April 8, 2010
Coping, Depression, Mental Health
No Comments

I was reading about a suicide of a college student recently and when I read his friends description of his behavior it was clear that he had a major depression. I wondered if his friends did not recognize his depression or simply did not know what to do.
Some of the advice for helping a depressed friend goes something like:
- Listen
- Suggest professional help, facilitate an appointment and offer to go with the person.
- Have the person call a suicide hotline or helpline
Although this is good advice, often with severely depressed persons these interventions are not enough.
This is a preview of
What to do When Someone You Care About is Depressed or Suicidal
.
Read the full post (444 words, 1 image, estimated 1:47 mins reading time)
December 26, 2009
Mental Health, Miscellaneous
1 Comment

It’s that time of the year where some of us (fewer I hope) make those New Year Resolutions that we often break leaving us feeling like failures. Why is that?? I wonder if it is because we often try to make ourselves into something or someone we are not.
I love this quote from Steve Jobs of Apple.
“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. ”
In thinking about this I realized that as I have gotten older I am more and more sure of and ok with, who I really am.
But knowing who you really are takes thought and time.
This is a preview of
Happy 2010, Resolve to Make no New Years Resolutions this Year
.
Read the full post (348 words, 1 image, estimated 1:24 mins reading time)
May 4, 2009
Mental Health, Personal
No Comments

Blue Footed Booby
When ever I go on a trip to a far off place I like to think about what I have learned. To me the important things to keep on learning are not so much facts ( I did learn a lot of these!) but what I call life lessons.
January 23, 2009
Africa Trip, Coping, Mental Health
No Comments
Ambivalence is said to be a common experience of the human condition. I have always believed this but have never felt it as clearly as I do about Kenya. Talk about a love –hate relationship!
So much to love: people who always smile and are extremely welcoming and friendly, children that are so engaging and loving, take care of each other, and are resourceful, strong and independent, gorgeous scenery, animals and natural resources. These are the thing I remember most that will draw me back to Kenya.
This is a preview of
Ambivalence: Opposite Feelings at the Same Time.
.
Read the full post (294 words, estimated 1:11 mins reading time)
October 30, 2008
Mental Health
No Comments
One of the problems in psychiatry today from my perspective is the use of “buzz phrases” that are stated as facts. A good example is “Chemical Imbalance.” There is the joke referring to the overuse of this phrase about a kid who hits his sister, when his mother asks why, he shrugs his shoulders and says “my serotonin made me do it”. Chemical imbalance is a “buzz phrase” frequently used by patients and professionals alike to refer to one theory of the cause of mental illness. This theory states that an excess or depletion of certain neurochemicals (chemicals in the brain) is at least in part responsible for a variety of mental disorders.
August 29, 2008
Anxiety, Mental Health
No Comments

Right now I am going through some major changes in my life, retirement, relationships traveling, finances, what else is there? All change, no matter how planned or positive brings some anxiety along with excitement. This article came to me just in time to give me a needed boost. Thanks to my terrific financial advisor Jay Cappon who wrote it. Check him out at his great website
Change: How Best To Deal With It
This is a preview of
Do You Get Anxiety Symptoms From Thinking About Change?
.
Read the full post (605 words, 1 image, estimated 2:25 mins reading time)
August 21, 2008
Mental Health, Miscellaneous
No Comments
Courage is not not being afraid. Courage is being afraid and doing it anyway. Ask James Bond. Here is a great interview that can be a lesson in reality. Click on read more and share it if you like it.
read more | digg story
Permanent link to this post (46 words, estimated 11 secs reading time)
July 30, 2008
Mental Health
No Comments

Sorry I am a little late with this blog posting. I just got home from a trip to Long Island where I grew up. In a small beach town on the south shore of Suffolk county I spent 4 days reminiscing and experiencing many bittersweet memories.
This visit I saw some friends I had not seen in 50 years; it was amazing how the memories came rushing back in a group setting with everyone talking of their personal remembrances. We each had something to share about that time so long ago.
June 19, 2008
Mental Health
No Comments
I realize I am a little late posting on this story, but I have been struggling with what to say. I decided to tell my own experience around this issue. I read the story on Harvard MDs and drug company money with a mixture of guilty pleasure (I was right!!!) and disgust. The guilty pleasure comes from the I told you so feeling that I couldn’t help. I had been complaining about the Harvard view for a long time (but nobody had listened.)
May 24, 2008
Mental Health
No Comments
Question and Answer
I am a new nurse on a psychiatric inpatient unit. I was told that I was allowing a patient to “split.” The person who said this to me seemed annoyed. Can you tell me what it means? What did I do wrong? I didn’t want to ask her.
You may have heard the expression “splitting” as a description of the way that persons with personality disorders relate to others. Splitting is a coping mechanism (also called a defense mechanism) that is used by both persons with and without Borderline Personality Disorder. It is a mechanism that is considered immature and is an unhealthy way to deal with disappointment in relationships.