The night we turn back the clocks for Daylight Savings Time has always been for the universe’s invitation for me to get out my mammoth HappyLite from the bedroom closet and start soaking in the 10,000 lux that I hope soaks lots of sanity into my head. I realize that Daylight Savings doesn’t take the […]
As a manic-depressive, my postcard from the Caribbean would say, “Having a ball, wish I were dead.” (My guardian angel, Ann, came up with that one.) That’s how moody I am. And my moods definitely fluctuate according to the seasons.Thus, my love-hate relationship with October. Typically, in a non-global-warming world, this is the month when […]
Two bombs explode yesterday in the crowded streets near the finish line of the Boston Marathon. Three people are killed, including an 8-year-old watching his father run, and more than 130 are injured. But there are thousands that will leave the race with posttraumatic stress symptoms. Although not all will develop what we define today […]
I don’t really think of myself as having a hot temper. But I do have trouble speaking up when something starts to bother me. Thus, the irritant builds and builds, and instead of becoming a pearl, like a grain of stand does in an oyster, it explodes … usually on the person whose behavior I […]
I thought the following chart I found on helpguide.org might be helpful for those of you wondering if your relationship is abusive. Originally published on Beyond Blue at Beliefnet.com
Yes. It’s that season where I compare everything to a pumpkin! 1. It comes in all shapes and sizes (and diagnoses). 2. With enough creativity, you can it put it to good use. 3. You have to carefully monitor kids around it. 4. It arrives in October, and stays through the holidays. 5. It can […]
From my archives … Aside from my own psychiatrist, Dr. Smith, there are few doctors that can explain a confusing and complex condition like Bipolar Disorder with such clarity as the medical director of NAMI, Dr. Ken Duckworth. Three years ago, I had the pleasure of interviewing him when I was the Patient Advocate for […]
My friend, Priscilla, just lost her best friend (okay, after her husband, Jimmy). On her blog, she writes: Our beloved golden retriever died this morning, peacefully, after spending a wonderful week by our side on Martha’s Vineyard, at the beach, where she ran into the ocean, and in the woods, where she took a long […]
When you feel like strangling the guy in front of you at Target, read these “7 Quick Ways to Calm Down,” or as the Huffington Post renamed them, “7 Quick Ways to Avoid a Meltdown,” I laughed at the art that went with it because, well, I sort of looked like that yesterday. I needed a reminder of […]
This invitation is from Ted Zeff, Ph.D.: I’m excited to let you know of a new book that I am writing which will help you thrive as an HSP entitled The Empowered Highly Sensitive Person: Stories of HSPs Successfully Coping in a Non-HSP World. I would like to offer you the opportunity to share your […]
Depression and bipolar disorder are family diseases. Everyone sharing a kitchen and a bathroom is affected. In fact, in his book “Understanding Depression,” J. Raymond DePaulo Jr., M.D., writes that “depression … has a much greater impact on marital life than rheumatoid arthritis or cardiac illness. One study found that only severe forms of cancer […]
Dan Fields, freelance health writer and former editor in chief of Dr. Andrew Weil’s Self-Healing newsletter, recently sent me a link to his piece for a cool new online publication called “The Good Men Project Magazine.” I was especially intrigued by his exploration of midlife suicide and why the rate is highest among any age […]
I had been on the drug Zyprexa (olanzapine) for four weeks and had already gained 15 pounds which, you know, didn’t help my depression. After going to a wedding and catching a side view of myself, I called my doctor and told him that my name was now Violet Beauregarde, you know, the gum chewer […]
I read a very good and concise article in “Remedy Magazine” (Health and Wellness for Life) on how to boost your mental immune system by psychiatrist Sudeepta Varma, M.D., medical director of the World Trade Center Mental Health Program at Bellevue Hospital in New York City. I knew all the stuff he suggests and I […]
In her national bestseller “Potatoes Not Prozac,” Kathleen DesMaisons offers a seven-step dietary plan for sugar-sensitive people like me. I’ve tried to implement her suggestions into my diet because, as a recovering drunk and depressive, sugar can throw me into an emotional mess that gets downright ugly. A diet rich in fiber and protein is […]
I’m still bothered by all the hype awhile back about antidepressants not working any better than sugar pills because I know that the people who need treatment–possibly those that will go on to take their lives–read that story and decided there was no hope in medicine. That’s why I like to publish insightful articles like […]
The following post is the Afterword of the newly released “Overcoming Borderline Personality Disorder” by Valerie Porr. I have reprinted it here with permission of Oxford University Press. There are so many misconceptions about this disorder today. A friend of mine, recently diagnosed with BPD, has helped me to understand her illness. I hope this […]
Psychologist and mental health blogger Elisha Goldstein quotes a favorite author of mine, Don Miguel Ruiz, in his post “4 Steps to Getting Free from Limiting Beliefs”: “You see everything is about belief, whatever we believe rules our existence, rules our life.” I’ve been using Ruiz’s book, “The Four Agreements,” to help me process the […]
Awhile back Christina Gombar of Exhale interviewed me about pregnancy, medication, and motherhood. You can find the original interview by clicking here. Here’s what I had to say: Christina: In your memoir, “Beyond Blue,” you attribute some of your relapse after a post-college, medicated recovery to a perfect storm of factors — moving, switching from […]
In his book “Emotional First Aid,” psychologist Guy Winch shows us the strategies he uses with patients in his own practice to help heal psychological wounds so that we can feel better quickly and improve our lives over the long haul. Dr. Winch discusses the seven most common psychological injuries we suffer from in daily life: rejection, […]
