Bipolar Mood Monitor is a new app which has been especially designed for those suffering from bipolar disorder.
It has a wonderfully colourful display and is very simple to use. As one developer put it: “The colours and design are sublime“.
The app enables sufferers to record mood changes as they happen, enabling sufferers and medical practitioners to pick up the early warning signs of a potential relapse, thereby potentially avoiding an episode.
The information can then be read in an easy-to-read chart format. Charts can be viewed in weekly, monthly or ‘all’ formats.
The charts and comments can then easily be sent to nominated email addresses, making it easy, for example, to send the information to a GP or psychiatrist.
The app includes alert and comment functions. Reminders can be set and integrated with the device’s calendar function.
The app is designed to compliment existing treatments and to help with management of the condition.
Bipolar Mood Monitor is designed for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch and can be purchased at the iTunes App Store.
It is believed that between 2.4 and 4 million people in the UK suffer from bipolar disorder.
For more information on bipolar, The British Psychological Society has published a very clear 80-page document entitled Understanding Bipolar Disorder which is available free from their website until 12 August.
The Report was described by Stephen Fry, who suffers from bipolar, as “fascinating“.
The report’s authors (Professor Steven Jones, Dr Fiona Lobban and Anne Cooke) note that much has been written about the biological aspects of bipolar disorders, but little on the psychological aspects. This report aims to redress the balance. Their hope is that the Report will persuade services to allow sufferers greater access to psychological treatments, rather than insist that users accept one particular view of their problem.
Part 4 of the Report addresses recovery and includes sections on prevention of relapse, medication, taking control of one’s life, redefining one’s sense of self, recovering from the stigma and trauma of being diagnosed, self-acceptance and strategies for recovery.
Figure 13.2 lists mood related coping strategies under the following headings: mood management and self-awareness, psychological, interpersonal, physical wellness, identity, support from services, spirituality and faith, self-care, hope and optimism and, finally, risk and responsibility.
The Report notes that “there is now good evidence from large-scale trials that talking treatments can be very helpful“.
Click here to go to the British Psychological Society website.
To contact a psychotherapist in London, please click here.
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