#manics is still my number one though!!! they represent me as I currently am

[pinksuitman]

With everything going on in the emo circles lately I’m tempted to make this blog active again cause I feel invested again.

[booksquirm]

Thoughts from the soph-box.

Last week, Kate Spade (a US fashion designer) and Anthony Bourdain (a French Chef) lost their lives to suicide. 

Since then people from all over the world have expressed their sadness, offering tributes and including links and phone numbers to call centre support services, urging friends and family to seek help if they were suffering. 

Yesterday I was trawling the internet as I stumbled upon a twitter post which read:

“Kate Spade committed suicide, now people are advocates for suicide prevention and mental health. 

Meanwhile your best friend is struggling, depressed, suicidal and you haven’t checked in on them in weeks. 

You guys are so fake concerned about mental health it is actually hilarious.”

I feel this is cynical and unfair. Just as many people do not understand the complexity of physical health issues and how to assist those suffering, the same goes for mental health issues. People offer the help they can, when they can. There is a distinct lack of understanding surrounding the symptoms of mental health disorders and often in today’s society, words such as depressed, anorexic, traumatised, psychotic are used as critical adjectives rather than factual diagnoses and thus the respect for such conditions and the extent to which individuals take these illnesses seriously is impacted. 

Irrespective, it is exceedingly difficult to care for a person with a mental health issue and at no point should those close to an individual suffering ever be held accountable for the expression of their illness, especially self harm and suicide.

(Please note here that I am acknowledging individuals who have not been involved in abuse of a person suffering mental illness, I am addressing people caring about and for individuals with mental illnesses completely unrelated to potential causal factors).

Kate Spade's husband has released a statement in which he notes her participation in therapy. She was doing her best in her recovery, though unfortunately still lost her fight.

A large number of symptoms of mental health disorders go unnoticed because some of these symptoms can, at times, be observable in completely normal individuals - everyone has times where they experience depressed mood, everyone has days where they feel overwhelmed or completely apathetic ... but the difference is how long these difficulties persist, and the extent to which they impede on ones ability to function.

The diagnostic criteria in DSM-V (current diagnostic statistics manual) include:

A. Five (or more) of the following symptoms have been present during the same 2-week period and represent a change from previous functioning; at least one of the symptoms is either (1) depressed mood or (2) loss of interest or pleasure. Note: Do not include symptoms that are clearly attributable to another medical condition.

 1. Depressed mood most of the day, nearly every day, as indicated by either subjective report (e.g., feels sad, empty, hopeless) or observation made by others (e.g., appears tearful). (Note: In children and adolescents, can be irritable mood.)

 2. Markedly diminished interest or pleasure in all, or almost all, activities most of the day, nearly every day (as indicated by either subjective account or observation).

 3. Significant weight loss when not dieting or weight gain (e.g., a change of more than 5% of body weight in a month), or decrease or increase in appetite nearly every day. (Note: In children, consider failure to make expected weight gain.) 

4. Insomnia or hypersomnia nearly every day. 

5. Psychomotor agitation or retardation nearly every day (observable by others, not merely subjective feelings of restlessness or being slowed down).

 6. Fatigue or loss of energy nearly every day.

 7. Feelings of worthlessness or excessive or inappropriate guilt (which may be delusional) nearly every day (not merely self-reproach or guilt about being sick).

 8. Diminished ability to think or concentrate, or indecisiveness, nearly every day (either by subjective account or as observed by others). 

9. Recurrent thoughts of death (not just fear of dying), recurrent suicidal ideation without a specific plan, or a suicide attempt or a specific plan for committing suicide.

Many of these symptoms can only be perceived upon speaking to a person, if that person is not masking their illness. Many a depressed individual, due to low self esteem and an engrained sense of defectiveness overcompensate and thus present incredibly well when necessary in a bid to divert attention. In some cases they may believe they do not deserve help, that they are a burden, or the stigma surrounding mental health may suppress their willingness to speak out. For me personally, low self esteem and perfectionism lead me to believe that I was in fact lazy, not ill.

Depression can act in a cyclical way. It’s important to understand that depression doesn’t just mean ‘sad’ it means, a loss of activity, the inability to do. Psychomotor activity refers to the genesis of  conscious mental activity, and a key symptom of depression is a loss or extreme increase in psychomotor activity.

 Loss in conscious mental activity can of course lead to fatigue, which leads to low feelings of self worth as an individual cannot achieve much in this state and inevitably begins to feel incredibly despondent.

In the same breath, psychomotor agitation makes it near impossible for an individual to concentrate, is incredibly fatiguing, distressing and deleterious to their cognitive functioning. Anxiety and rumination are often co-morbid with MDD and make an individual reluctant or unable to execute daily tasks including asking for help. 

 One of the treatments for major depressive disorder is cognitive behavioural therapy, whereby the individual addresses their thoughts and reframes the way in which they interpret them, helping them to act in ways promoting healthier choices. Communication is one of the areas many people suffering MDD need help with.

Communication is critical in all walks of life. The level of emotion conveyed by people who do not suffer mental illness in wake of public figures’ passing from suicide should be seen as a communication of a wish to be of help, despite not always knowing how. We would be cruel to read this as an indication that the world only cares about the deaths of the famous. People are shocked by their passing, in light of their apparent ‘successful’ and ‘perfect’ lives. Perhaps these people’s succumbing to their illness in fact sheds light on the prevalence of mental illness in the world. The issue is not the adoration of the famous or the garnering of attention after their death (if you could call it that). The issue is the lack of knowledge surrounding warnings signs and possible interventions. 

At many points during my own struggle I felt desolate and alone. Social isolation resulted from my illness. If you had asked me how many friends I had I would have told you that I was not a good enough person to have friends and when suggested by therapists that I reach out to friends, they were met with refusal for I felt I was a burden. This is common for people with depression. This is commonly why friends and family, despite their best efforts, are met with silence or retorts upon trying to communicate their desire to help to those close to them.

In 2014 I’d spent the last 12 to 18 months I’d yo-yoed in and out of depression, been hospitalised and was almost entirely manic, effectively in denial (shout out to the 2013 viola phase, you were incredible and hilarious). I hadn’t seen much of my friends and had completely upended my life, my degree, and out of shame annexed myself from my friends. Though on my 21st birthday, to my amazement, I reached out and an abundance of warm-hearted individuals met me with open arms and compassion. On the morning of my birthday 20 or so earth-bound angels met me at some un-godly hour for breakfast  (the only meal of the day I happened to be successfully eating) so I could eat roast tomato, fruit, think about smoked salmon and definitely avoid the cake while they simply existed in my presence without judgement. 

I can whole heartedly say that I have NEVER felt more cared for in my life.

The willingness for people to simply BE THERE when someone DOES reach out is the way you can support depression. I’ve had similar experiences since, one of which being the support around my graduation recital when I finally returned to university, and the common thread in each is that through small, manageable gestures people communicated their willingness to care, acceptance of who I was and respect of what I had been through.

The thrust of my rebuttal is this:

Carers don’t always know exactly what to do. There is no “how to” manual. If offering a tribute, a mental health or a donation to a charity is how a person can comprehend expressing their concern...we should thank them. In fact, there isn’t a lot that can actively be done, bar being there for a person when they are ready. All that can be done is to continue raising awareness, promoting respect and creating a platform from which we can discuss mental health clearly without stigma or prejudice for both the sufferers and their carers.

