Notice the word “like.” I’m not going to be so bold as to introduce eight steps that will have you love yourself. Baby steps, right? For some, self-love is a no-brainer. They grew up in homes where LOVE was the predominant four-letter word. Some possess too much, and like Vanity Smurf, are most comfortable with […]
Renown psychiatrist Peter Kramer once said that the opposite of depression isn’t happiness. It’s resilience, the ability to bounce back from tragedy, to regain a healthy sense of perspective after traumatic or stressful experiences. In my recovery from depression and anxiety, it is calm— more than excitement or joy or contentment–that I seek. I want […]
I do hereby confess that I exhibit symptoms of compulsive hoarding, especially when it comes to books, magazines, newspapers, or other tangible, often recyclable sources of information. I never know when I will need that reference book that I haven’t touched in 18 years, and I experience substantial anxiety whenever my husband attempts to throw […]
A friend told me the other day to stop overthinking. “Bah ha ha ha!” That’s like telling the pope not to get on his knees, my daughter to stop craving sweets, or a teenage boy not to think about sex. I’ve always wanted to be one of those people who didn’t need a second longer […]
A good friend of mine describes her depression as an elevator that takes her down to an unfurnished basement with toxic mold, the stench of cat urine, and no windows. When she is there, she has difficulty believing that there are any floors above her. What she sees and smells, she surmises, is the sum […]
Graeme Cowan suffered through a five-year episode of depression that his psychiatrist described as the worst he has ever treated. Part of his recovery involves helping people build their resilience and mental fitness as the Director of R U OK? In his book, “Back From the Brink: True Stories and Practical Help for Overcoming Depression […]
Imagine you had to take a five-year-old with ADHD with you everywhere you went: to work, in the shower, to the grocery, on your run, out with friends. He was always anxious to leave and get back to his xbox at home. On the way to the store, he’d ask, “How long is this going […]
Most adults spend more waking hours at work than anywhere else. If you are unhappy there, you are unhappy a major chunk of the time. Sharon Salzberg, renowned meditation teacher and cofounder, with Jack Kornfield and Joseph Goldstein, of the Insight Meditation Society, has just released an invaluable resource on finding happiness at work. “Real […]
Renowned psychiatrist Peter Kramer once said that the opposite ofdepression isn’t happiness. It’s resilience, the ability to bounce back from tragedy, to regain a healthy sense of perspective after traumatic or stressful experiences. In my recovery from depression andanxiety, it is calm — more than excitement or joy or contentment — that I seek. I want merely to […]
I am helping my friend, I’ll call her Pam, end an emotional affair. I mean, it’s not the kind of emotional affair where she tells the guy that she loves him. They don’t have secret meetings, or talk every day, or have “code language.” To an outsider, the relationship wouldn’t seem inappropriate in the slightest. […]
Last summer, when I was in the midst of a severe depressive episode, a good friend told me that my suffering had value, that she was sure that my angst and tears would serve some purpose. “This isn’t all wasted, “she said, “suffering has redemptive power.” She sent me an excerpt of Pope John Paul […]
Last summer I met a friend for coffee. I cried through most of our hour together, as I was in the midst of a severe depression episode. At one point, she folded her hands on the table, looked intently into my eyes, and said, “It’s a hard time of year.” I started laughing … because […]
According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, depression affects more than 6.5 million of the 35 million Americans aged 65 years or older. Most of them have been experiencing episodes of depression throughout their lives. For others, depression has a first onset in late life—even persons in their 80s and 90s. However, those numbers—as […]
In her informative yet entertaining book, “Unworthy: How to Stop Hating Yourself,” Anneli Rufus tells this story: Accepting his third annual Teacher of the Year award, Jeremy gazed out at an auditorium packed with wildly applauding children, parents, and colleagues. Silently he mourned. I was supposed to get my doctorate. I should be famous by […]
Should someone with a mood disorder disclose her condition to her manager or anyone with whom she works? After more than twenty years in the professional world, having worked a variety of occupations in different kinds of settings, I still don’t know the answer to that. I experienced thick stigma and shame when I disclosed […]
I’m hanging out on some rough terrain between conventional and alternative medicine, not sure if dabbling in both simultaneously is allowed. I can feel the tension between them as real as I did between my parents during their hostile divorce when I was 11. Traditional medicine says that we just don’t have a lot of […]
The more medications and supplements I try in an effort to minimize my symptoms of depression and anxiety, the more I realize that every editable item you place in your mouth has a risk associated with it. Even the natural ones that are supposedly made from cats’ claws, wild yams, or some organic plant. Moreover, […]
Research led by Swiss neuroscientist Pascal Vrticka and his US colleagues at Stanford University has found that, among other things, humor plays a key role in psychological health. According to the study, recently published in the journal “Nature Reviews Neuroscience,” adults with psychological disorders such as autism or depression often have a modified humor processing […]
I am at the post office with two boxes of heavy books. I can send them book rate, which is far cheaper than first class if there is no personal correspondence inside the box. “Is there a letter or any form of personal correspondence in any of these boxes?” the post office attendant behind the […]
My husband asked me this morning how I slept. I wasn’t sure if I should tell him the truth. Yesterday was a bad day in a string of good days, which feels like a blizzard the first week of April. Aren’t we done with this? By the time we connected at dinner, I had meditated […]
