Bill Brenner

Fear and Resentment. Resentment and Fear

by Bill Brenner June 20, 2011 Addiction

For mental defects like me, a lot of what goes wrong is driven by fear. One thing I’ve learned in a 12-Step program for addiction is that the root of many fears is resentment. Mood music: You don’t have to be an addict to have resentments, of course. Most typical families, work environments and fellowships come packed with people you’re inevitably going to clash with. The more you disagree with someone, the more you’ll resent…  [Read More]

Shove That Golf Club Where The Sun Don’t Shine

by Bill Brenner June 17, 2011 Children's issues

I’m in a self-righteous lather after reading a column on CNN from Jeff Pearlman, a columnist for SI.com called “A Father’s Day Wish: Dad’s, Wake The Hell Up.” Jeff is a stay-at-home dad who has heard the stories from moms in his community about how their husbands would never change a diaper or wake their children up for school or clean up their puke. Mood music: An excerpt: The woman started crying. I didn’t expect this,…  [Read More]

Sugar and OCD: An Interview with Bill Brenner

by Bill Brenner June 17, 2011 Addiction

Author David Vanadia recently interviewed me for a segment in his blog about sugar addiction and OCD. Check it out HERE.

Shit Happens When Two OCD Cases Work Together

by Bill Brenner June 17, 2011 Lighthearted

Let me take you back about 13 years, when two guys with clinical OCD worked together in the same office. I was one of ’em. The other was an old friend named Steve Repsys. Mood music: Neither of us knew at the time that we had OCD. It would be many years before we were diagnosed. In the meantime, we worked together for a small weekly newspaper in an office in Chelmsford, Mass. I was…  [Read More]

Readings From The Book Of Crap, Volume 2

by Bill Brenner June 16, 2011 Communication Skills

I’ve been observing amazing acts of stupidity in recent weeks. Mood music: When I do, my first instinct is to keep it to myself. Nobody likes a whiner, and I’m no exception. But when the poop pile gets too high and starts to stink up the room for everyone else, I need to kick open the door and vent the fumes. So please indulge me as I tell a few unnamed people how they’re making the…  [Read More]

Marital Differences in Style, Part 2

by Bill Brenner June 16, 2011 Adventures in writing

Last week, my wife Erin and I shared some dirty laundry about our differences in writing styles. We’re back for round two. This week isn’t as removed from my usual subject matter as last week, because my approach to writing today is far different from the days when my OCD ran out of control. See Erin’s full post on her blog, “The Writing Resource.” Mood music (“Right Write Now,” Van Halen): Like last week, I’m pulling out…  [Read More]

Fear and Duct Tape

by Bill Brenner June 15, 2011 Fear and anxiety

I was an anxious, jumpy, panicky little bastard when I was younger. Fear made me do the damnedest things. My sister Stacey loves to repeat the story of one of my more embarrassing moments. It used to piss me off. Now I can sit back and laugh with everyone else. So fuck it. Let’s review the morning a hurricane was coming and I went bat-shit crazy. Mood music: [spotify:track:6KfzBFMXEOs7LgBcG4ZxyT] First, some history. I’ve explained this…  [Read More]

Cooking With Dad

by Bill Brenner June 15, 2011 Family

It was one of those rare occasions where all the Brenner siblings were in one room. We were at the hospital awaiting word on some emergency surgery my father was having. We started trading stories about some of Dad’s antics, especially his eating habits. Mood music: I’ve mentioned before how I inherited my binge eating addiction from family, and how a lot of it came from my father. I’ve also given examples of my own…  [Read More]

A Recovery Under Pressure

by Bill Brenner June 14, 2011 Addiction

The coming days and weeks are going to put my recovery program to the test like nothing I’ve experienced since getting the OCD under control and bringing my binge-eating addiction to heel. That’s not a complaint, or a cry for sympathy. It’s simply the way it is. It’s life. By being honest with myself about what’s coming, I stand a better chance of holding it together. Yesterday I visited my father, who’s been in the…  [Read More]

When Things Don’t Go As Planned…

by Bill Brenner June 13, 2011 Coping tools

Saturday, things did not go as planned. It was the day of Sean’s Scout camp out, and the forecast was for fair skies a few days before. Naturally, it poured the whole time. But it was a lesson in making the best of a bad situation. Mood music: We had a great day despite the torrents of water falling down on us. Kids love getting wet and muddy — for a little while, at least….  [Read More]

← Previous Entries

Next Entries →