[theholidaytracklist]

50 Tracks 2019

Welcome!! This is your annual installment of 50 Tracks, the musical greeting card to all of my favorite people both near and far.  I hope that you and yours have been enjoying the holiday season, the brightness of the lights in the cold of winter, and the warm comforts of steady tradition. May you carry this joy into the boundless opportunity of the new year!

2019 was similar to its predecessor in that it was short on truly great music but deep in really good music, though I think there was actually more depth in album quality this year than last. As I say every year, music continues to be a mirror for where we are individually and as a world, so it’s no surprise that many of the artists I chose to select here are echoing the dynamics I find myself exploring in the twilight of 2019: feelings of uncertainty, existential dread, hedonistic joy, comic apathy, anger and catharsis, obstacles of love, wavering currents of hope. As I age I recognize more and more the way that music can act as a prism through which my emotional thought is refracted and colored, and I am both unsettled by the distorting impact that may have on my perspective, as well as being in awe of the tidal force that it plays in my understanding of the world around me. I hope at least one of these songs or artists can have that level of impact on you as well. 

As always, the list is limited to one entry per artist. It was frequently challenging to choose one song to represent the impact that many of these cohesive albums had on me this year, so when the featured artist had multiple songs that were among my favorites of the year, those additional songs will be denoted below the main entry in [Brackets].  Click on the bolded song titles to open the accompanying YouTube video. Enjoy!

Honorable Mentions:

Chromatics - Closer To Grey

We’ll start things off with the washed out driving electronics of Portland quartet Chromatics, who dropped a surprise seventh album in October, also titled Closer to Grey.  Always good to set a mood, Johnny Jewel and company deliver another gem here, perfectly scoring my snowed-out back road wanderings this winter.

Clams Casino - Rune 

Now almost 10 years into a career that has already seen a remarkable amount of both commercial and critical high notes, New Jersey producer Clams Casino continues to be central in forming hip hop’s next waves.  Returning with only his second proper studio album, November's Moon Trip Radio was another dive into his ambient side, ripe with both churning anthems like Rune and delicate moments that feel like watching butterflies flutter about in the sun.

[Twilit]

Crumb - Fall Down

Crumb is a wonderful indie-psych quartet of Brooklyn-based musicians who formed while attending Tufts University right in my backyard. The band quickly received some strong buzz with 2017’s Locket, and followed that up with their first full-length project Jinx this June. That record is stocked with fuzzy little tunnels of sound, with Fall Down being my personal favorite.  

JPEGMAFIA - Jesus Forgive Me, I Am A Thot

I've been aware of the artist affectionately known as Peggy for the last couple of years, and while I didn't see last year's Veteran as  the achievement some felt it was, I definitely respect the creativity, individuality, and force of the man as an artist. With the attitude of a punkster, a sample folder of the Gods, and a sound born in the deepest cockles of the internet, one of JPEGMafia’s greatest strengths is just how much he attacks you with his musical vision.  It’s never worked as well as it does here on the whip-tight energy of Jesus Forgive Me I Am A Thot.

Mannequin Pussy - Drunk II

I'm not even going to try to defend this band name, it's one of the worst I've ever come across.  That said, the Philly foursome are proving three albums into their young career that their music can be just as affecting, with lead singer Marisa Dabice delivering a powerhouse turn here with her desperate musings on Drunk II.

Mariah The Scientist - Beetlejuice

I still know very little about Atlanta R&B singer Mariah The Scientist, and the lack of overall noise about the 21 year-old fits with the somewhat strangely elusive feel of Beetlejuice off her August debut Master.  On the one hand her age, the look of this video, and her connection to Tory Lanez paint the picture of an R&B B-level flash.  And yet the measured power in her voice here, the patience of the production (those drums wait until 1:40 to kick in), and the way her jaded lyrics feel decidedly genuine all point towards a much more promising young artist.  

Sir - Mood (ft. Zacari)

A stand out from Inglewoed singer and TDE artist Sir’s latest Chasing Summer, Mood is the well-balanced poolside cocktail for your taste buds. Here the hook comes from label-mate Zacari, who provided a similar garnish for Kendrick on 2017’s Love, and had his own song in contention with Don’t Trip from back in the spring.

Smino - Klink 

It feels like Smino’s hip-hop sensibilities are all very relevant to the collective sound in 2020, which might be part of the reason (writing killer hooks always helps) the St. Louis rapper is as well-connected in the community as he is.  With ties to Dreamville and everyone in the Chicago scene, Smino blends influences like Nelly, Outkast, Ludacris, and Bone Thugs with his own cartoon flow to create something unique on every feature. I’m stoked to see him and 50 Track alums No Name and Saba join up for more music together as Ghetto Sage in 2020.

Spirit Family Reunion - Come Our Way

Spirit Family Reunion gave us another fulfilling entry into their version of the American Songbook this year with August's Ride Free, the Brooklyn band’s third stellar LP of traditional folk/bluegrass/gospel music.  This album saw Nick Panken and friends share a little more of themselves and their view on the state of the world in 2019, with some of that slow entropy leaking into the easy country road malaise of Come Our Way.

Zsela - Noise

Zsela is 24-year old Zsela Thompson, half-sister of actress Tessa Thompson and currently unknown darling of the music/fashion world, releasing hauntingly composed folk ballads and then playing sets on runways, in moody bars, and in quiet churches. Both Noise and Earlier Days made a strong impression on me this year, and if Thompson can approach the heights of current tour mates like Cat Power and Angel Olsen, she’ll be doing just fine.

[Earlier Days]

50.) 03 Greedo & Kenny Beats - Disco Shit (ft. Freddie Gibbs)

03 Greedo hasn't necessarily done much to make me take notice to this point, but as a fan of Kenny Beats (check out his YouTube show The Cave if you haven't) I gave their collaborative album Netflix & Deal a listen, and while this is one of the lone standouts, Greedo might deliver the hook of the year right here. The way his voice hits this beat is butter, and with the bonus of hearing an auto-tuned Gibbs, this one is too good to deny.

49.) Girlpool - What Chaos Is Imaginary

LA duo Girlpool have graced this list a couple of times before, but February's What Chaos Is Imaginary was the first record they've released an album since founding member Avery Tucker's voice became profoundly impacted by hormone therapy. Tucker entered the gender flow in 2017 and has had to cope with the impact that flow has had on his voice, once a huge part of the band’s sonic identity  The title track of that record is proof enough of the band’s resilience, with Harmony Tividad’s voice wielding much of that restorative power.

48.) Rich Brian - Yellow (ft. Bekon)

After being somewhat of a meme throw-in in this area of the list with his song Dat Stick (as Rich Chigga) back in 2016, Brian Emmanuel has steadily become a legitimate artist in hip hop, following up 2018’s solid Amen with The Sailor this July.  Lead single Yellow is a creative revelation for Brian, introducing a wave of psych elements, the prominence of his singing voice in new ways, and a more direct window into his pain.

47.) Sacred Paws - The Conversation

Indie rock duo Sacred Paws won the Scottish Album of the Year Award with their 2017 debut Strike A Match, and returned with more noodly goodness with May’s Run Around The Sun.  The Conversation was just one of a number of tracks on that record with a similar 90s sunshine sensibility that feels so blissfully hopeful and welcome in this era of existentialism in music.

