A Mental Health Reader

Create Peace in Yourself

2012-05-25

One of the primary aims of psychotherapy is to support people in becoming at peace with themselves, so there can be an internal sense of security and freedom. It's almost as if, more often than not, we're at war with ourselves. When stress and pain arise, we react to it as if they are enemies that need to be beaten. I'll never forget when I saw a flyer up at a Mental Health organization that said "Fight Your Depression." In that moment I thought, that statement couldn't be more wrong if the aim is to come to peace with oneself. Fighting our uncomfortable feelings is fighting ourselves which only increases the distress. Acclaimed author and Vietnamese Buddhist Monk, Thich Nhat Hanh, tells....

The Protective Effect of Having a Purpose in Life

2012-05-24

Last weekend, I attended a class at my church during which we were each asked to introduce ourselves and identify one of our passions in life. The responses varied from "I'm passionate about being a mother," to "I love motorcycles." My own answer was, "I'm passionate about writing." My passion is driven by the belief that my writing ability is a gift that God gave me as a way of helping people. I noticed a common denominator among everyone's responses - all of the declared passions provided ways for people to spend their time in a purposeful way.

On Being Optimistic

2012-05-24

To be optimistic is to believe the opposite of Murphy's Law. Murphy's law is famous for it's pessimism: "Anything that can go wrong will go wrong." How many times have you heard that one A variation of that is this well known quote:

Enjoy Now

2012-05-23

Is Alcohol Addiction a Disease?

2012-05-23

There is a paradox in the question, "Is alcoholism a disease? Alcoholics Anonymous asserts that alcohol abuse is an illness or disease, cannot be cured and can only be controlled through abstinence and with the help of AA and in belief in a higher authority. The...

The Dilemmas of Codependent Men

2012-05-22

The dilemmas of codependent men aren't talked about. Unlike women, men don't discuss their relationship problems with friends and family. Instead, they internalize their pain. Many are in denial, suffer in silence, or become numb to their needs and feelings. They shun attention and try to do the right thing and be good sons, husbands, and fathers, focusing instead on making a living and meeting the needs of their wives and children. These codependent men sacrifice themselves and believe that their needs, including the need for time away from their wives, are selfish.

Homosexuality, Not A Matter of Cure

2012-05-22

It takes enormous courage for any scientist, after leading an academic life filled with great success, to admit a mistake many years after his research is done. That is just what prominent psychiatrist, now retired, Dr. Robert L. Spitzer did in relationship to his research on homosexuality.

Getting Unstuck: One Practice that Can Help

2012-05-22

Understanding Resentment

2012-05-21

According to the Oxford American Dictionary, resentment is defined as indignation or anger about having been treated unfairly. It's a complicated emotion because it involves feeling humiliated, shamed and, ultimately,

A 3 Day Plan to Break Free from Irritation

2012-05-18

Irritation is a part of everyday life and it is adaptive in some ways. It gives us information and at times, motivation to change a situation. However, most of the time, our minds get stuck in habitual ways of relating to people and events that bring up irritation, creating a sense of everyday suffering. In other words, irritation itself becomes a habit. Here's a 3 day plan to break free.

Depressed, Forgetful? Take a Walk in the Park

2012-05-18

Do you remember Henry David Thoreaux, who spent two years in Walden Pond in Concord, Massachusetts, during the mid nineteenth century? He wrote about what it was like for him to live in nature while being away from the forces of modern civilization. Thoreau favored a pastoral kind of life where people could live in an environment of the country with rolling hills...

Are Mental Health Apps the New Generation of Self-Help Books?

2012-05-17

I've become fascinated lately by the number of mental health apps available to us. These apps claim to help us track our moods, improve our outlook, and apply therapeutic principles to our daily lives while waiting in line at Starbucks or during our morning commute.

Grief Ghosts: Four-Step Rise and Seven Factors Influencing their Nature - Part VI

2012-05-17

Are all grief ghosts alike? Of course not. The character of our "Grief Ghosts" depends on the nature of our loss, the variables surrounding this loss, and the subsequent grief reaction (including "Prematurely Buried Grief") or response.

The Downside of Expectations

2012-05-16

Is Hating Someone Because They are Different a Mental Illness?

2012-05-16

The DSM-IV does not accept that the hatred of someone because they are different as a mental disorder. According to a recent ABC News article, The American Psychiatric Association (APA) does not list racism in its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), the bible of psychiatrists worldwide. Most psychiatrists believe that racism is a cultural and social problem, not a matter of individual pathology. Harvard University psychiatrist Alvin Poussaint thinks that's a mistake.

