I get the opposite of what many people get. Seasonal Affective Disorder hits during the colder months when there's less light, but those aren't my worst months. My worst months often happen in the summer. Some of my most serious depressions have started in June, July...
In a Los Angeles Times op-ed, What's God Got to Do with It? Michael Shermer reports that last week the House of Representatives voted to keep "In God We Trust" as the national motto. He writes that Congress originally adopted the phrase in 1956 when many Americans...
Thursday, October 6th is National Depression Screening Day in the U.S. Millions of Americans suffer from depression and don't even know it. We assume we're in a bad mood because of our crappy jobs or lack thereof, or any of a hundred reasons. We assume everyone would...
I recently watched a film that I should have seen decades ago: Bridget Fonda and Jennifer Jason Leigh in Single White Female, which came out in 1992. It was one of those movies that featured a woman who becomes increasingly unstable and dangerous, in the tradition of...
Dr. Nassir Ghaemi, who runs the Mood Disorders Program at Tufts Medical Center in Boston, Massachusetts USA, has published a book that links strong leadership ability, especially in times of crisis, with mental illness. Equally remarkable is the hypothesis of A...
Patty Duke and Kay Redfield Jamison have written books about living with bipolar disorder. Famous people who have spoken about their struggles with chronic depression include Sheryl Crowe, Jim Carrey and Owen Wilson. But the mental illness that fascinates me the most...
Here is how I'm different: I'm smiling more, laughing more and talking more. I sleep well and my daytime energy is great. I worry less, even while my personal life has recently increased in stress. At times this new peace has been unsettling because I'm not used to...
So I had a rough summer, a not-much-better trip to South America and came back feeling more depressed than ever. I ate a lot. By the end of September, I had begun to pull out of it. I got back to my healthy eating habits. I started to lose the weight I put on in the...
I was talking to someone this week about my worries about Bob's health, my health, my upcoming trip and my fears about life in general. She asked me how long I have been depressed. I was surprised by this. I didn't realize I was depressed. But as I turned it over in...
1. I have GREAT FRIENDS who have really come through for me this week. One friend is getting the equipment I blogged about last time and another brought Bob home today so I wouldn't have to take another day off work or try to drive him home in rush hour traffic. I am...
Good news: it looks like Bob will be home Monday night. Bad news: when I called the in-patient rehab center a month ago and asked what items I should buy for Bob's convalescence, the admissions officer reassured me that the physical therapist would order those items...
(Part One)Earlier today I was writing to a friend with whom I haven't spoken in months. I wrote him that I'm discouraged about my music. Again. I've had no luck with TAXI.com (the service that hooks up musicians with people who want to buy songs for film/tv placement...