[Almost It] [Brush Your Hair]

46.) Danny Brown - Dirty Laundry

With uknowwhatimsayin, his first record in the shadow of 2016’s Atrocity Exhbition, Danny Brown says his goal was to create a hodge-podge of sounds and ideas, like how when people tack ‘you know what I’m saying?’ to the end of heir sentences they’re usually not saying much.  The record comes off sounding much more New York than Detroit, but Danny keeps his manic energy, hitting his spots with a range of humor, wit, and tenacity over Q-Tip led production.  

[Best Life] [Change Up] [Combat] [Savage Nomad]

45.) Boy Scouts - All Right

Boy Scouts is Oakland singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Taylor Vick, and her record Free Company made it across my desk relatively late in this process, as her stellar track Get Well Soon graced some other end-of-the-year lists.  But it was the chugging blues and golden refrain of All Right, complete with space confetti synths, that really permeated my being. One of those relatively soft songs you can still head bang to.  

[Get Well Soon]

44.) Brockhampton - Dearly Departed

Ginger was a step forward for the boys of Brockhampton, even if it failed to reach the same dizzying heights of any of the Saturation trilogy.  Still trying to find their footing in the wake of traumatic transition, BH have oscillated between an R&B sound (giving Bearface and Joba more reps and streamlining production) and a gritty oddball sound (more bombastic Romil production with Matt, Meryln, KA, and Dom front and center). Dearly Departed is the emotional centerpiece of Ginger and sees the group confronting the anger and pain that Ameer’s absence has left them with. 

[Sugar] [If You Pray Right]

43.) Oso Leone - Virtual U

Virtual U is a sticky ode to modern distance from Barelona-based band Oso Leone, who broke a 5 year fast with their third record Gallery Love back in March.  Striking a similar tone as modern bedroom bands like Rhye, with influences from the world of jazz, fusion, and 90’s pop, this one ripples with a meditative swagger. 

42.) Pivot Gang - No Vest (ft. Mick Jenkins)

2019 was the year where we finally got a handful of “Crew” records from some of the most vibrant gangs in hip-hop (with Travis’ Jack Boys project only releasing in the days before this was published), and the three big ones all made the list.  First up is Pivot Gang, the west-side Chicago clique who have been putting out diverse independent hip-hop for the past ten years. The group lives on without founding member John Walt, who was memorialized in group leader Saba’s tour de force Prom/King from last year.  Their first studio album You Can’t Sit With Us is littered with standouts, but here’s the Mick Jenkins featured No Vest, where you get to see all three core members turn a verse.

[Bible] [Mortal Kombat] [Hero]

41.) Kanye West - Follow God

It’s a strange time to be a Kanye fan on the eve of 2020. While he’s (thankfully) not following through on his promise to run for president this coming year, Kanye has continued to thrust himself into the social/political consciousness in recent years, and in increasingly destructive ways. I’ve always been a Kanye defender, partly because I understand the bond bond between art and artist to be inherently tumultuous, and because I’ve seen Kanye as an impulsive, narcissistic, and emotional, but ultimately harmless musical savant, who consistently reinvents himself and pushes genre forward. I thought The Life of Pablo was a flawed masterpiece, and furthered the notion of Kanye as a towering artist, both in reality and inside of his head.  His decision to scrap Yandhi and replace it with Jesus is King will become one of the more bizarre ‘what ifs?’ in hip-hop history, and the combination of his pseudo-religiosity and Trumpathy (just made that up) are signs of a man cracking under the weight of his own ‘icon’ obsession.  To Kanye, Trump represents the pinnacle of ego achievement, I don’t think he so much endorses the politics as much as he is blinded by the raw power of Trump’s being. As documented in the Jesus is King videos, Kanye is building a rural kingdom in Wyoming, Kardashian clan fully in tow, his personal brand of middle-age dad paranoia melding with the existential paranoia sitting heavy in the 2019 air.  But even with all of the baggage he brings these days, Kanye can still make remarkable music. Even at 1:45 Follow God is the standout moment from JiK, but if you want an indication of what the record may have sounded like in the Yandhi alternate timeline, and what this man is still capable of, check out the OG version of Selah linked below or revel in the power of Use This Gospel’s solo (whether you prefer Mike Dean or Kenny G).   

[Original Selah] [Use This Gospel]

40.) Gerry Read - It’ll All Be Over (DJ Koze Remix)

This is the second straight year that DJ Koze has made a loop-heavy dance floor smash that begs for repeat plays.  Last year it was his Gladys Knight sampling shake of Pick Up and this year it was his re-work of his label signee Gerry Read’s equally groovy It’ll All Be Over that nustled into a warm place in my subconscious.

39.) Dreamville - Costa Rica 

Here’s the second crew record to make the list, with the exuberant Costa Rica from Dreamville’s third Revenge of the Dreamers compilation.  The last installment of this series was all the way back in 2015 however, and even though label-head J. Cole remains the leader of Dreamville, III is a different monster purely in scale.  With a swollen features list, swollen track list, and a stable of new talent since 2015 that includes J.I.D and Earthgang, III is groundbreaking in its consistency and it’s commercial appeal.  Alongside posse cuts and introspective bangers, Costa Rica is notable in that it jams 9 artists into three and a half minutes and none of them are named J. Cole.   

[Wells Fargo] [Sacrifices]

38.) Joji - Sanctuary

Another memer gone good, Joji made this list for the first time last year with the understated sleeper Test Drive but in 2020 he left twitch subtlety behind for the quiet grandeur of Sanctuary. Appropriately laid over the backdrop of space opera and ruminating on the soul’s solace in love’s intimacy, Sanctuary is a stunning 180 for the man formerly known as Filthy Frank.

37.) Kevin Abstract - Joyride

It’s easy to feel like Brockhampton have been taking their sweet time with their music over the past two years, but the you remember that’s only because they put out three classics in 2017 alone, and then you realize that Kevin Abstact’s Arizona Baby is basically a BH companion record, and they probably scrapped at least two albums worth of music post-Saturation, and you realize the sheer pace these boys are moving at.  I personally felt Arizona Baby was a better record pound-for-pound than Ginger, and I think a lot of that is because Romil’s production really shines through, with the horns and atmosphere of Joyride being a great example. 

[Baby Boy] [Georgia]

36.) Tame Impala - Borderline

I'm not sure whether or not Kevin Parker is feeling the weight of expectation, but the uncertainty in the rollout for his fourth studio album (appropriately titled The Slow Rush and now scheduled for February) has been interesting to watch.  It’s not like an artist of Parker’s caliber to cave under public reception, but it seems like that’s ultimately what happened as he chose to delay the album after playing SNL and initially releasing two singles from the project back in April.  While the lead single Patience did feel a bit uninspired, the salt-breeze pop of companion Borderline has been in rotation ever since.

35.) Earthgang - Proud Of U (ft. Young Thug)

It was hard to pick an Earthgang track largely because it’s always hard to pick a Young Thug track.  I could have just as easily used this as his entry as well (more from him later), but Thugger and Earthgang deserve their own spot this year, with the latter releasing their major label debut with September’s Mirrorland, a refraction of their vibrant funk-rap.  While it may not be the best showcase of the style of Atlanta duo Johnny Venus & Doctur Dot, Proud of U was undeniable this year. More samplings from Mirrorland are linked below, and Venus is featured prominently on Dreamville’s terrific Sacrifices.  

[Bank] [This Side] [Top Down]

34.) Florist - Time is a Dark Feeling

Florist graced the list back in 2017 with the serene reflections of What I Wanted to Hold, a collection of polaroids, winter scenes through cold kitchen windows, dreams of warmth.  They’ve done it again this year with Time is a Dark Feeling, a contemplation of the void out ahead of us, and the way it clings to your bones with a hollow chill.

