MOOD DISORDERS
Depression and bipolar disorders are mental disorders, real physical illnesses that affect a person’s moods, thoughts, body, energy and emotions. Both disorders, especially bipolar disorder, tend to follow a cyclical course, meaning they have ups and downs. Nearly one in five American adults, or 43.7 million people, experienced a diagnosable mental illness in 2012 according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).
Treatment for these illnesses can also have ups and downs. As much as we may want it to, wellness often does not happen overnight. It is normal to wish you could feel better faster or to worry that you will never feel better. However, know that you can feel better, and that ultimately you are in charge of your wellness. There are many things you can do to help yourself.
Talk to your health care provider (HCP) about what you need from treatment. Your HCP can provide the treatment(s) and/or medication(s) that work best for you. Along the way, you have a right to ask questions about the treatments you are getting and choose the treatments you want.
Depressive & Bipolar Disorders
A Crash Course
Not sleeping for days on end. Long periods of euphoria. Racing thoughts. Grandiose ideas. Mania. Depression. All of these are symptoms of Bipolar Disorder.
Depression Video Library
The DBSA Depression Education Video Library addresses common questions and concerns that people living with depression and their loved ones often have. In each video, a peer shares their experience with issues such as relationships, suicidal thoughts, and depression in the workplace. For more information, contact the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance at www.DBSAlliance.org or 1-800-826-3632. We’ve been there. We can help.
- Diversus Health
- Cedar Springs Hospital
- Facing Us
- Highlands Ranch Behavioral Health
- Memorial Hospital/UC Health
- Mental Health Answers
- National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI)
- Peak View Behavioral Health
- Penrose-St. Francis Health Services
- Pikes Peak Suicide Prevention
- Well Beings Youth Mental Health Project
What is Wellness? How do I get There from Here?
Wellness involves your whole health—emotional and mental, as well as physical. The Merriam-Webster dictionary gives several definitions for health, but the first entry says it all: “the condition of being sound in body, mind, or spirit.” Research has shown us, time and again, that what’s going on emotionally affects us physically—and vice versa. Wellness involves taking care of your whole self – body, mind and spirit. In order to help with that, we have a number of resources available.
Helping You Get Better and Stay Better
People who come into the DBSA Resource Center for the first time are amazed at the amount of valuable information they find here, and the tremendous selection of books, videos, and DVDs that are available for loan. In addition to a terrific number of free publications, and the most recent titles on mood disorders and related topics, visitors will always find a friendly volunteer staff person on duty to talk to and who is most happy to help them find what they are looking for. Come see what we are continually adding on our shelves. It is worth the visit!
Library is temporarily closed due to pandemic.
Depression Screening
Are your friends and family saying that you don’t seem like yourself? Do you feel like you have fallen and you can’t get up? We offer free depression screenings throughout the year. To make an appointment, call 719-477-1515 or email help@dbsacoloradosprings.org
Student Educational Program
Symptoms of mood disorders often start showing up in adolescents. Offered to local schools, the DBSA Colorado Springs “Teen Depression and Suicide Prevention Program” gives students an opportunity to hear teens and young adults talk first-hand about their symptoms of depression and bipolar disorder, and how early intervention and treatment have made a world of difference in their lives.
Brain Awareness Week
During the second week in March, DBSA Colorado Springs, a Dana Brain Week Outreach Partner-Member of the Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives (www.dana.org), sponsors a free lecture on various aspects of brain research and development as they relate to mood disorders. Presenters to date have included mental health professionals and neuroscientists.
National Depression Screening Day
Held during the first week in October, DBSA Colorado Springs joins numerous other mental health organizations and clinics across the country in sponsoring free depression screenings conducted by mental health professionals.
Assistance League of Colorado Springs
Assistance League of Colorado Springs is a nonprofit, all-volunteer, philanthropic organization dedicated to improving the well-being of the children and families of El Paso County. Programs in operation today include Operation School Bell (started in 1969), Operation Can You Hear Me? (1986), Buddy Bear (1991), Assault Survivor Kits® (1995), Sweet Dreams (2011), It’s In The Bag, and Helping Neighbors.
Care & Share Food Bank
At Care and Share Food Bank, our core purpose is to bridge the gap between hunger and abundance. Our mission is to provide food, partnering opportunities, and education to fight hunger and food insecurity in Southern Colorado communities. With your help, the future of Southern Colorado will be hunger-free.
Educating Children of Color
Educating Children of Color‘s mission is to dismantle the cradle-to-prison pipeline for children of color and children in poverty through education.
Finding Our Voices
Finding Our Voices empowers survivors of sexual assault to thrive by offering creative activities and healing events while advocating in our community.
Fostering Hope Foundation
Fostering Hope is an enduring community of affirmation and support for foster families, restoring the sense of family and belonging that foster children need to thrive.
Haseya Advocate Program
Haseya Advocate Program is a Native woman-led organization that serves Indigenous survivors of domestic and sexual violence in the Colorado Springs, Colorado region.
Homeward Pikes Peak
Homeward Pikes Peak is committed to the dual purpose of enhancing human well-being and to help meet the basic human needs of all people, with attention to the needs and empowerment of people who are vulnerable and living in poverty. HPP serves a diverse group of individuals and families through a diverse staff.
More Than A Meal
More Than a Meal is purposefully filling the needs of the community and bringing the message of salvation to those in need. We are a faith-based non-profit organization that helps the homeless by serving a Saturday breakfast and providing supplies needed to survive on the street.
Springs Rescue Mission
Springs Rescue Mission works hard to see lives transformed and filled with hope as our community works together to fight homelessness, poverty and addiction.
StableStrides
The mission of StableStrides is to significantly improve the well-being of individuals through a connection with horses.
Safe Passage
Safe Passage gives abused children a voice and enables the healing process by acting as the single source of contact for medical, investigative, and legal services. Safe Passage serves children from birth to the age of 18, as well as intellectually developmentally disabled adults, who are victims of sexual or physical abuse and/or are witnesses to homicide or domestic violence.
Silver Key Senior Services
Silver Key is proud to serve thousands of seniors in the Pikes Peak region. We offer a variety of services for area seniors to maintain their independence, safety and quality of life.
ZENner Yoga & Healing
ZENner Yoga & Healing‘s foundational principles include providing a safe space, being all-inclusive and demonstrating social responsibility.