OCD and Transitions

2012-05-15

But I am also keenly aware that change, by its very nature, comes with stress, and for Dan, the changes are already huge. He is not in school anymore, living with his three best friends. His girlfriend is not nearby. In fact, none of his friends are around now. He has to make a lot of decisions; types of decisions he has never had to make before. Dan, like other college graduates, is basically building a new life for himself, and though that can be stressful for anyone, it is often even more so for those struggling with OCD, the "doubting disease."

Fast Food, Health and Depression

2012-05-14

How good are your eating habits? I have worked with many people for whom a meal is something they have on the way between one appointment and the next. Another variation on the theme is that, dinner is something that consists of hamburgers from McDonald's,

Equal Rights for Gay Marriages

2012-05-11

This Wednesday, May 9, 2012, President Obama gave his support for giving gay married couples the same rights as those who are heterosexual and married. This was a courageous move because the issue is so fraught with controversy...

Find What's Sacred

2012-05-11

Thich Nhat Hanh Shares Some Good News

2012-05-11

Families and Groups with Rigid Boundaries

2012-05-10

One of the major features of family life is that members act to maintain the status quo. In other words, with few exceptions, there is resistance to change. However, many families recognize that change is inevitable. They recognize the fact that...

The Significance of Mental Health Month

2012-05-10

Did you know that May is Mental Health Month? I didn't - until I received an e-newsletter from the U.S. Army outlining what it is doing to raise awareness of mental health issues among our nation's soldiers. I was encouraged by this, but I also wondered why I had not known about Mental Health Month before then. Shouldn't this have been plastered all over the news?

Complacency, Apathy and Resignation Be Banished and Transformed

2012-05-10

How come we hate ourselves so much? This is the question the Dalai Lama asks of Americans and finds no answer. We treat complete strangers far better than we treat our spouses and immediate family members. I guess that's an indicator, along with irritation, anger and outright hate, that we do feel something strongly toward our closest loved ones, which could be seen as cause for some sort of acknowledgment if not celebration.

Successfully Negotiating the Crisis-Trauma, Grief-Transition Passage: Six Emo-Existential Questions

2012-05-09

It is time to examine "Six Self-Assessment Questions for Successfully Negotiating the Crisis-Grief Trauma or Transition Passage." These questions are also relevant for anyone in the throes of burn-in or burnout. The questions relate to your sense of: 1) Ideal vs. Real Self 2) Security vs. Danger 3) Time Sense 4) Aliveness vs. Stagnation 5) Animation vs. Alienation 6) Freedom vs. Responsibility.

Parental Depression and Children

2012-05-09

Research shows a direct connection between parental depression and the likelihood that the child will develop depression and other types of behavioral and psychiatric problems. Considering the fact that one in five Americans will experience depression...

How Do You Measure Your Worth?

2012-05-09

The Benefits of Self-Questioning Part One

2012-05-08

There are many benefits of self-questioning. You can learn to ask yourself questions in a way a therapist may ask. Learning to be introspective and becoming emotionally unstuck are the benefits being discussed here.

Adoption, Finding the Birth Parents

2012-05-08

Lisa Lutz, well known author, wrote a brief article for the Sunday Times Magazine section, May 6, 2012, called, "Meet the Parents." Lutz, herself an adopted child, discusses the fact that, at age twenty five, she wanted to meet her birth parents. She states that she never had a strong...

One Year Later...A Sobering Milestone

2012-05-07

My Mother/Father has Alzheimer's Disease

2012-05-07

This is an Email recently sent to me by an adult daughter witnessing the decline of her elderly mother. It's not a decline due to physical health problems but due to Alzheimer's disease. This Email is typical of the tragedy of what so many families go through as they watch their loved one become lost in the web of dementia:

Clean Air = Clear Thinking (Or How Pollution Undermines Cognitive Health)

2012-05-04

If your mind feels a little hazy when you get home from work each night, it might not only be due to a stressful day at the office. It might be the air you're breathing on your daily commute.

Having Trouble Exercising? Cultivate a Mindful Habit

2012-05-04

What Has Supported My Recovery from Depression?

2012-05-03

A friend recently asked me if I could help him understand the recovery from depression that I've experienced over the last several years. At the same time, a reader asked if I could elaborate on what I mean by taking charge or putting myself at the center of my own recovery - an idea I first discussed soon after starting my personal blog. Both are closely tied together, and I thought I'd summarize a few thoughts I've had so far on how to account for what I've been through.

Rebuilding Trust - Part II

2012-05-03

Satisfying relationships are built on a foundation of safety and trust that you won't be hurt physically or emotional. Your past influences whether you're trusting too little or too much. Once trust is broken, your sense of safety is in jeopardy. You feel insecure and may begin to question your partner's honesty, motives, intentions, feelings, and actions. Walls start to grow as you try to protect yourself. Specific steps must be taken to repair the relationship.

