When I was first diagnosed with bipolar disorder Mr. MFBA and I were equally ill-equipped to handle the new world that would become our lives. I painfully watched as he went through the stages of grief: denial, inward anger, outward anger, depression, and acceptance.

Read more: Going backwards; that's the wrong direction

After the presentation, a woman came up to me, wanting to share a story. She told me about her son, who had been diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder. School was a challenge. He was a bright boy, but every single report card and parent-teacher conference included the same refrain: “Tim is falling behind. He is simply unable to focus.”

Read more: Dreams Come True When Faith Takes Flight

The doctors diagnosed him as bipolar (he has ALL of the symptoms, believe me) and he refuses to take medicine. He and his wife think medication is a load of crap. I agree that doctors nowdays do tend to jump the gun and give out prescriptions for antidepressants like candy, but I truly think that the Mullet Head IS bipolar and would benefit greatly from meds. (He self medicates by smoking pot, but that’s obviously not working!)

Read more: …and crack’s what you were doin’ when you were crackin’ jokes

While the western world is now wary of “overly thin” celebs like Nicole Ritchie, Keira Knightley & Mischa Barton, especially in light of eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia, it is sad how almost everyone here is celebrating Kareena’s weight loss. When questions did arise, she went on record to say she is “far from anorexic” and all her weight loss is due to “power yoga” and a “special diet”.

Read more: Now importing: A Rejected Perception of Beauty?

On January 30th the Humane Society released undercover video content of "downer" dairy cows - too sick or injured to be able to walk - being mistreated to get them onto their feet and into the Hallmark Meat Packing Co (Chino, CA) slaughterhouse. "Downer" cattle are at increased risk for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE, or "mad cow disease") and other foodborne pathogens, and so the USDA regulations prevent the slaughter for human consumption of crippled cows.

Read more: Slaughterhouse Webcams? Crowdsourcing Food Safety Inspection

Despite the popular disgust for this treatment, ECT is still used in patients with psychiatric disorders that have not responded to other therapies, most commonly major depression and bipolar disorder.

Read more: Why Electroconvulsive Therapy Works

On Friday, we mentioned the BBC production called “What on Earth is Wrong with Gravity.” Below is another video by the same producers called “Psychedelic Science,” which surveys the past and present of psychedelic drugs, and the new era of scientists exploring ways to use these drugs again for therapeutic purposes (i.e., the treatment of schizophrenia and addiction).

Read more: Psychedelics Revisited

Psychminded reports that mental health minister Ivan Lewis has cast doubt on the value of the soon-to-close Henderson Hospital’s model of treatment.

Read more: The Henderson

Big news! The British medical journal The Lancet reports that consumption of the artificial food coloring and other additives (sodium benzoate in particular) found in soft drinks helps create hyperactivity in kids. What’s more, these studies don’t even take into account the 12 teaspoons of sugar found in each 16 ounce serving of Coke, Dr Pepper or 7-Up.

Read more: We are what we eat.

We med Vlad, picked up Elena on the way, and had a pleasant drive out to the Ussurisk baby house followed by a pretty good visit with Anna. Pictures from Day 2 are found here. I think Steve and I both had some anxiety still about it all, but we have the benefit of a previous adoption and remember feeling very anxious and scared when we decided to adopt Adelina. It is just such a huge decision and a major responsibility we are taking on. You can’t help but question it all some. Anna gave us some sweet hugs, though, and we were really warming up to the idea of making her our own.

Read more: Day 2: Ups and downs - Sept. 5

Dan is more acerbic than Gordon Atkinson of Real Live Preacher (who wrestles with depression) and not as witty as the UK’s Mad Priest of Of Course I could be Wrong, who has also wrestled with mental health issues. As has yours truly.

Read more: Street Prophets gets some serious ink

… the development of overeating:

Read more: evolutionary psychology and eating disorders

You will be amazed at the volume of warnings that exist today. This one pretty much takes the cake though. This time you have to worry about antidepressants, birth control pills, pain killers or just about any other drug that gets flushed down the toilet showing up in our drinking water. It seems that our water supply systems are not designed to filter out the myriad assortment of drugs that people mindlessly dispose of when they are out of date or don’t need anymore.

Read more: Health Alert: Drugs in our Water Supply?

Some studies have recently shown that inositol may acually help treat certain problems like bipolar disorder, depression, and panic disorder.

Read more: How Does Redbull Affect Your Brain?

I got to the birth center and my midiwfe said she’d like to monitor my contractions and the baby’s heartbeat for a few minutes. She did, and it was clear I was having good, strong contractions every three minutes or so. I was now feeling that I needed to get in different positions during the contractions and really concentrate when I was having one. Jon showed up and began helping me handle my anxiety that the baby might be coming too early.

Read more: the (non) birth story