Stuck thoughts … the brick walls that form a prison around your mind. The harder you try to get rid of them, the more powerful they become. I’ve been wrestling with stuck thoughts ever since I was in fourth grade. The content or nature of the obsessions have morphed into many different animals over the […]

I wrote the following post a few years ago when I was in the midst of a severe depressive episode. I wanted to repost this week as we commemorate Valentine’s Day. Most of us utter “in sickness and in health” with no view into the future, blind to the challenges that illness brings to a […]

Prayer has always been a foundation in my recovery from depression. I often read the The Psalms to reassure me that God is with me in my struggle. Here are seven other favorite prayers. What are yours? The Serenity Prayer by Reinhold Niebuhr God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage […]

I will always remember the therapy session 12 years ago in which my therapist told me I smelled. “Have you been showering?” she asked me. “Yes,” I responded sheepishly. “How often?” she inquired. “I don’t know … a few times a week,” I said. “Well, you should really shower every day, because you have some stink […]

According to Dr. Cliff Arnalls, a British psychologist with Cardiff University, a number of factors coincide to make January 24th the most depressing day of the year: It’s dark. Not as dark as December 21st, the shortest day of the year, but dark enough to make our heads and bodies crave sunlight. Christmas bills come […]

Every year on MLK, Jr. Day, I like to repost my dream.  In celebration of Martin Luther King, Jr.: I have a dream that one day I won’t hold my breath every time I tell a person that I suffer from bipolar disorder, that I won’t feel shameful in confessing my mood disorder. I have […]

This is a guest post by Mark R. He does a great job of addressing many of the misconceptions associated with depression and articulating the chronic nature of the beast–helping loved ones and friends who haven’t experienced a mood disorder understand the illness better. He ends with hope. And I want to reiterate — there is always hope. Sometimes […]

The season has arrived when we give ourselves an annual review and pick a few ways we can improve our health, our parenting, our faith life, or maybe our attitude. Among the most popular New Year’s resolutions are losing weight, eating better, being more organized, living life to the fullest, learning new hobbies, and spending […]

For Emily Dickinson, hope is the thing with feathers. In my world, hope is the thing with tinsel. Like most people, Christmas evokes all kinds of emotions for me. There is grief of loved ones lost during Christmases past and anxiety about how handle difficult relationships at family get-togethers. There is stress when I add […]

This post is from my archives. I have a love-hate relationship with December. Many people do. I feel like December adds another 50 percent of things to be scratched off of my “to do” list, and therefore tells my sympathetic nervous system that panic mode is appropriate, that we are aboard the Holiday Titanic and […]

Today I have the opportunity to interview Howard Samuels, Psy.D., author of “Alive Again: Recovering from Alcoholism and Drug Addiction” on the topic of managing addiction, stress, and anxiety during the holidays. Dr. Samuels is the founder and president of the prestigious The Hills Treatment Center in Los Angeles. He is an internationally renowned recovery expert […]

I feel guilty writing that: “getting through the holidays.” I’ve done an excellent job this year of scheduling events that will force my brain to appreciate the magic of the holiday season: I actually participated in a cookie swap even though sugar makes me suicidal; I made time last week to attend a friend’s holiday […]

I call the two months between Halloween and New Years the “eating season.” No matter where you turn, there’s a bowl of your favorite candy on someone’s desk, decadent holiday treats at your doorstep, and invitations to parties. The holidays are packed with stress, and we all know the easiest, safest, most affordable place to […]

George Burns once said: “Happiness is having a large, loving, caring, close-knit family… in another city.” So that would explain why the holidays are so stressful. Those dear relatives who live in San Francisco suddenly are lingering in front of your refrigerator in Cincinnati, Ohio and you have to figure out a socially acceptable way […]

Musician and songwriter Willie Nelson once said, “When I started counting my blessings, my whole life turned around.” Study after study on gratitude shows how simple exercises of appreciation build emotional resilience, improve our relationships, and promote our well-being. Gratitude researchers like Martin Seligman, PhD, director of the Positive Psychology Center at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia; Robert […]

I am reposting this piece from my archives as a reminder of my dream. What do I wish people knew about depression? I wish people knew that depression is complex, that it is a physiological condition with psychological and spiritual components, and therefore can’t be forced into any neat and tidy box, that healing needs […]

Lisa Hillman never meant to become a poster child for parents coping with a child’s drug problem. She was an accomplished health care administrator, a fundraising executive married to former Annapolis Mayor Richard Hillman, and the mother of two. Few people knew about the nightmare that was unfolding at home starting with a phone call […]