Complex Mood Disorders: Practical Strategies and Tools for Bipolar, Depression and Insomnia

CPD

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Speaker

Chris Aiken, MD Related seminars and products

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Chris Aiken, MD, is a psychiatrist and psychotherapist whose work focuses on natural and lifestyle approaches to mood disorders. He is the director of the Mood Treatment Center, Editor-in-Chief of The Carlat Psychiatry Report, the bipolar Section Editor for Psychiatric Times, and an instructor at the Wake Forest University School of Medicine. He hosts the weekly Carlat Psychiatry Podcast with Kellie Newsome, PMH-NP.

Dr. Aiken’s interest in mood disorders came from experience with close friends who suffered from depression. He began his career as a research assistant at the National Institute of Mental Health and went on to complete medical school at Yale and residency at Cornell and Duke Medical Centers. He remains active in research, and his work has appeared in peer-reviewed journals and books. He lives in North Carolina with his wife Lisa and twin children, David and Eleanor.

 

Speaker Disclosures
Financial: Dr. Chris Aiken is the director and founder of the Mood Treatment Center and has employment relationships with WiseMind, Wake Forest University, and the NYUI School of Medicine. He is the Editor-in-chief of The Carlat Psychiatry Report and an editor of Psychiatric Times. Dr. Aiken receives royalties as a published author. He receives a speaking honorarium, recording, and book royalties from PESI, Inc. He has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Dr. Chris Aiken is a member of the North Carolina Psychiatric Association and the International Society for Bipolar Disorders. He is the president of the Forsyth County Psychiatric Association and a member of the board for Transformed Minds. He is a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association.

Objectives

1. Distinguish the key phases of mood: depression, hypomania, mixed states and euthymia.
2. Summarize the role of the biological clock in mood disorders.
3. Identify key activities that regulate or disrupt the biological clock.
4. Develop a morning routine to treat depression, and an evening routine to treat mania and insomnia.
5. Describe how to use the senses to reduce agitation and mania.
6. Select devices that can treat depression and bipolar, including dawn simulators and blue-light filters.
7. Develop exercises your client can practice to improve memory and cognition.
8. Describe how hypomania and depression impact relationships.
9. Identify six communication skills that families can use to improve mood disorders.

Outline

The Mood Spectrum

• The three faces of mood: depression, hypomania, and mixed states
• Psychological and social effects of the three moods
• Working with each mood in the therapeutic relationship
• All too common: the role of other disorders (eating, personality, anxiety, trauma and addictions) in mood disorders
• Finding normal
• Flowers in the weeds: six strengths that come with mood disorders

Circadian Rhythms

• Mood disorders and the biological clock
• Four key events that set the clock
• Social interactions: from deprivation to overstimulation
• Brisk awakening
• Light therapy
• Dark therapy
• Flow, engagement, and behavioral activation
• Seasonal moods

Sleep and Mood

• Sleep drive and circadian rhythms
• Normal vs. abnormal insomnia: the role of anxiety
• Sleep hygiene: a modern take on the basics
• Advanced moves: sleep restriction and CBT-insomnia
• Modifications for bipolar and depression

Mood and Health

• When the body impedes the mind: inflammation, head injury and obesity
• Exercise: how much, how often?
• Technology and mood
• Food matters: tea, dark chocolate, and the Mediterranean diet
• Air quality: from negative ions to aromatherapy

Medication

• Update on psychopharmacology of mood disorders
• Update on natural treatments of mood disorders
• Minimize side effects and maximize adherence

Cognition: The Silent Symptom

• Recognize cognitive deficits
• How cognition impacts therapy
• Functional remediation: a new paradigm
• Three ways to enhance cognition: restoration, compensation and optimization
• Take it home: Seven exercises to restore the mind

Mood Disorders in the Family

• Four ways to help: warmth, empathy, positive comments, and optimism
• Five things to avoid: critical comments, scrutiny, conflict, over-involvement and hostility
• Three overlooked ingredients: timing, frequency and regularity
• Adult children in the home: boundaries and limits
• Managing crises
• Protecting young children

Target Audience

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