Bill Brenner

Screwing Your Kids In The Divorce, Part 3

by Bill Brenner June 27, 2011 Children's issues

This is one of those things that is technically none of my business. But when I see a beautiful little girl suffering the consequences of someone else’s stupidity, it’s hard to stand there and say nothing. Mood music: There’s a guy I know who is staring divorce in the face. This is a message for him. When a marriage falls apart it’s never a one-way street. Husband and wife are both guilty of falling short…  [Read More]

Medical Marijuana For OCD Treatment: Not For Me

by Bill Brenner June 27, 2011 Medicine

I just read an interesting blog post on how medical marijuana could be used to treat OCD. There are medicinal helpers for this disease, but pot would never work for me. Mood music: Here’s an excerpt of the article, from the official website of hemp legalization advocate Jack Herer (originally published on the All Voices site): OCD is a treatable disease. With adequate therapy and correct counseling by experienced psychiatrist and physicians, the intensity of the disease…  [Read More]

Looking For The Bright Side

by Bill Brenner June 26, 2011 Depression

My attitude sucks this morning. I explain some of the reason in my last post, but there are a variety of factors: Mood music: 1. Despite my best efforts to be the family man I’m supposed to be, I always find myself coming up short. 2. The weather has been a gray, depressing soup since I got back from California, where the weather was perfect. This makes for a hard re-entry. 3. I seem to…  [Read More]

Me, Dad And The Kill Switch

by Bill Brenner June 26, 2011 Family

My father was passed out cold during my visit to the rehab center yesterday, and I left feeling depressed. I hadn’t seen him in a week because I had a business trip to California, and I kept hearing about how much better he was. I wanted to see for myself. Mood music: But he slept the whole time. That’s probably for the best. The more sleep he gets, the better. But the self-absorbed side of…  [Read More]

‘It Comes Alive And I Die A Little More’

by Bill Brenner June 24, 2011 Fear and anxiety

There’s a Metallica song called “The Unnamed Feeling” that nails an important truth about OCD and anxiety. We have our triggers, but many times we can’t see or describe what’s pulling us apart. Mood music: [spotify:track:4RCJ2xbTfJalOq7RtTsOPv] I mentioned this a little bit in a post I wrote earlier about A&E’s “Obsession” series: Things eat at you in a more gradual, quieter fashion. By the time the hand washing and contorted expressions begin, the sufferer has…  [Read More]

A&E’s ‘Obsessed’: First Impressions

by Bill Brenner June 24, 2011 OCD

My fellow OCD buddy Steve Repsys pinged me the other day about an A&E program called “Obsessed.” This morning I finally got around to checking out some clips. It has it’s good points. And it’s not-so-good points. Mood music: I’m a big advocate of any programming that educates people about OCD, addictions and other demons of the soul. That’s why I’ve written a lot about the movie being made called “Machine Man.” But reality TV…  [Read More]

Even If Talk Is Cheap, Drugs Alone Won’t Work

by Bill Brenner June 22, 2011 Coping tools

If a recent story in The New York Times is to be believed, psychiatrists are ditching talk therapy in favor of quick-to-the-draw prescription solutions because insurance companies won’t pay them enough for the broader treatment. As someone who benefited greatly from both therapy and medication, I find this disturbing. Mood music: [spotify:track:40T969H60rqt5v1tWZDEMS] From the article, written by Gardiner Harris: Like many of the nation’s 48,000psychiatrists, Dr. Levin, in large part because of changes in how much…  [Read More]

Fear and Self-Loathing in San Francisco

by Bill Brenner June 21, 2011 Addiction

Just got to my hotel in Santa, Clara, Calif., with a few random memories shifting around in my head — memories that illustrate who I was and who I am now. Mood music: It was July 1991 and I was with Sean Marley on my first trip to the west coast. I didn’t really want to go because I was afraid of everything and everyone. But Sean was red h0t about the idea, and back…  [Read More]

The Problem With ‘One Day At A Time’

by Bill Brenner June 20, 2011 Addiction

“One day at a time? You wouldn’t believe the crap that swirls around my head one day at a time.” –Anonymous Recovering addicts have a saying burned into their brains: “One Day at a Time.” It’s important wisdom to live by. But when the recovering addict has OCD, there’s a big problem. Mood music: Let’s look at the meaning of “One Day at a Time.” In the world of 12-step recovery programs, the idea is…  [Read More]

I Don’t Have Money, But I Have This Bullhorn…

by Bill Brenner June 20, 2011 Mental health

A few months ago I wrote a post about a movie called Machine Man, which deals with a man struggling with OCD. I mentioned how the film maker, Kellie Madison, was raising money for the film at the grass roots to keep it free of the Hollywood sleaze machine. This afternoon I saw a message on the movie’s Facebook page saying the money goal hasn’t been met yet: “Still working on reaching our minimum production…  [Read More]

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