33.) Freddie Gibbs & Madlib - Crime Pays

5 years after Pinata, the initial studio collaboration of Gary Indiana heavy hitter Freddie Gibbs and legendary producer Madlib, the duo returned for the highly anticipated follow-up Bandana in June.  Freddie has been a favorite of mine the past several years and the flow is extra nice over Madlib production, like on the twinkle-laced ‘making it’ anthem Crime Pays.  Freddie and Danny Brown both share a love of Midwest disco style, and use their videos to play characters, act goofy, and explore their aesthetic.   

[Half Manne Half Cocaine] [Palmolive]

32.) Grace Ives - Mirror

This DIY pop number feels like it just shook itself into existence. It certainly shook itself into my brain this year, and to watch Brooklyn musician Grace Ives perform it, with sudden barks and stops and starts, it feels like it shakes her pretty good too.  

31.) Maxo Kream - Meet Again

With his second studio album Brandon Banks Houston MC Maxo Kream shows off one of the best voice/flow combinations in the game, as well as a growing storytelling ability, both on full display here on Meet Again.  Maxo uses prison correspondence to paint a picture of his life’s traumas: how money, drugs, and the judicial system have systematically destroyed those around him. You’re left almost as amazed at the story as you the skill with which he tells it.  

[Change] [8 Figures]

30.) Daughter Of Swords - Dawnbreaker

Man, the delicacy of this song is so wonderful. Daughter of Swords is the solo venture from former Mountain Man member Alexandra Sauser-Monnig, and the tenderness she crafts both in her finger picking and in the gentle lilt of her voice is so striking that Dawnbreaker is demanding of your attention on every play.  

29.) Young Thug - What’s The Move (ft. Lil Uzi Vert)

I told you that it’s hard to pick just one Thugger song. His best albums (So Much Fun is a good one) sort of flow into each other both in sound and in quality, so that every beat, ad-lib, and vocal cadence hits like a familiar friend, with no one song standing out. You’re not a fan of just one Thugger song, you’re a fan of the whole Thugger experience.   

[Surf] [Light It Up] [Ecstasy] [Circle Of Bosses]

28.) Bedouine - Bird

I was just going on about how the tenderness of Daughter of Swords felt so strikingly apart, but Azniv Korkejian (who records as Bedouine) specializes in those tender songs that grab you by the collar and hold you close.  The Syrian-American singer-songwriter recollects titans like Joni Mitchell and Leonard Cohen, as well as contemporaries like Jessica Pratt and Tobias Jesso Jr., and Bird is an entry equal to those masters.  

27.) ScHoolboy Q - Numb Numb Juice

Even though CrasH Talk was something of a flop for TDE stalwart ScHoolboy Q, he still managed to produce one of the best pure rap songs of the year with dizzying lead single Numb Numb Juice.  Packed with raw attitude along with memorable lines and cadences, it’s a song that feels a lot longer that its two minute run time and has crazy replay value.

26.) Davido - Disturbance

For those like me whose knowledge of world music trends is limited, you should know that Afrobeat (and more specifically Naija-beat from Nigeria) is having a moment right now.  With so much similarity to the more melody-driven hip-hop sound that’s so prevalent stateside, and the role the Toronto cliques have already had in incorporating island sounds to the masses the past few years, it makes sense that modern Afrobeat would have so much crossover appeal.  There’s a lot of artists primed to take advantage of that wave, but most agree that Davido is the current living legend of Afrobeat, and with perfect little songs like Disturbance from A Good Time, it’s easy to see why.  

25.) Angel Olsen - All Mirrors

Perhaps one of the current living legends of alternative music, St. Louis native Angel Olsen first graced this list all the way back in 2014 with the sorrowful May As Well.  Things have changed a lot in the past 5 years, with Olsen eventually evolving to a much more expansive, almost gothically theatrical sound throughout the crest that was her 2019 album All Mirrors.  The title track, along with the soaring Lark, are the best offerings.  

[Lark]

24.) Toro y Moi - Who I Am

Who I Am is off of Toro Y Moi’s terrific electronic/dance record Outer Peace from early January, whose lead single Freelance was one of my favorite songs from 2018, clocking in at #14 on last years’s list.  The rest of the record was equally strong, especially in Chaz’ ability to craft minimalistic chill electronica that still gets stuck in your head.  Most of those more laid back tracks are those below, because Who I Am is another upbeat party song in the same throbbing vein of Freelance.  

[New House] [Baby Drive it Down] [Monte Carlo]

23.) Nilufer Yanya - Melt

I had thought this may be the third time on the list for the low-key London songbird Nilufer Yanya, but in checking the record I’m reminded that she just put out a bunch worthy of inclusion back in 2017 when I first caught wind of her, starting with Golden Cage and culminating with Baby Luv.  Returning this year with March’s Miss Universe Yanya gives us another strong collection to choose from.  I’m partial to the jazz-club sound of Melt, but you can’t go wrong with these other three either.   

[Heat Rises] [Tears] [Safety Net]

22.) Denzel Curry - Ricky

One of the more consistent and unique young voices in hip-hop, Dade county’s Denzel Curry has been on the map for over 6 years despite not being 25 yet.  Starting with 2013′s cloud rap classic Nostalgic 64 (released while Zel was in high school) and graduating to critical emo-rap darling with last year’s Ta13oo, Curry decided to just hit us with some straight bangers in 2019 with Zuu.  

[Carolmart] [Speedboat] [Wish]

21.) FKA Twigs - sad day

The bulk of Magdelene (co-produced by 50 Track alum Nicolas Jaar) may not be the kind of music that I’m dying to listen to again and again, but I can’t deny the artistic plane that FKA Twigs (also an alum with 2014′s Two Weeks) is operating on throughout the record inspired by her tabloid breakup with actor Robert Pattinson. Tracks and videos like Cellophane are a remarkable testament to Twig’s raw emotive power (like bright liquid flowing from a freshly cracked melon), but it was the melodic flutterings and glitchy atmosphere of sad day that got lodged in my brain.

[Cellophane]

20.) (Sandy) Alex G - Gretel

This song, from Philadelphia indie artist Alex G, bounced around a lot throughout the process of this list, from the cutting room floor to the honorable mentions and ultimately all the way up to kicking off the top 20. Gretel might sound somewhat inauspicious at first, but there’s a lot to unpack here, and it benefited from being in rotation since the summer, making it a Maine-house stargazing staple.  With elements of acts like Elliot Smith, Broken Social Scene, and even the late Lil Peep, Giannascoli has carved a beautiful little space between genre.

19.) Frank Ocean - In My Room

Mostly in hibernation since the dual releases of Endless and Blonde back in 2016, Frank Ocean slowly begun sticking his head out of the cave in late 2020 with a trail of singles from a supposed forthcoming third studio album.  Two of the tracks were released across all platforms including the mumbly DHL, and three others (Dear April, Cayendo, Little Demon) that were released as vinyl-exclusive singles.  These four songs range from puzzling to promising, but despite the shipping reference Frank really only delivers on the final cut, the dualistic In My Room. On the first half of Room Frank gives one of his more cohesive and well performed rap verses to date, exploring themes of bravado, ambition, and hate, while the second half blossoms into his familiar melodic coos, both halves hopefully a harbinger of things to come in 2020.

