DBSA San Gabriel Valley

Our meetings are now in person Monday and Friday 7 to 9 pm at 600 S. Lake Ave. Suite 200 Pasadena CA 91106, and via Zoom on Wednesdays 7 to 9:00 pm. All you need is a computer with a microphone (and hopefully webcam, it’s so much better to see each other) or, if you don’t have one, just a telephone. MEETING INSTRUCTIONS: To join the meeting, visit: (You will have to download and install the software. There is also an option to join directly from your browser with limited features). If you don’t have a computer, you can dial in by calling: 669.900.9128. When prompted, enter the meeting ID: 858 711 7744 Make sure you are subscribed to either Meetup notifications OR our new mailing list. You can subscribe to the mailing list here: https://bit.ly/dbsasgvsubscribe

Support Groups Can Change Gene Expression Which Triggers Bipolar Disorder and Depression

Although DBSA (Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance) support groups are 94% effective in helping bipolar (manic depressive) or clinically depressed members with treatment adherence, another important benefit is the ability to create a social network with others sharing a condition friends or loved ones may not understand because they simply haven't "been there." For such individuals living in isolation, the science of epigenetics has conclusively demonstrated that this can be a life-changing or life-saving experience to an extent surprising to many immunologists and psychologists. In The Social Life of Genes: Shaping Your Molecular Composition, David Dobbs writes [italics mine]:

“If you actually measure stress, using our best available instruments, it can’t hold a candle to social isolation. Social isolation is the best-established, most robust social or psychological risk factor for disease out there. Nothing can compete.”

“You can’t change your genes. But if we’re even half right about all this, you can change the way your genes behave—which is almost the same thing. By adjusting your environment you can adjust your gene activity...

“Despite these well-known effects, Cole said he was amazed when he started finding that social connectivity wrought such powerful effects on gene expression."

**Developmental psychology:** The term "epigenetic" has also been used in developmental psychology to describe psychological development as the result of an ongoing, bi-directional interchange between heredity and the environment. Interactivist ideas of development have been discussed in various forms and under various names throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. An early version was proposed, among the founding statements in embryology, by Karl Ernst von Baer and popularized by Ernst Haeckel. A radical epigenetic view (physiological epigenesis) was developed by Paul Wintrebert. Another variation, probabilistic epigenesis, was presented by Gilbert Gottlieb in 2003.[18] This view encompasses all of the possible developing factors on an organism and how they not only influence the organism and each other, but how the organism also influences its own development. Source

What this means is that the same genetic traits that cause a bipolar or depressive condition to manifest itself can be countered by a positive and supportive social support environment to the point the same gene expression is reduced in severity and can even become manageable. This is how, and why these groups WORK. A lack of a social support environment, and the accompanying loneliness, has some predictable outcomes...

The Lethality of Loneliness
We are social animals. We were never meant to be alone. Air pollution increases yours odds of an early death by 5%, obesity by 20%, alcohol by 30%, and living with loneliness by 45%.

If You Could Prevent Something That Kills More Americans Than Car Accidents, Would You Do it?

At the National Conference on Mental Health, on June 3rd, 2013, it was noted that every day 22 vets take their own lives. Suicide now kills more Americans than car accidents, according to the latest CDC findings.. Suicide is the 3rd leading cause of death for ages 15-24. It is the 2nd leading cause of death for ages 24-35. It is the 4th leading cause of death for ages 35-44. The mortality rate of untreated depression and bipolar disorder is self-evident. It is not a character flaw, it is not a personal weakness, it is a serious medical condition involving the center of our nervous system; responsible for our every breath, every thought, every word, every heart beat. The underlying cause can range from genetic predisposition to brain trauma. Though the health of the brain clearly supersedes all else in terms of treatment priority, among society in general bipolar disorder does not yet have parity with a physical affliction in terms of recognition as a "valid" medical condition, perhaps because it does not often have an obvious manifestation until it is too late. The former will take the lives of up to about 20% of those with manic depression. To put this in perspective, it has about the same survival rate as breast cancer.

"PET scan taken of a healthy person (control), a bipolar depressed patient (incl phases of mania) and a depressed patient during performance tasks. Red/yellow areas show increased brain activity through measurement of glucose uptake. Source: Ketter et al (2)." From: Christine Webber

Depression makes your brain smaller – study

We are not talking about sadness, a normal part of the human experience, but about a reversal of the survival instinct that's taken for granted. In severe depression, the survival instinct becomes a death instinct, and behaviors will focus towards that goal. As is the case with an untreated physical ailment that can, as a result, seriously worsen; a newer understanding of the protective effects of antidepressants on the hippocampus suggests untreated depression can literally cause brain damage. The hippocampus, which is key to memory, is actually reduced up to 25% in severe depression. With memory impairment, there is a severe drop in cognitive functioning which makes even small problems overwhelming, and the inability to resolve everyday issues we face daily creates a helplessness and stress that dangerously exacerbates the condition. The hippocampus is also more vulnerable to stress than other areas of the brain, as evident in returning vets with PTSD, such as the case with Daniel Somers, who wrote in a devastating suicide letter so poignant it went viral:

My body has become nothing but a cage, a source of pain and constant problems. The illness I have has caused me pain that not even the strongest medicines could dull, and there is no cure. All day, every day a screaming agony in every nerve ending in my body. It is nothing short of torture. My mind is a wasteland, filled with visions of incredible horror, unceasing depression, and crippling anxiety, even with all of the medications the doctors dare give. Simple things that everyone else takes for granted are nearly impossible for me. I can not laugh or cry. I can barely leave the house. I derive no pleasure from any activity... This is what brought me to my actual final mission. Not suicide, but a mercy killing. I know how to kill, and I know how to do it so that there is no pain whatsoever. It was quick, and I did not suffer.

Between the ages of 10-34, suicide is the second leading cause of death, above cancer and homicide. Prevention is paramount.

More than 20 million American adults live with depression, or an estimated 10% of the U.S. population. 2.3 million live with bipolar disorder. If you're suffering from bipolar disorder or major depression, you're simply not alone. In women ages 40-59, 1 in 4 are now taking antidepressants. So what can you do? One key tool with remarkable efficacy are support groups, and there's a real science behind this. It is a means to deal with a largely genetic condition by creating an environment that changes gene expression (epigenetics). If you are outside the Los Angeles County area and would like to find a support group near you, click here. For further information, you may email us at info@dbsasgv.org, call or text 626 359-7538, or use the Contact Form.