Bipolar Expeditions by Martin Emily

Author:Martin, Emily
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Published: 2011-08-16T04:00:00+00:00

7.3. Children or adults can indicate the state of their moods by moving plastic stickers around the Mood Tree. Reprinted with permission. The Mood Tree, designed by Rosalyn Newport-Olsen, MSW, LCSW. http://www.moodtree.com.

7.4. Cover of The Judy Moody Mood Journal with an arrow on a dial that points to different moods when it is spun. Text copyright © 2003 by Megan McDonald. Illustrations copyright © 2003 by Peter H. Reynolds. Judy Moody font copyright © 2003 by Peter H. Reynolds. Reproduced by permission of the publisher, Candlewick Press, Inc.

Compared to Kraepelin’s charts, the contemporary mood chart has undergone a certain elaboration. In Kraepelin’s case, an individual’s entire life span could be described on one page; today, one page usually contains the details of only a single day. Each day, in turn, can be divided into periods of hours and minutes and each quality or activity can be registered practically by the minute. Self-scrutiny can thus be carried out at a finer level of detail. I can record, and worry about, my mood variations minute by minute. From details by the year to details by the hour is a speedup of more than 10,000–fold.

The biggest difference between then and now is that contemporary charts invariably contain a place to record the means of ameliorating mood disorders. All charts I have seen have a section, often occupying nearly half of the chart, for recording what medicines the person takes as well as how much and when they take them throughout the day. Medications are carefully plotted in relation to symptoms so that the mood pattern can be adjusted up or down. A software company has devised a program, Mood Monitor, which allows patients to fill out charts on their home computers while the doctor keeps tabs on their condition remotely. The program calculates summary data from moods juxtaposed to medications, and doctors adjust medications as necessary. On the company’s Web site, a doctor writes, “I have used Mood Monitor® in my clinical practice and am very impressed. I have long found that bipolar patients are unable to accurately measure their moods and other parameters between sessions. With Mood Monitor, I can see at a glance how their moods are varying as well as how the patient is sleeping. This allows me to make adjustments in medications with more confidence.” Even without a doctor’s involvement, people in support groups frequently said that representing their moods on a chart over time allowed them to see more clearly exactly what differences medications make. A Web author who makes his mood chart available on line agrees: “I’ve found thatminor changes in medication can make big changes in how I felt, so tracking dosages was useful. And, embarrassing as it was, tracking when I didn’t take medicines was useful, too.”21

Although the contemporary chart seems to offer more hope of improvement through medication than does Kraepelin’s, one effect of the detailed moment-by-moment scrutiny is to emphasize the abnormal. People could mark their moods and other states right along the middle axis of the chart, along “normal,” but, in fact, they seldom do.

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