18.) Beast Coast - Coast Clear

The third and final crew record on our list is from the collective known as Beast Coast, long an informal tag for the combination of three prominent Brooklyn groups who finally hybridized for a full-length project Escape From New York in 2019.  Beast Coast is Pro Era (Joey Bada$$, Kirk Knight, CJ Fly, Nyck Caution, Powers Pleasant, etc), Flatbush Zombies (Meechy Darko, Erick Arc Elliott, Zombie Juice), and The Underachievers (AK The Savior, Issa Gold).  All three of those groups have been featured individually on the list before so the hype was definitely real for me, and I was so thankful that Escape turned out so great.  Coast Clear was my personal favorite and served as the encore when I saw these guys in August (which was wild), but check out the video for Left Hand if you need a more formal introduction.  

[Left Hand] [One More Round] [Bones]

17.) Aldous Harding - The Barrel

Aldous Harding hails from Lyttelton NZ, a small town near Christchurch that lies on the same peninsula where I would often take the bus to have a day at the beach. The Barrel, a strange little dance/folk number, only found its way to me as I was combing other year-in-review lists this past month making sure I didn’t miss anything, which always makes for trickiness when ranking them among other songs I’ve been listening to for months. But the uniqueness of this track (magnified by the music video), the seamless way the backing vocals are integrated to the latter half of the song, and the Grateful Dead-esque guitar part combined to give me the sense that this one might endure into 2020 and beyond. 

16.) Daniel Caesar - Cyanide

Toronto’s Daniel Caesar has been one of my personal favorite R&B artists since I heard his track Death & Taxes back in 2015, his neo-soul/gospel sound culminating with 2017′s terrific Freudian. His second album Case Study 01 out this past June drifted away from that gospel influence and introduced more electronic and island sounds, as exhibited on the effervescence of Cyanide.  

[Entropy] [Frontal Lobe Muzik] [Restore The Feeling]

15.) Frankie Cosmos - Rings on a Tree

The evolution of Frankie Cosmos from minute-long journal-entry-style lo-fi bedroom recordings free on Bandcamp to full-band alt princess has been one of my favorite artist trajectories to witness, and she returned with her fourth studio record Close It Quietly this September. Now her fourth appearance on 50 Tracks, Rings on a Tree was featured as a full-band song on that record, but a stripped down piano version that was included on Kline’s Haunted Items EP from March is the version I’m giving you here. A hopeful little yarn about love and death and suicide.  

[Actin’ Weird] [41st]

14.) 2 Chainz - Money in the Way

I can’t tell you that I expected a 2 Chainz song to be in the top 15, especially above artists like Frank, Twigs, Angel, and Denzel.  I mean what is this, 2011? That my friends is the joyous power of Money in the Way: a triumphant, brass heavy victory lap and one of the most fun rap songs you’ll ever hear. I challenge you to not bop your head with a goofy ass smile to this one. 

[NCAA]

13.) SALES - Rainy day Loop (Parent’s House Remix)

SALES may not have put out a record in 2019 (they’re still touring 2018′s forever & ever) but they still managed to get a song on the list, as they released a remix of Rainy Day Loop from that record this past March. Keeping the core melody, but accelerating the pace and swirling in the drum kit, SALES create an entirely new song on the remix, so much so that I didn’t recognize it on first listen. The beat billows and bends through the atmosphere, with lines like ‘watch me fade away’ ‘stuck in a rut’ and ‘watching everything around me come undone’ supplying you with the chillest depressive episode ever.  

12.) Tierra Whack - Only Child

Looking back with hindsight on 2018′s list there were at least three major acts I missed.  The first was the self-titled album by one of my favorite electronic arts Chrome Sparks (see O, My Perfection), the second we’ll get to in a bit.  The third was Philly’s Tierra Whack, who put out one of the most unique, fresh, and ambitious projects I’ve ever heard with 2018′s Whack World, a 15-track album with a run time of less than 16 minutes due to each song being ~1:00 snippets that were deliberately made to sound incomplete but cohesive. She then shot a 16-minute video for the album, which showcases different sounds, flows, characters, and lyrical foci. One of the best things I heard this year by far.  She followed Whack World up with some loosies early this year, including Only Child which was promptly stuck in my head for a month.  This girl is so god damn creative it blows my mind. But as she says on Wasteland, ‘There’s a long line, there’s a wait.’

[Wasteland]

11.) Tyler, the Creator - A Boy is a Gun

Speaking of fascinating trajectories to witness, who would have seen IGOR coming from Tyler back in the early OF days? Taking his patented in-your-face persona, applying it to his newly open queerness, and splashed against a canvas of neo-soul maturity, heavenly samples, and his trusty voice mods, Tyler put out one of the more complete and personally meaningful albums of 2019, like a vicious snake shedding his beautiful skin.  

[Earfquake]

10.) Jai Paul - He

One of the most influential artists of the past ten years that you’ve probably never heard of, Jai Paul was on the precipice of music stardom back in 2012 on the strength of singles BTSTU and Jasmine.  Those two tracks were hugely responsible for breaking the levee of the modern electronic/pop sound further popularized by people like James Blake, whose output over the past decade has itself had wide-spread influence that spans genres.  Jai Paul was readying his full-length debut for 2013 when it got mysteriously leaked online, putting a series of events into motion that resulted in Paul essentially withdrawing from the music industry and eventually starting his own institute/label with his brother in his native UK.  Then, 6 years later and without warning, Paul re-surfaced with an official release of the originally leaked album as well as two new singles, one of which is He, the lovechild of Prince, Michael Jackson, and Bon Iver.

9.) Bon Iver - Hey Ma

Speeaaking of whom, Justin Vernon also returned with only his second record in the past 8 years and his first since 2016′s sterling 22, A Million.  Forever taking the vocal tech advancements he helped create and popularize and pushing them further into the future, I,I twists and contorts those sounds and places them on new sonic landscapes.  Lead single Hey Ma may be the most generally accessible of the album’s songs but it’s also the one that stuck the most.  Check out iMi for a taste of what the rest of the record sounds like.  

[iMi]

8.) Vampire Weekend - 2021

By far the most difficult song selection on the list this year, I would ask that you just view this as the Father of the Bride spot as opposed to just 2021, because as you can see below, I could have basically taken anything from the whole album (in fact, with the exception of #3 we’re basically in best album mode from here on out). A brilliant return from the biggest band in the world with assists from people like Haim, Steve Lacy, and Mark Ronson, FotB is a dizzying and vibrant record with a singular feeling despite its wide diversity of sound.  2021 was the second song I remember hearing from the record (after Harmony Hall) and despite its minimalism compared with the rest of the record, it was the one that took up the largest residence in my brain and also illustrates that half-dread/half-hope feeling that I’ve been trying to communicate throughout the list as a whole.   

[Sympathy] [Flower Moon] [Harmony Hall] [Bambina] [This Life] [Stranger] [Sunflower]

7.) SAINt JHN - Monica Lewinsky (ft. A Boogie wit da Hoodie)

Man, I can’t express how much this album took me by surprise and subsequently dominated my listening cycle for much of late summer.  SAINt JHN, the Guyanese-American former pop songwriter turned star who hit #44 on this list last year with his spacey party anthem I Heard You Got Too Litt Last Night destroyed any idea of one-song wonder with August’s Ghetto Lenny’s Love Songs.  Monica Lewinsky is my personal favorite but this album is crazy deep throughout; different moods, different flows, love songs, bangers, strip club jams, yell-it-out-the-car-window shit, Lenny fucking Kravitz people.  

