Bipolar Disorder Related Content

PACT Extends Its Reach To Underserved Communities

McLean’s Program of Assertive Community Treatment (PACT) strives to provide customized, person-centered care in the community. Serving people that primarily have chronic mental illnesses like schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, the program’s goal is to help people live fulfilling, independent lives...

Video: Lecture - Clinical Considerations in Bipolar Disorder

Presented by Dr. Allan Young, King’s College London – The Irene Jakab Lecture In this wide-ranging talk, Young looks at bipolar disorder from different perspectives. He discusses early descriptions of bipolar disorder and explains how patients were diagnosed and treated. Also, he explains how...

New Clinic Strives to Mitigate Risk of Developing Psychotic Disorders

Schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, and bipolar disorder with psychotic features are diagnoses laden with stigma, and they can sound downright frightening. Child psychiatrist Perihan Esra Guvenek-Cokol, MD, an expert in psychotic disorders, doesn’t dispute their seriousness. But she knows that...

How One Nurse Makes a Difference for Patients and Staff

Jeanne McElhinney, MS, RN, BC, nurse director for McLean’s Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder Inpatient Program, has seen a lot of changes. She arrived at McLean in 1986 during training for her associate degree in mental health at Middlesex Community College. At the time, she covered three shifts...

Yale Hicks: His Journey to Becoming a Peer Specialist

Yale Hicks told his college friends in New Orleans that he cut short his junior year abroad in Ghana because of malaria. “I lied to everybody, including myself,” said Hicks, who was experiencing hallucinations associated with what was eventually diagnosed as bipolar disorder. “I was about 21, and it...

Peer Counseling’s Critical Role in Psychosis Treatment

If a journey of a thousand miles begins with a step, what is better than having someone along with whom to share it? That is the philosophy behind the peer counseling program at McLean Hospital’s Division of Psychotic Disorders. “A lot of people with these conditions have difficulty working outside...

Ross J. Baldessarini, MD: Celebrating a Pioneer

Ross J. Baldessarini, MD, originally thought he wanted to be an industrial organic chemist, not a doctor. The prospect of medical school didn’t thrill the Williams College chemistry major. He found it to be more like a trade school than an academic endeavor, not to mention it being “cutthroat and...

New PACT Team Offers Support 24/7

Monica Luke knows what it’s like to care deeply about someone with schizophrenia. Her son, now 37, had his first psychotic break at age 20 and hasn’t spoken to her in a decade. Although she’s pained by the estrangement, she’s thankful for one thing: she could use his college fund to pay for his care...

Hospital Without Walls for Individuals With Chronic Mental Health Disorders

McLean Hospital’s Chloe Pedalino, LICSW, says that individuals receive “wraparound care while they’re in the hospital, but they don’t always get that care after discharge.” This is one reason McLean is launching its new Program of Assertive Community Treatment (PACT). The program will bring...

Staff Profile: Ross J. Baldessarini, MD

A career investigator of the NIMH from 1970 to 2001, Ross J. Baldessarini, MD, is an internationally known research psychopharmacologist with many contributions to the actions of antipsychotic and mood-altering medicines and has trained over 160 laboratory and clinical investigators. He joined...

Staff Profile: Jeanne McElhinney, MS, RN, BC

Jeanne McElhinney, MS, RN, BC, is the associate chief nursing officer for McLean Hospital. She is also program director of the hospital’s Appleton program. Ms. McElhinney began her career at McLean Hospital in 1986 and her passion for nursing continues to this day. Her leadership and professionalism...

Staff Profile: Sivan Subburaju, PhD

Dr. Sivan Subburaju obtained his PhDs in neurobiology and neuroendocrinology, respectively, from the University of Madras and the National University of Singapore. He completed his visiting research fellow training at the National Institute of Child Health and Development, Bethesda in 2007 and...

Staff Profile: Cagri Yuksel, MD

Cagri Yuksel, MD, is an assistant neuroscientist in the Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder Research Program and an associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. His current research focus is studying brain bioenergetics in psychotic disorders using neuroimaging methods. Dr. Yuksel is...

Staff Profile: Xi Chen, PhD

Xi Chen, PhD, was trained in magnetic resonance physics, especially magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) sequence development, during his PhD. Since joining the National Institute on Drug Abuse, his research interest has been on the development and application of advanced MRI/MRS techniques in...

Staff Profile: Efrat Shavit, MD

Efrat Shavit, MD, is the associate medical director of the Behavioral Health Partial Hospital Program at McLean Hospital. She is a board certified psychiatrist specializing in the treatment of mood, anxiety, and psychotic disorders. Dr. Shavit has a particular interest in complementary and...

Staff Profile: Elizabeth Liebson, MD

Elizabeth Liebson, MD, is a psychiatrist at the Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder Inpatient Program, dividing her time between clinical work and teaching psychiatry residents and medical students. She is particularly interested in phenomenology and evaluation of first breaks. Dr. Liebson has been a...