Galynker is quoted as saying: The bad news is that depression in patients with bipolar illness appears to be different from a usual unipolar depression, in that it is resistant to antidepressant treatment. The good news is that antidepressants, although not helpful, when given with mood stabilizers, do not make matters worse and do not cause mania.

Psychiatric drugs fare favorably when companies pay for studies by By Marilyn Elias.

Dr. Igor Galynker of Beth Israel and The Family Center for Bipolar Disorder reported on the studies in leading psychiatric journals. It was found that when a study was funded by a competitor to the firm making the drug being evaluated, there were favorable outcomes 30% of the time. This contrasts with studies paid for by the company making the drug in question, where favorable outcomes were shown 80% of the time.