Depression

Yeah, This Is EXACTLY What Depression Is Like

May 10, 2013 Depression

I’ve long been a fan of the blog Hyperbole and a Half, in which the author expresses herself through a combination of words and art. After a long hiatus, she returned this week with a post called “Depression Part 2.” Having experienced more than my fair share of depression along the way, I can tell [...]

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TV News and Depression: How I Learned To Turn It Off

April 21, 2013 Depression

This week’s news coverage of the Boston Marathon bombings and the aftermath only hardened the feelings I express below. I have nothing but contempt for the big three: CNN, Fox and MSNBC. Local news did a far more admirable job covering this tragedy. Mood music:  TV PartyBlack FlagDamaged I find myself increasingly outraged at what [...]

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Julian Assange: Autistic Hacker Or Just An A-hole?

April 9, 2013 Communication skills for the crazy

Last year I wrote a post about a report suggesting autism is an affliction of the brilliant. One man mentioned as an example was WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who has described himself as having the “hacker’s disease.” Yesterday, a reader’s comment inspired me to revisit the issue. Mood music:  Leslie Anne LevineThe DecemberistsCastaways and Cutouts The reader [...]

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The Day Kurt Cobain Died

April 4, 2013 Addiction

Tomorrow is the 19th anniversary of Kurt Cobain’s death. I wrote this for last year’s sad anniversary. I remember exactly where I was 18 years ago today, when I saw the news flash about Kurt Cobain’s suicide. I was lying in bed, depressed and reclusive because of frequent fear. Mood music:  I was living in Lynnfield, [...]

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Layne Staley, 11 Years Later

April 4, 2013 Addiction

“What’s my drug of choice? Well, what have you got?” –Layne Staley, Alice in Chains This week marks 11 years since Alice In Chains frontman Layne Staley was found dead. Mood music: Like Kurt Cobain, Staley had a big impact on me in the early 1990s. But while I identified with Cobain’s depression, I identified [...]

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Human Tourniquets And Freaks Who Love Them

March 29, 2013 Communication skills for the crazy

I originally wrote this three years ago. Looking at it again, it’s an important post describing a time when not even best friends were safe from my insanity. I’ve updated it for the present.  Mood music:  TourniquetMarilyn MansonAntichrist Superstar You know the type. They hang  out with people who act more like abusive spouses than [...]

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In the Cold Spring, Whine Flows Freely

March 20, 2013 Depression

Fellow New Englanders are pissing and moaning about the latest blanket of snow we received yesterday. Today is the first day of spring, but it looks and feels like January. Nothing is more discouraging and depressing, especially if those with depression feel it the worst in winter. I know this as fact because I’m one [...]

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The Information Technology Burnout Project

February 11, 2013 Depression

The Information Technology Burnout Project, created by friends in the security community, addresses something most of us experience at one point or another: work-induced depression. Mood music:  Estranged – LiveGuns N’ RosesLive Era ’87-’93 The website is only part of the project. Project members have also held panel discussions about job stress and burnout at [...]

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Lessons From the Hemingway Curse

January 25, 2013 Depression

I’ve always been drawn to Ernest Hemingway and his family, not because of his writings or his antics, but because of the deep stain mental illness has left on the Hemingway legacy. Mood music:  It’s Too LateThe Jim Carroll BandCatholic Boy I remember an English teacher talking about Hemingway’s 1961 suicide. The teacher suggested Hemingway [...]

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Friends Of The Gifted Need To Learn Suicide Intervention Tactics

January 17, 2013 Depression

One thing I’ve learned over the years: Some super-smart, super-gifted, ahead-of-their-time people often battle with depression and eventually lose their war. So it was for my best friend who took his life 16 years ago. And for Aaron Swartz, the 26-year-old co-creator of RSS and Reddit, who ended his life last week. Mood music:  Fade [...]

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