Welcome
to DBSA Princeton
We are a mood-disorder
self-help support group affiliated with the Depression and Bipolar Support
Alliance (DBSA). The mission of DBSA is to improve the lives of people
living with mood disorder, and their loved ones.
Group meetings are held
every Tuesday from 7:30 pm to 9:15 pm in classrooms 1 and 2 of the Education Building at the University Medical
Center of Princeton at Plainsboro. See our directions page for more information about our location.
No pre-registration required. Please see our brochure (Adobe PDF file).
About Our Peer Support Meetings
We start with a "check-in" where members are free to share, or not, how they are doing and raise topics for discussion. Other than giving your first name, you are not required to say anything. We then discuss the topics that were introduced. The discussion is confidential to that particular meeting.
Meetings are led by trained facilitators who run the meeting and participate in the discussion just like any other member. We've been averaging a dozen attendees at our Tuesday meeting, and a half-dozen on Wednesday.
At our meetings, members help each other by sharing their knowledge and experiences. You may or may not feel your issues are addressed at the meeting, but you can still benefit by knowing there are others in similar situations, and from the support of others at the group.
Please visit our links page for useful resources.
Our peer group meetings
are:
-
led by "peer" trained
facilitators (peer = other patients with a mood disorder )
-
welcome family and
friends with or without the person with the mood disorder
-
free of charge and no
pre-registration required *
-
host educational
meetings usually with lectures by doctors or other health professionals
-
provide literature,
including brocures published by the DBSA
national organization
-
NOT
a therapy group led by a mental health professional and do NOT give
advice - we just share mutual experiences to educate and support each
other.
-
Recovery-oriented; we
discourage "pity-parties"
Mood disorders can
often be controlled by
medication. In addition, psychotherapy can be very helpful. Many people
have been successfully stabilized on medication and lead normal lives,
and participate in our support group to help others. Support groups
help during recovery. "You are not alone, we can help".
About Depression & Mania:
Common
possible symptoms of depression include:
• changes in appetite
• decreased or increased sleeping
• loss of energy and motivation
• inappropriate or exaggerated feelings of sadness, hopelessness,
anxiety, impending disaster or doom
• exaggerated feelings of guilt
• unexplained aches and pains or ailments
Common possible symptoms of mania include:
• impaired judgment
• high energy level and increased activity/talking
• significant decrease in sleeping
• inflated self esteem (grandiosity)
• extreme irritability and/or restlessness
Other symptoms are possible. No one symptom determines the disorder. A
psychiatrist or psycho pharmacologist should be consulted for an
evaluation.
* Donations, to defray
costs of ordering brochures, making photocopies and other expenses, are welcome. We do not make a collection during the meeting. You can
approach the facilitator if you wish to contribute. |
|
Speakers:
May 8, 2012:
Ask the Pharmacist with Donna Zagoreos, Certified Consultant Pharmacist.
( Details )
June 12, 2012:
Dialectical Behavior Therapy with Rikki Bobchin, MSW, LCSW
( Details )
July 10, 2012:
The ABCs of Recovery with the Help of ECT and Other Strategies! with Carol Kivler
( Details )
September 11, 2012:
Ask the Doctor with Ricardo Fernandez, Psychopharmacologist
( Details ) |