Olfactory Sensations (Smell) and Stress Reduction

2012-05-02

All of us have many visual and emotional associations to certain smells and aromas. When I smell chlorine I immediately think of swimming in a pool and that evokes childhood summer time memories. It is common to have a hungry reaction to the smell of baking bread or...

The Burn-in Virus: Lingering Loss, Prematurely Buried Grief, and the Rise of Grief Ghosts

2012-05-02

Now it's time to define more carefully the newly conceived "Burn-in" and to differentiate burn-in (with its typically more internal, yin energy and "draining" essence) from burnout (with its more external, "straining" yang nature). Akin to burnout, burn-in is also a gradual process by which a person detaches from work and other significant roles and relationships in response to excessive and prolonged stress and mental, physical, and emotional strain.

Aging and Drug Addiction

2012-05-01

They are called the "golden years," the days when people reach the age when the kids are grown and have their own kids, work is done and it's time to retire and enjoy life. According to SAMHSA (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration),...

Avoid the Rush

2012-05-01

More Evidence That Staying Active is Good for the Brain

2012-04-30

These athletes are incredible. Why do they do it? Some of them have told me that it keeps them feeling young. Others say it's to prevent disease. All of them allude to the notion that it gives them a sense of purpose and satisfaction in life.

An Interview with David S. Remmert, Ph.D. on Forensic Psychology

2012-04-30

Dr. Remmert explains that forensics is a very broad term for anything that has to do with the legal system. There have been many iterations of the definition of what forensic psychology, forensic entomology is. And for just about every profession there is a branch of forensics, whether it be engineering or whatever. He says that forensic psychology, on the other hand, came into the field about 100 years ago with some pretty important cases having to do with the mental health of the person, particularly in reference to their mental capacity, their intelligence. And forensic psychology specifically refers to the application of psychology to the legal system.

How Do You Know When You are Ready for a New Relationship?

2012-04-27

Many people make the mistake of thinking that the best way to heal from a broken heart is to get right back into a new relationship. Rarely is that the best way to heal. It is like trying to cover up a wound without cleaning it out first.

Spring Cleaning for Your Social Network

2012-04-27

The Dangers of Online Therapy

2012-04-26

Over the last twenty years we have witnessed the incredible revolution in computer technology and the amazing revolution in cyber space. What this has done is to provide new and fast forms of communication that literally unites the far reaches of the world. When a couple living Georgia, the small nation next to Russia, contacts me...

Addressing Problems at Schools in Context: A Philosophical Statement

2012-04-26

A core value that seems to be emphasized amongst parents in this part of the developed world implies a need to provide their children with "everything." The desire for parents to uphold this value is derived from a variety of origins: a social norm or expectation, a desire of the parent to provide children with what they themselves didn't have growing up, a belief that this will lead to greater success and opportunity in life.

Asylum Squad Comic Strip 55

2012-04-25

This one, as it says, is just a little recap strip I did, for anyone who started the series later on and didn't want to plod through the earlier, wordier strips. I have recaps in part 2 as well, but they're not all on one page like with this old format.

Lessons Learned from Almost Dying: A Personal Journey

2012-04-25

It is now three years later and I am running and listening to the same song before I fainted; Leela James's version of I Want to Know What Love is and I look at the grassy area where I had passed out and wonder, "What happened to me that day?" "Did I actually die for a fraction of time?" "Where did I go?" "Why am I still here?"

So You Think You Can Multi Task?

2012-04-24

I often hear women saying that they can multitask, as opposed to their men, because they have always had to. Can this be true? Are women better than men at multitasking? I hear this from such people as my wife, her friends and female friends of mine. In fact, even men seem to agree that women are better at multitasking than they are...

Steps Back are Not Setbacks: Finding Solid Ground Can Be Essential

2012-04-24

Down the trail loomed Mooney Falls that the Supai Indians had named in honor of a miner of this name who found a very fast and fatal way down the approximate 175 foot high descent, given there was no accessible way down. When we arrived there, what greeted us was a remarkably steep descent that in places had a dynamited trail with steel pegs drilled into rock at particularly difficult byways.

Succeeding in Relationships at Work and Home

2012-04-24

The Transitional Objects and Self Comfort

2012-04-23

Do you remember Linus from the Peanuts cartoon? He always carried around his little blue blanket. That was typical of what most kids do from about one year old up until approximately three or four years of age. It's what is called a "transitional object." The transitional object does not have to be a blanket...