Therese Borchard, fabulous writer at Beyond Blue, recently interviewed me for her blog. Here it is, reproduced in full.

Today I have the pleasure of interviewing one of my first Internet buddies, James Bishop, who runs the site FindingOptimism.com and writes the Finding Optimism blog which has been voted as one of the top depression blogs by Psych Central. James also is the brainiac behind Optimism Software, a tool to help you track your mood.

Question: Why did you develop the software, James? Was there a certain “Aha!” moment you’d like to share with us, as though you were sitting on the Oprah set?

James: An “Aha!” moment? Yes, I’ve had lots of those.

I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder about 6 years ago, and I started on the difficult path of finding appropriate treatment. At the same time Anna started keeping a paper health journal. In 2004 I took part in a 6-part education course for people with Bipolar, and was introduced for the first time to the concepts of “triggers” and “wellness strategies”. This changed my orientation towards my treatment, from being a passive recipient of medicines to an active participant in my own well-being. While medicine was the backbone of my treatment, I now understood that to really “live well” I needed to make other changes.

I soon became frustrated with the paper journal, and turned to my old friend Excel to manage the data better. Perhaps the biggest “Aha!” was discovering, by looking at the data, that there was a connection between my diet and moods. We later found that I am very sensitive to preservatives and other artificial additives. My mood deteriorates a couple of days after eating culprit foods, and the storm cloud hangs around for about 5 days. It took us a couple of years to spot this pattern in my mood, and we wouldn’t have seen it without the spreadsheet. I thought “wow”, imagine what else people could find using this system.

Since then I’ve found many things that trigger my depression, that help me to recognize a fresh episode is coming, and that help me stay well. All along I’ve felt that anyone else with a mood disorder would benefit from being proactive with tracking their health. So I tossed it around in my mind for a couple of years, and then decided to build the Taj Mahal of mood charts.

Question: What are five good reasons to track your mood?

James: In a nutshell, the reason for tracking your mood is to learn more about yourself and achieve better health.

1. Triggers and warning signs. By using a mood chart you can monitor the patterns in your life and identify negative influences (or “triggers”) that you need to avoid, and early warning signs that your health is deteriorating.

2. Wellness strategies. A mood chart can help you to find the small things, as well as the big, that help you to stay well. It can show you the impact of the positive strategies that you adopt on your well-being.

3. Planning for health. Optimism is a case in point. It is designed for a person to bring together an understanding of their triggers, early warning signs or symptoms, and wellness strategies. It gives them a better understanding of their health and helps them to develop a plan for remaining well. That is the key. The purpose of a mood chart should be to plan for wellness, not just keep a record of illness.

4. Actively participate. Rather than be a passive recipient of treatment, or just seek treatment in reaction to a new episode, a mood chart can help you to have more involvement in your health and a sense of control. In general people achieve better health outcomes when they educate themselves and are proactive about their health.

5. A health professional’s dream. By keeping a mood chart you can provide your health professional with a precise, detailed history. It removes the problem of memory recall and gives an accurate picture of what has been happening. It gets to the bottom of what is or isn’t working, which helps them to give more relevant, appropriate advice and treatment.

Every person’s illness is different. As I read elsewhere today, “One Size Fits One”. For many people treatment is difficult, a slow process, or not entirely successful. A good mood chart is an effective way to increase the chance of success.

To read more Beyond Blue, go to http://blog.beliefnet.com/beyondblue.

My son is allergic to green peas and his reactions are life threatening. He is intolerant to a lot of other foods as well, and as we’ve found out, so am I.

We changed our family diet some years ago now, for the sake of us all. I used to cheat, but I also kept track of my diet, and after a while my wife noticed that when I ate certain foods I would become very depressed 2 days later. (Almost to the hour.) Unfortunately chocolate was the worst! She mentioned this bizarre discovery to our allergy specialist who said “Yes, food does cause mood swings!”

