"You complete me." You know that line, right ... from Jerry McGuire? It comes right before "You had me at hello" (another puker). The completing-the-other bit nauseates me a tad because we relationship-analyzers (some with the right initials after their names and some self-declared experts who can type) like to classify that type of dialogue with a term known as "codependency." Ideally, you shouldn't need anyone to complete you. You should be whole going into a relationship, right? My guess is that those who feel like they are getting fixed are actually getting ripped off. That's why they keep coming back, hoping that THIS time their partner will make the ouches go away, making them feel all sunshiny and warm inside. Instead, the ouch is bigger, the hole is wider, and they are feeling the way I do when I see a Tom Cruise movie: bad.

Today I have the pleasure of interviewing Bruce Cohen, M.D., Ph.D, who is Director of the Harvard University McLean Psychiatric Hospital and Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. He is also the coauthor, with Chelsea Lowe, of the recently released book Living with Someone Who's Living With Bipolar Disorder: A Practical Guide for Family, Friends, and Coworkers. Cohen lives in the Boston area. Question: I have always maintained that the best thing a person can do to support a bipolar loved one is get educated. But if you could offer folks a crash course, what are the five most important things you think a loved one should know about bipolar disorder? Dr. Cohen: Getting educated is good advice. Here are five important things everyone dealing with bipolar disorder should know:

Therapists are turning out in droves to the online landscape, making our marks with blogging, article writing, social networking and other creative efforts. In Psychotherapists Unmasked on the Internet last October, I examined how this landscape had changed with the increasing prevalence of therapist websites with photos (ethically taboo not so long ago), raising interesting conversation about how we are “supposed” to be presenting (or not presenting) ourselves. The wave of the “therapist new world order” has crashed down, and many of us are now swirling around in it. The question, “Should I have a website with a picture of myself?” is passé. The question, “Is it ethical for a therapist to publicly engage in social networking?” has been hashed over (albeit, with some debate still gurgling).

Entertainment Tonight recently reported that TV and music star Marie Osmond's 18-year-old son, Michael Blosil, committed suicide last Friday in Los Angeles. In his suicide note, he described a life-long battle with depression, the reason for his suicide. Osmond said Michael became depressed after she and her ex-husband, Brian Blosil, separated, and that he entered rehab in November 2007. According to suicide.org, a teen takes his or her own life every 100 minutes. Suicide is the third-leading cause of death for young people ages 15 to 24. Approximately 20 percent of teens experience depression before they reach adulthood, and between 10 to 15 percent suffer from symptoms at any one time. Only 30 percent of depressed teens are being treated for it.

With the recent spate of celebrity-related suicides -- Alexander McQueen (a fashion designer), Andrew Koenig (from the TV series, Growing Pains), and now Michael Blosil, Marie Osmond’s 18-year-old son -- it seems like a sad but appropriate time to weigh in on this tragic outcome of untreated (or under-treated) depression, which is the leading cause of suicide. Alicia Sparks, blogging over at Celebrity Psychings, notes recommendations for the media when reporting on suicide, because suicide contagion is a real phenomenon. That is, there is a small but statistically significant increase in suicide deaths after a reported suicide makes the media rounds. Especially when the person who died by suicide is a celebrity.

Divorce is the second most stressful life event, preceded only by the death of a spouse. And what is stress capable of? Expediting a severe bout of depression and anxiety to your limbic system (the brain's emotional center) if you're not careful. Acute and chronic stress, especially, undermine both emotional and physical health. In fact, a recent study published in the Journal of Health and Social Behavior suggests that divorced or widowed people have 20 percent more chronic health conditions such as heart disease, diabetes or cancer than married people. Another study in Psychological Science claimed that a person's happiness level drops as she approaches divorce, although there is rebounding over time if the person works at it. That's what these 12 tips are: suggestions for preventing the devastating depression that often accompanies divorce, and techniques that you can use to keep your happiness level steady or maybe even higher!

Ellen Langer, a professor at Harvard, is also the mother of the psychological concept of mindfulness. There was a great profile last ...

All of us should insist on being treated fairly -- to stand up for our rights without violating the rights of others. This means tactfully, justly and effectively expressing our preferences, needs, opinions and feelings. Psychologists call that being assertive, as distinguished from being unassertive (weak, passive, compliant, self-sacrificing) or aggressive (self-centered, inconsiderate, hostile, arrogantly demanding). Because some people want to be "nice" and "not cause trouble," they "suffer in silence," "turn the other cheek," and assume nothing can be done to change their situation. The rest of us appreciate pleasant, accommodating people but whenever a nice person permits a greedy, dominant person to take advantage of him/her, the passive person is not only cheating him/herself but also reinforcing unfair, self-centered behavior in the aggressive person.

Nearly one-third of people caring for terminally ill loved ones suffer from depression according to research from Yale University. About one in four family caregivers meet the clinical criteria of anxiety. And a recent study found that 41 percent of former caregivers of a spouse with Alzheimer's disease or another form of dementia experienced mild to severe depression up to three years after their spouse had died. Caregivers are so vulnerable to depression because they often sacrifice their own needs while tending to their loved one and because of the constant stress involved. Here, then, are 12 tips to help protect you from anxiety and depression and to guide you toward good mental health as you care for a relative.

Bess Myerson once wrote that "to fall in love is awfully simple, but to fall out of love is simply awful," especially if you are the one who wanted the relationship to last. But to stop loving isn't an option. Author Henri Nouwen writes, "When those you love deeply reject you, leave you, or die, your heart will be broken. But that should not hold you back from loving deeply. The pain that comes from deep love makes your love ever more fruitful." But how do we get beyond the pain? Here are 12 techniques I've gathered from experts and from conversations with friends on how they patched up their hearts and tried, ever so gradually, to move on.

Today I have the honor of interviewing Daniel Lukasik, a distinguished attorney and the creator of the very cool website LawyersWithDepression.com. Daniel also writes the ...

I've often wondered what would happen if an undiagnosed manic-depressive participates in The Landmark Forum, receiving counsel from a Forum leader with no education on mood disorders. ...