DBSAlliance

Jared Sherman, founder and president of Generation Y support group, speaks with DBSA's Kevin Siembor about his unique part support group. "Gen Y" is run by, and for, teenagers and helps them deal with mood disorders, whether members themselves are diagnosed or if they're family members. Topics discussed include: stigma, supporting family members, recovery tools and age.

Award–winning author Janet Ruth Young speaks with DBSA's Maria Heim about her book, "The Opposite of Music." Written from the perspective of a teenage whose father is struggling with depression, Young's book is a great read for all ages.

Best–selling author Andrew Solomon speaks with DBSA's Director of Programs, Cindy Specht about his book, The Noonday Demon.

Dr. Priscilla Ridgway of the Yale Center for Recovery and Community Health and co–author of 'The Pathways to Recovery' workbook speaks with DBSA's Lisa Goodale about recovery and the recovery movement.

Certain words and phrases used by doctors and providers simply set many consumer's teeth on edge. So says DBSA's Director of Training Matt Mattson, who talks about "The Seven Dirty Words" that hinder patient/provider partnerships.

Being a mental health advocate doesn't mean you have to quit your job and rush to Washington, D.C. Gloria Pope, DBSA's director of advocacy and public policy, explains the basics of advocacy and what you can to do to help improve the lives of people living with mood disorders.

Lana Castle, author of Finding Your Bipolar Muse, speaks with DBSA's Cindy Specht about mood disorders and creativity. Do creativity and mental illness truly go hand in hand as many people believe? Do psychotropic medications cause creative droughts? Tune in and see what Ms. Castle has to say.

Ross Szabo is the Director of Youth Outreach for the National Mental Health Awareness Campaign. He has a vast amount of experience in dealing with and educating others about mental health. Ross was diagnosed with bipolar disorder with anger control problems and psychotic features at age 16. He was hospitalized for wanting to take his own life in high school and had to take a leave of absence from college due to bipolar disorder. He eventually returned to American University and graduated cum laude with a degree in psychology. He is the only person in the country who has spoken to over half a million young people about mental health issues in the past 5 years and has a book titled, "Behind Happy Faces; Taking Charge of Your Mental Health," published in August of 2007.

Joan Esnayra, Ph.D. is President and founder of the Psychiatric Service Dog Society. A recipient of the 2006 Eli Lilly 'Welcome Back Award' in Primary Care, Dr. Esnayra has spent the past ten years pioneering the 'Psychiatric Service Dog' therapeutic model. Building upon her analytical training as a scientist, and her insights as a mental health consumer, Dr. Esnayra and members of her online community identified over 30 tasks or functions that Psychiatric Service Dogs may be trained to provide to their owners who are disabled by refractory symptoms of severe mental illness.

While the under—and misdiagnosis of mental illness is common in the general population, it's even more frequent in the African American community. Disparity in access to mental health care plays a significant role, but it's just one of several factors in the underdiagnosis of mental illness for African Americans. Listen to Dr. Bergeson and Dr. Lawson speak about the latest information, research and treatment of mood disorders in the African–American community.