Food allergies and intolerances are very different things. Food allergies trigger the immune system, and the sufferer’s body reacts, for example with swelling or hives. Food intolerance is about thresholds. You can eat the foods that you’re intolerant to, but you’ll have a reaction if you go over your threshold. Food intolerance is very common; much more than people seem to realize.

The reactions can be amazing. In me the intolerance causes depression. My wife feels bloated and lethargic. The kids get aggressive and irritable. Other people report anxiety, panic attacks, suicidal thoughts, obsessive compulsive behaviour and even social phobias. Migraines and stomach aches are also common.

So, avoid the colours, flavours and preservatives! Yes. But normal fresh foods also contain natural chemicals like salicylates, amines and glutamates. Many people eat these in abundance, and even on their own they can cause plenty of problems. The chocolate I eat may be free of colors, flavors and preservatives, but it is very high in natural amines which causes me plenty of grief.

If you eat problem foods every day, and take the symptoms of intolerance for granted, then you may be missing something that is key to your mental health. If this could be you, then it is really worth following it through.

Our family kept to a strict chemical-free diet for some years to remove the problem foods. A common way for an allergy specialist or dietician to test for the culprits is to prescribe a strict chemical free diet for a few weeks until symptoms disappear. They will then give a series of oral “challenge tests” to see which food chemicals and artificial additives are causing problems.

I once took aspirin as a challenge, and it won. Apparently aspirin is pure salicylate, and it sent me out of my tree.

More information:
RPAH Allergy Unit
Food and Mood Guide

I always thought that music therapy meant listening to Norah Jones in the bath, or playing records to the elderly in Nursing Homes. As it turns out, I’m wrong.

What is Music Therapy?
It’s an established therapy for a wide range of conditions. According to the American Music Therapy Association it is used to alleviate physical pain, elevate mood, assist relaxation, induce sleep, and lessen muscle tension. As a treatment for an illness like depression it is an adjunctive therapy, that augments the other treatments being used, but doesn’t replace them. It focuses on reaching therapeutic goals, which sets it apart from straight music entertainment or education.

Who are Music Therapists?
Degree qualified allied health professionals, trained in music therapy, music, psychology, behavioral sciences, disabling illnesses, and a spattering of other things. They are normally part of a wider team of health professionals, working in general or psychiatric hospitals, nursing homes, community mental health centers, rehabilitation centers, prisons and schools. There are also plenty of music therapists in private practice.

How Does it Work?

I don’t know. Honestly. It confuses me no end and I would need to sit in on a session to get a good feel for it.

Here is the best explanation that I’ve found, from the Association of Professional Music Therapists.

“There are different approaches to the use of music in therapy. Depending on the needs of the client and the orientation of the therapist, different aspects of the work may be emphasized. Fundamental to all approaches, however, is the development of a relationship between the client and therapist. Music-making forms the basis for communication in this relationship.

As a general rule both client and therapist take an active part in the sessions by playing, singing and listening. The therapist does not teach the client to sing or play an instrument. Rather, clients are encouraged to use accessible percussion and other instruments and their own voices to explore the world of sound and to create a musical language of their own. By responding musically, the therapist is able to support and encourage this process.

The music played covers a wide range of styles in order to complement the individual needs of each client. Much of the music is improvised, thus enhancing the individual nature of each relationship. Through whatever form the therapy takes, the therapist aims to facilitate positive changes in behaviour and emotional well-being. He or she also aims to help the client to develop an increased sense of self-awareness, and thereby to enhance his or her quality of life.”

Does it Work?
It’s been the subject of study for a long time now, and there is no doubt that it is effective for a range of illnesses (in combination with other therapies). The evidence is a bit light-on for depression, for lack of robust studies, although there is plenty of empirical evidence to suggest that it helps. Based on the description above, I expect that it is highly dependent on the individual. As with most every treatment many depressed people would benefit from the therapy, and many others wouldn’t.

Would I try It?

In a word, no.

Links:
The American Music Therapy Association
Canadian Association for Music Therapy
British Society for Music Therapy
Association of Professional Music Therapists (UK)