I bought a copy of Dr. Abramowitz’s Getting Over OCD: A 10-Step Workbook for Taking Back Your Life, it arrived yesterday. I’ve read it in 3 or 4 small chunks over the past 24 hours. It is really difficult for me to read. Not because Dr. Abramowitz doesn’t know what he is talking about or …
Trigger Warning: Among other topics this post discusses suicide. Five is the first time I clearly recall the obsessive thought and the driving compulsion. I was in Kindergarten. The room had two rows of shelves facing each other forming a corridor in the middle of the room. The layout was similar to that of a …
Not all of us who struggle with mental health issues use humor, nor do some of us find lighthearted portrayals of our suffering funny…but I do…and I’m not alone. Why humor about suffering? Perhaps because it is a means of coping with suffering. If I can laugh about it, I don’t have to cry…or perhaps …
A few years ago Sheila and I thought we would be traveling the US in an RV for a year (or two or three). When I had a major health crisis this dream had to be put aside and we have walked a different path these past few years. We had created a blog called …
So That Is What a Heart Attack Feels Like… (Three Years Later) Read More »
Dr. Amen Who? Dr. Daniel Amen has written a number of best-selling books on mental health topics, including several editions on Attention Deficit (Hyperactivity) Disorder, or AD(H)D. He believes that there are seven distinct types of ADD which affect different portions of the brain and as such require different treatments. You can learn all about …
Dr. Amen’s Seven Types of Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD/ADHD) Read More »
Introduction My last post was on the detrimental effects of untreated mental illness on those around the ill individual. It was a strongly worded post because I have strong feelings/beliefs on the topic – I believed and do still believe that it is immoral / sinful / wrong to refuse treatment for mental illness1I’m not …
TLDR; Individuals with mental illness(es) frequently don’t seek treatment because they feel the cost of treatment (in time, money, side effects) is too great. Oftentimes the mentally ill fail to consider the true cost of avoiding treatment which must include the handicaps placed upon family, friends, and co-workers. The cost is especially high when we …
The Hidden Impact of Mental Illness on One’s Family, Friends, and Co-Workers. Read More »
If you haven’t already, I’d encourage you to read my previous (and first) post in this series on Difficult People. TL; DR: 1. If we can understand why a person is acting as they are, we can reduce the harm inflicted upon us by their assaults and maintain a healthy self-concept. 2. There are numerous strategies we …
TL;DR: I want to share what I know about difficult people and how to interact with them in a series of posts. There are several basic principles that are foundational to this discussion: 0. I know one thing: that I know nothing. 1. We are all difficult people. The amount to which we are …
I subscribe to Christianity Today and in their most recent issue (Nov. 2015, Vol. 59, Num. 9) they have an article by Douglas Groothuis, a well-known professor and author of theology and philosophy with the title “When Islands of Meaning Sink Beneath Us.” (pp. 50-55) The title alone lifted my spirits, but the contents are …