[High School Reunion] [Who Do you Blame?] [5 Thousand Singles] [All I Want is a Yacht] [Trophies] [Borders] [Wedding Day]

6.) Whitney - Giving Up

Three years after their debut album Light Upon the Lake splashed onto the indie the Chicago’s Whitney returned in August with the equally satisfying Forever Turned Around. This record will forever be imprinted with images of back road New England foliage, oranges and yellows and browns. The build that starts after a moment of silence at 1:45 of Giving Up and continues for the next minute or so is one of my favorite moments in music this year. The way the brass and guitar take turns with that little riff is orgasm in music form, complete with the afterglow.  

[Valleys (My Love)] [Friend of Mine] [Used to be Lonely]

5.) Twin Peaks - Lookout Low

First off I want to complete my earlier thought and say that the final act I missed out on from the 2018 list was a duo named Grapetooth, the side band of Twin Peaks singer/guitarist Clay Frankel. Along with producer Chris Bailoni and inspired by 80′s Japanese New Wave their self-titled record was full of in-your-face tunes like Violent. Clay re-joined his fellow Twin Peaks dudes in 2019 and with Lookout Low they’ve continued to hone a mature sound that owes more to classic rock and bands like the Grateful Dead than their former DIY days would have suggested. This record made me sing along, play more guitar, and man did they put on a killer show when I saw them last month. Sweet noodly goodness.  

[Sunken II] [Better Than Stoned] [Casey’s Groove] [Dance through It] [Ferry Song]

4.) Caroline Polachek - Door

I was a fan of Caroline Polachek’s voice and style via her duo Chairlift, who broke up in 2016 but had great songs like I Belong in Your Arms and Amanaemonesia, so when I heard she was putting out a solo record I was intrigued.  Then I heard Door and it blew my gosh darn sock off.  Then I heard the rest of the album and shucks howdy if it didn’t blow the other sock clean off too. Polachek has such an amazingly etherial voice, and she’s learning to fully wield it it almost Caroline Shaw-like ways on October’s incredible Pang, which like SAINt JHN before her demonstrates so many different beautiful incarnations of her vocal talent.  

[So Hot You’re Hurting My Feelings] [Go As A Dream] [Caroline Shut Up] [Look At Me Now] [Ocean of Tears] [Pang] [Hit Me Where it Hurts] [New Normal]

3.) Big Thief - Cattails

Big Thief released two very different albums in 2019 (U.F.O.F. and Two Hands) en route to their most successful and critically acclaimed year as a band.  And while I didn’t connect with either of those projects quite as much as I’ve dug their work in the past, they still managed to re-claim the same #3 slot they occupied on this list two years ago.  In 2017 it was on the back of the stunning Mary, and this year it’s with the equally affecting Cattails, a song that weaves together pain, joy, grief, and freedom and hits me right in the heart.  

[Orange] [Not]

2.) James Blake - Can’t Believe The Way We Flow

I mentioned the influence that James Blake has had on the past decade in music while talking about Jai Paul earlier, and while I‘ve seen and understood that impact for some time, that hasn’t always translated into my enjoyment of his output as a solo artist.  That changed with Assume Form, the fourth record from the London producer which saw him find new channels to explore the use of his voice (both his natural voice and distorted with endless layers of effect) as an instrument atop his skeletal creations.  Can’t Believe The Way We Flow rose to the top of a handful of great tracks from the project, with an Animal Collective-like sound and a refrain that’s probably about love, but could just as easily be about humanity tumbling down the flowing ribbon of time.

[Into The Red] [Don’t Miss It] [I’ll Come Too]

1.) Bibio - Curls

This was the first year in a while where I really had not idea what the #1 song might be until I really started getting into the list this past month. The past several years there’s been a clear leader (Amen Dunes, Brockhampton, Ultralight Beam, Mural), and while Bibio made the list back in 2016, it was with the decidedly electronic Light Up The Sky.  Ribbons, out this past April, was my first exposure to Bibio as a folk artist, and this record perfectly incapsulates what I was talking about in my intro as far as music that acts as a prism to shape my understanding of things.  Ribbons was the lens through which I saw the world this spring, and this album is full of written songs and instrumental tracks that create mood, that create feeling, that can brighten or provoke fear.  Curls is one of those rare songs that acts like a pensieve: gaze into it and feel it cradle you, watch as it paints dream-like pictures from your memories, feel its nostalgia, feel its sadness, feel hope, feel joy, and feel love.

[It’s Your Bones] [The Art of Living] [Before] [Old Graffiti] [Patchouli May] [Watch The Flies] 

[blockheadbrands]

Mental Health and Cannabis: Anxiety and Depression

Andrew Ward of High Times Reports:

Can you really treat depression and anxiety with cannabis?

Anxiety and depression are all too common in the world. According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, 40 million American adults, or 18.1 percent of the population, are affected each year. As such, people suffering from an anxiety disorder are more likely to go to a hospital at a rate of three to five times more than others. A variety of factors can lead to the development of such a case. This includes genetics, personality, and life events.

Despite just about every person being susceptible to the condition, only 36.9 percent of anxiety disorders receive treatment.

That figure may be a bit lower than the actual number of people receiving self-medicated treatment. In recent years, cannabis has represented a favorite, mostly non-addictive option for those medicating, with or without a medical card. That said, “mostly” should be highlighted in the last sentence as cannabis use is not a surefire, across the board solution for people suffering from depression and anxiety disorders. 

Despite studies on the subject existing, the issue is like most others in cannabis, where it currently lacks enough data for conclusive findings. Over the years, clinical support for cannabis use to treat anxiety and depression has wavered depending on the study. 

The Center for Disease Control‘s information unsurprisingly walks the government line. It states that marijuana can lead to an array of adverse effects from disorientation to suicide. Though, in the latter’s case, the CDC does note that a link between its use and grave self-harm is not established. 

Most published studies are likely to mention that cannabis and mood disorders are both incredibly complex. Dr. Susan A. Stoner (yes, really), discussed the complexity of the two in a June 2017 study, noting just some of the vast factors involving the two. 

“The endocannabinoid system appears to play an important role in responses to stress and anxiety. The two primary active ingredients of marijuana, THC and CBD, appear to have differing effects with regard to anxiety. Pure THC appears to decrease anxiety at lower doses and increase anxiety at higher doses. On the other hand, pure CBD appears to decrease anxiety at all doses that have been tested. There appears to be tolerance to these effects over a short period of time with regular use.”

Mike Robinson is the founder of the Global Cannabinoid Research Center in Santa Barbara, CA. His experience with the subject runs two-fold. “I’m not just a patient, I’m also a published researcher so I likely have an edge over the average consumer on what to use.” The former director of communications for the American Academy of Cannabinoid Medicine has a California medical card and uses both CBD and THC to manage his day. “No pharmaceutical medication has ever helped me like cannabis and extracts do. Without it I’d likely be unable to do much as it’s replaced literally dozens of pills taken daily,” explained Robinson in an email. 

Dr. Stoner’s findings and several others suggest that cannabis use works in the short-term but can lead to increased substance abuse and increased depression. However, many patients, both state-approved and self-medicating, stand by its long-term use.

Brad Zale has dealt with anxiety since he was 10, and depression since 15. This included having daily panic attacks and feeling depressed for weeks at a time. He has a Florida medical card and uses cannabis to help him recognize irrational thoughts and relax. He reports still experiencing depression but not for long periods. “I am more optimistic but realistic about situations.” 

