Posted by Ritch on June 18, 2003, at 9:57:24
In reply to Re: BPD, GRK, and dopamine » Ritch, posted by Simcha on June 18, 2003, at 2:21:27
Hi Simcha,
I certainly don't have any plans to quit my Depakote to see if the "magic" will return, that's for sure. When I get really high (not the irritable mixed dysphoric junk), *magic* is what it feels like. Everything glows with signficance. It almost reaches a point where EVERYTHING is like everything else. Everything seems perfectly interconnected. I start becoming very superstitious. No event appears to be coincidental or happenstance. Unfortunately, these experiences make it tough to work and navigate Home Depot :) I never get much "insight" when I'm depressed though. It is like turning off all of the magic and getting in a suspended animation pod for a long trip to Mars or something. Shut-down or standy mode. System suspended. It would be nice to truly feel a functional stable/wellness for say three months in a row. That isn't going to happen without meds.
> Hey Ritch,
>
> Could that be why I'm getting a Masters in Counseling Psychology with a Specialization in Transpersonal Psychology? It's like mixing Shamanism with Psychotherapy. I'm not Bipolar, yet, I have Major Depressive Disorder and many of my relatives are Bipolar, and some with psychotic tendancies.
>
> Also, it's interesting to note that in many Shamanic traditions they use medicines to heighten awareness of the other realms. We are using medicines in order to be balanced in this realm. I wonder sometimes if my sensitivity to this life is because I'm able to "pierce the veil," so to speak, into the other realms. No, I'm not psychotic. I just believe in many things that cannot be explained by science.
>
> I would never give up my medication and go back to life like it was when I was severely depressed. Yet I wonder if the medication might be blocking a natural ability to commune with other realities than this physical realm. Anyway, it's food for thought...
>
> Simcha
>
> > > There's no doubt that the genetic underpinnings of bipolar disorder are multidimensional, so the news of this discovery should be taken with a grain of salt. However, I do think the GRK link does have some clout to it. G-protein coupled receptor kinase (GRK-3) is largely responsible for modulation of dopamine activity. GRK-3 dysfunction might partially explain why cycling causes such drastic mood changes, and furthermore, why many bipolars are much more sensitive to dopaminergic meds than their unipolar counterparts. Other kinases have been theorized to play a similar role in BPD, including glycogen-synthase kinase-3 (GSK-3beta) -- also implicated in Alzheimer's and diabetes; as well as protein kinase C (PKC).
> > >
> > > By the way, John Kelsoe's BPD genetic research is very highly respected in the field, so it's not like this info's coming out of left field. THe GRK-3 research has been building for a while now...
> > >
> > > http://www.psycheducation.org/depression/fitness.htm
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
> > Hey, I never noticed that on the site before. Thanks. A therapist that I was seeing in the '80's showed me something that I thought was interesting-except it was focused on the psycho-social elements of why it (bipolar disorder) exists. Basically, the gist of it was that people with bipolar perform a *social role* as inventors, story-tellers, preachers/shamans. I remember a picture of an aboriginal campfire scene on the front of the document with the priest (or shaman) raising his hands and telling a story-while everyone was carefully listening. Freaky stuff.
> >
>
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poster:Ritch
thread:234222
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030614/msgs/234763.html