coping strategies June 2004

Dr. Galanter was our featured speaker at our June meeting. We will have a complete outline of her presentation here in the near future.

ADD & BIPOLAR DISORDER

Cathryn Galanter, MD, clinical and research psychiatrist,
Columbia University / New York State Psychiatric Institute

Among the challenges facing clinicians is how to tell the hyperactive form of ADD from the "up" phase of bipolar disorder. (The latter -- known also as "manic-depressive disorder" or simply "manic-depression" -- is defined by extreme swings of mood and activity level.) If life were an amusement park, it might be a choice between the bumper-car ride and the roller coaster; but the signs do not always make clear which is which.

For example, hyperactives can be energetic, impulsive, distractible, or moody -- and so can bipolars. There are differences, too, but not everyone agrees on what these are. Symptoms vary; perceptions differ; and one result has been a heated debate over who should be classified with what.

A further complication: it's not always a matter of picking one diagnosis instead of another. Sometimes, both seem to co-exist within the same family -- or the same person. What makes all this more than just a word game is that treatments vary, and what eases one disorder might worsen another.

Helping us sort through these issues will be psychiatrist Cathryn Galanter. Dr. Galanter earned a medical degree from NYU, and took further training at Columbia, where she now teaches and engages in research. She also maintains, in Manhattan, a private practice geared
primarily to children and adolescents.