Are Americans taking too many drugs? They certainly are according to this infographic.

Created by: MedicalBillingandCodingOnline.org

Cure Together has just released the latest in its series of survey-based health infographics. Over 200 people with bipolar rated 31 treatments, with the results presented in a grid of effectiveness vs popularity. Crowd-sourcing at its best!

The overall top 10 are:

1. Regimented sleep schedule
2. Exercise
3. Reduce alcohol
4. Yoga
5. Mindfulness meditation
6. Lamictal
7. Sunlight
8. Psychotherapy
9. Self-tracking
10. Small, frequent meals

I was aware of the first 9, but what’s with small, frequent meals?

Interesting that there is only one medicine on the list, with respondents rating most of the others as ineffective.

See the full results on the CureTogether Blog.

There is so much more to recovery than just finding a good therapist or Pdoc. It means seeing your illness as a challenge to overcome – not something that you can’t control. A positive, pro-active mindset about your mental health is a big step forward. And that’s the raison d’être for our Optimism applications!

From the Clinically Psyched site:

“Whenever we fall ill, there are many different factors that come together to influence the course of our illness. Additional medical conditions, stress levels, and social support all have an impact on our health and well-being, especially when we are ill. But a new report suggests that what you think about your illness matters just as much, if not more, in determining your health outcomes.”

Read the full article: How We Perceive Illness Might Influence Health Outcomes.

I’m acutely aware of the link between food and mental health. If I eat something that contains preservatives I get a short bout of depression for my efforts. The shortest route to recovery is exercise. I don’t know why these things are linked, but I’ve observed the pattern – over and over again – for the last 7 or 8 years.

For me it’s preservatives; for others it may be too much refined sugar, or artificial colors, or a whole array of other additives.

Elsewhere I read today:

“…an unhealthy diet contains a lot of processed foods and saturated fats, like potato chips, fried foods, chocolate, sweets, ice cream, and other junk food. These are not only associated with physical problems like heart disease and obesity, but have also shown in recent studies to lead to long-term problems in mental health.”

The article continues with a list of helpful foods for mental health. Read more at The Emotion Machine.

Hot on the heals of yesterday’s post I found a helpful article on Psych Central about improving your self-esteem.

“Research has found positive links between healthy self-esteem and many desirable outcomes, including happiness, humility, resilience and optimism. Studies show that low self-esteem is related to stress, depression and anxiety.”

The article details a range of strategies for boosting your self-esteem:

• Practice healthy habits
• Recognize how you’re attacking yourself
• Identify and challenge self-critical thoughts
• Find out who you are
• Learn what lights you up
• Accept your imperfections

Read the full article: What Really Strengthens Self-Esteem.