Zale is like many who have turned to cannabis as their sole medication. He began using marijuana in October 2016 and claimed to have gotten off of nine drugs. “I was taking a variety of pills for anxiety, depression, pain, and ulcerative colitis-related issues. Since then, I have only taken cold medicine and maybe the occasional Benadryl.”

Melissa Gumley uses marijuana to address anxiety and depression she’s dealt with her entire life. These issues coincide with ADHD and manic depressiveness. Previously, she had spent years on Adderall, Ritalin and Vyvanse and was prescribed mood stabilizers and anti-anxiety medications that left her with horrible side effects. Today, she uses cannabis to feel what she calls “even,” where she doesn’t experience “radical ups and downs but a nice middle ground that’s consistent.”

But cannabis wasn’t always an option she wanted to explore. Beginning at 15 in recreational settings led Gumley to have several adverse experiences. She went back and forth on using cannabis medicinally but changed her mind over time. The availability of more information helped prompt her decision. “When the west coast started legalizing and the quality improved and information was widely being spread, I got back into it. I started researching the benefits of cannabis from a medical standpoint. I was unhappy with prescription meds and decided it couldn’t hurt to try,” she wrote in an email.

Others found themselves using cannabis after a traumatic experience, sometimes without even realizing it was medicinal. That was the case for freelance cannabis writer Max Ballou, who began using every day after they were raped in college. Ballou wrote how cannabis helped them cope after their attack. Unlike the findings presented by some studies, Ballou credits marijuana for not using other drugs. 

They also incorporate regular mental health check ups with their primary physician into their treatment regimen. “For me, having mental health support goes hand in hand with any holistic wellness regimen. Without someone to talk to about what was causing my suffering, which was a psychological wound, I’m not sure cannabis on its own would be enough to heal.”

Amy Hildebrand is a recent college graduate on the front lines of the subject thanks to her personal experiences and work in the cannabis space. That includes serving as chair of the board for this year with Students for Sensible Drug Policy as well as 4Front Ventures. 

While cannabis and other drugs can play a part in treating a person’s condition, it can lead to some troubling outcomes. Hildebrand, a significant consumer since 15, explained how large consumption has led her to think she was depressed at times. 

Today, she continues to use cannabis each day in Illinois, where she is not a medical patient. As such, her cannabis may not always serve its purpose. “I don’t have control over the product that I’m using. So sometimes it helps. Maybe it’s got a certain terpene in it or it leans more towards an indica or whatever it is that works for my anxiety. But there are other times when I’m now able to realize, ‘Hey, this is an acute effect of the weed you just smoked manifesting and increasing anxiety.’”

Depression and anxiety disorders are some of the most commonly linked conditions to medical cannabis use. While its efficacy remains debated, anecdotal findings suggest many have found some relief from its use. That said, results are mixed and can vary, especially when a person is without a medical card or access to legal avenues where information is much more clear and available. 

Gumley worries that the divide between legal and illegal states will further cause an information gap in cannabis consumers. “I wish I had some guidance when starting my cannabis journey but the truth is I didn’t. It’s trial and error. You must be patient and take your time finding what works best for you.” 

She mentioned several tips to those looking to medicate with cannabis. One stood out in particular. She wrote, “Like all meds you need to let your body adjust and learn to let it work with you. I do most of my design work using cannabis but it took years of practice before I could smoke and then sew and pin fit complex projects. There is a learning curve.”

TO READ MORE OF THIS ARTICLE ON HIGH TIMES, CLICK HERE.

https://hightimes.com/health/mental-health-cannabis-anxiety-depression/

[savetherapy]

Bipolar Disorder: Misdiagnosis

Over the internet you'll locate increasing focus being directed at the recognition of bi-polar mood signs and routines. Strong academic info is very important to those people worried they might have manic depression.

Also the most effective diagnosticians discover that coming to the analysis is an arduous effort. We are really not yet in a point at which we've readily easily accessible biologically established evaluations that produce a definitive analysis. Likewise we are not even close to having the ability to call the illness in relation to genetic screening.

We are still confronted with all the world of a mental health professional sitting having someone and depending upon medical meeting to develop an obvious image to recognize or exclude the existence of manic depressive illness. Occasionally in spite of wide-ranging inquiry and consideration of the information obtained, doctors still lose the bi-polar analysis. It occurs also using the many experienced mental-health specialists. I would be dishonest if I mentioned it is never occurred in my experience. Longitudinal research show us the typical period from first start of signs to a precise bipolar analysis is 10 to a dozen years!

The fact is manic depressive illness is normally hard to identify centered on only a preliminary analytical meeting by having an individual. The analysis is due to really extensive routines which exist as time passes. When ending up in an individual for the very first time, all I am actually capable of seeing is her or his behaviour and mood express in today's, which excludes about 90% of the added information which is needed to establish the analysis. The purchase of the 90% depends up on the clinician's capability to ask the appropriate inquiries as well as the individual 's capability to supply complete and precise responses. Also afterward, consideration will become necessary prior to the bi polar photo may coalesce with quality.

Bi-polar signs within numerous types and styles. Each person brings their very own unusual stamp to the medical image. We find variability in indicator skill, symptom length and sign symptoms. While symptoms like elevated energy, decreased importance of sleep and hastened considering are typical to the majority of bi polar raised mood states, one person hypomania/mania might be apparent through excitement https://www.bipolaruk.org/ and grandiosity while the disposition raising of some other might involve frustration and upheavals of anger. Still a next might show their symptoms mainly through super-libido and energetic spending. Further compounding the analytical problem is the truth that the disorder often co-exists with additional mental diagnoses in a way that that people get a adding or commingling of signs from distinct analyses. The mentalhealth specialist afterward is up against working away what signs fit in with what diagnoses and the way the distinct units of signs might potentiate each other.

I come to realize the three analyses that are ordinarily mistaken with manic depressive illness or possibly co-exist and thus restrict the investigation are: 1) unipolar depression, 2) attention-deficit-hyper-activity dis-Order and 3) the number of personality disorders. In this latter world, the people we frequently observe to arrive for remedy are these clinically determined to have borderline and narcissistic character features. You'll find surely additional personality disorders that may come in to this combination but we come to realize that people who have borderline/narcissistic characteristics tend mo-Re frequently to seek psycho-therapy. Also, a number of the observable symptoms within both of these character types may very quickly be mistaken as of the the bi-polar procession (notice preceding Bi-Polar You blog: The Connection between Narcissism and Manic-Depressive Psychosis).

What're a number of the the principles which assist us differentiate between right depression, attention-deficit-hyper activity dis-Order, personality disorders and bipolar illnesses?

Permit begin having the many typical: unipolar depression. The truth is, we might observe teenagers undergo several years of occasional depressive attacks throughout highschool until they show the type of mood raising which guidelines the the size towards a bi-polar analysis.

There can also be some signs inside the entire depressive account that could tip us off to the inherent bi-polar dis-Order. I am talking about matters including times of sensation revived while also being cranky, angry and extremely cynical about existence. With one of these individuals, their depressive signs never have squashed them away. It really is similar to the extreme unfavorable emotions are along with a a amount of disappointment. Him or her could also come to realize their turmoil inhibits their skill to get a full evening sleep. But these little hints, in and of themselves don't grow to the amount of a bi-polar analysis. They've been simply attributes that ought to garner our focus and perhaps alarm us that there's mo-Re current than readily satisfies a person's eye.

The following fundamental component will be to get information on the subject of the more extensive genealogy and family history of mental diagnoses, and especially manic depression. If a person comes in showing mainly with depressive signs however they h-AS a parent, a sibling, a grandparent as well as an auntie or granddad with manic depressive illness, then you must approach the first unipolar demonstration of depression as though it might portion of a more comprehensive bipolar dis-Order. I do believe with this as "bi polar preparing" where some body h-AS the innate pre-disposition however they will have really not however shown the full array of bipolar signs. In such cases the person might be clinically determined to have the illness just due to his or her genetic science, however, the treatment strategy may likely vary than in case there is not any feeling dis-Order signs in the household history.

Another analytical bit that should be be requested of just about any individual who comes in to remedy is: "What is the disposition and behaviour like if you are feeling excellent?" To have that further, the person ought to be asked, "Is It True That your disposition ever be extreme or maybe more improved than that which you normally encounter when-you're in a generally good disposition." You would be be alarmed how often that straightforward point of asking is disregarded. All things considered, when some body comes in seeking aid and every-thing they're discussing resembles, sounds like and feels as though depression, it really is an easy task to decide the person ought to be handled for depression and perhaps actually be approved an anti-depressant.

Hereis the stroke: Anti-depressants, when approved to somebody who's genetically pre-disposed towards bipolarity, might really precipitate hypomanic or manic signs, thereby causing the bi-polar analysis. We we can not actually know with certainty whether that person might have established bi-polar signs if anti-depressants weren't recommended. Had the appropriate queries been asked upfront, the exact same person could have now been approved a feeling stabilizer ahead of the use of an anti depressant along with her or his progress in to hypomania or mania might happen to be avoided.

The 2nd complex analytical problem entails attention-deficit-hyper-activity dis Order. This can be a neurologic dis-Order which shows through outward indications of attention and hyper-activity. Regarding consideration we notice behaviour including: poor focus on depth, regular inattention or shedding emphasis, problem pursuing through with directions regarding jobs, jobs or homework, problem with organizing tasks and actions, often shedding or misplacing points and steady oblivion. With regards to hyper-activity we observe: problems sitting nevertheless, propensities to maneuver around or be excessively lively in scenarios where that is improper, difficulty participating in tranquil discretion activities, exorbitant amount of physical action - frequently behaving "like pushed with a engine," and extortionate talking. There exists an additional variant on hyper activity including impulsivity. This could involve: inclinations to let away answers to queries until they are fully inquired, issues awaiting one's turn and inclinations to interrupt or intrude on the others. Impulsivity also can involve quickly creating options that tend not to represent great view. A lot of the previous symptom explanations represent ADHD criteria from DSM IV TR (American Psychological Connection).

What is difficult in regards to the aforementioned indicator checklist is the fact that a lot of precisely the same kinds could show up over the course of a hypomanic or manic show. Someone's bodily vitality might be quite so improved he or even she is able to quickly look hyper-active. Addititionally there is such intellectual velocity and disposition depth that somebody 's recollection, focus on depth, capability to keep concentrated and skill to suitably hinder activity are totally reduced. Therefore, how can we recognize these models of signs that may appear therefore much like one another?

The initial element of the solution entails an important warning: the differentiation will not easily affect those who find themselves identified as having childhood bi-polar dis-Order therefore may use its influence in the same way soon as does ADHD. The striking variations are that feelings of grandiosity, extreme fulfillment or extreme anger, rushing knowledge and decreased significance of sleep tend to be mo-Re prominent in youth bi polar than they're in attention-deficit-hyper-activity dis Order. It doesn't me-an there will not be be these topics in the focus deficit-hyper-activity world however, the previous sign bunch may probably possess a more powerful presence in childhood bi-polar dis Order rather than ADHD.

Today permit come back to differentiations between attention-deficit-hyper activity dis-Order and manic depressive illness in adults. It really is really quite straightforward. The adult with manic depression who didn't have youth bipolar dis Order are going to have have observed a stage of indicator start some time after middle to late adolescence. The meaning here's that when I am inquiring about indicator beginning as well as the person being evaluated reviews that not one of their signs were existing ahead of a certain stage in adolescence or early adulthood, then it is unlikely that signs being mentioned are reflective of ADHD.

An additional crucial differentiation is the fact that a lot of the attention-deficit- such as signs which can be usually present throughout raised disposition stages are lacking throughout mid-range disposition also to some lesser level, despondent mood, although occasionally depression does hinder focus, focus and memory therefore we are able to notice what can happen as an overlap of ADHD and bi-polar signs throughout despondent disposition. The one noticeable time frame when the attention-deficit-like symptoms are lacking for the bi-polar person is all through midrange disposition. This can be not true for an individual with attention-deficit-hyper activity dis-Order because their signs are constituent of the base-line operating. They they do not encounter time periods when their ADHD signs are lacking. That is to not state there exists not some variance of indicator strength, nevertheless, the focus deficit person wont have periods where attentional, concentrating, business and urge inhibitory function are totally ordinary. Maintaining the aforementioned distinctions in your mind, the updated in diagnostician may generally mock away the variations between ADHD and bi polar problem.

The difference of personality disorder signs from manic depressive illness involves two crucial variants, one among which resembles the ADHD variation. In other words, whenever a person battles with personality disorder signs, their battles will normally be on-going. Just like ADHD, there could possibly be some variance in sign skill, however, the person usually will not have occasions where she or he is maybe not underneath the sway of the mental processes underlying the personality disorder. People with personality disorders aren't getting to own a holiday out of their character character. Alternatively, the bi-polar person whose symptoms (impulsivity, hypersexuality, anger/frustration, inclinations towards idealization or devaluation, emotions of grandiosity, etc.) might appear to be they fit in with a personality disorder analysis can have with enough of a variation within midrange disposition that all equal signs is going to be missing.

The next essential differentiation involving the personality disorders and manic depressive illness is that personality disorder problems reveal with regards to inter-personal associations. The battles which might trigger robust character disordered signs are nearly constantly inside the social world. While there's a few overlap here with manic depressive illness in the meaning that social tensions might trigger a change in disposition period, bi-polar people will even let you know we have occasions when when the start in their signs, whether improved or despondent, will appear in the future out-of-nowhere. There isn't any apparent cause or precipitant for his or her disposition destabilization. The sole dependable reason is the fact that there's been an endogenous change inside their mind process as well as their neurochemistry.

The preceding dialogue is in no way thorough regarding differential analytical distinctions between manic depression as well as additional mental illnesses that discuss related signs. . nevertheless, it ought to provide you with an excellent awareness of the types of problems the specialist is likely to be taking a look at when attempting kind through whether you have manic depression, still another investigation or co-existing analyses.

I would suggest which you be careful in case a mentalhealth expert gets to the bi-polar analysis after merely a brief period of moment along with you or having a member of the family. The slim exception here might entail some body using a powerful hereditary bi-polar history who gift ideas with hall-mark bi-polar signs in not having any conditions which could spark queries regarding co-morbidity. But actually here, in the title of thoroughness, diagnosticians should still be careful about achieving decisions prematurely.

Once per mentalhealth expert is here at a genuine bi-polar analysis I'm many comfy when the analysis is introduced as a solid chance as well as an obvious description of the foundation upon which the decision continues to be reached. The individual also needs to be warned the investigation is only going to be effectively determined more than a mo-Re prolonged time period which equally individual and specialist is likely to be studying this collectively as therapy proceeds.