Bill Brenner

No Flour or Sugar for Life? How!?

by Bill Brenner December 21, 2010 Addiction

Some new readers came across my posts about eliminating flour and sugar as part of my recovery from a binge-eating addiction. The idea of eliminating these things for life is scary for some people. And who can blame them? It certainly scared the hell out of me once upon a time. Mood music: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4g86KUHGlOg&fs=1&hl=en_US] Only after I kicked it did I realize how evil a combo those ingredients were to me. I envy people who can…  [Read More]

OCD Hand Sanitizer

by Bill Brenner December 20, 2010 Lighthearted

If you can’t laugh at your mental defects once in awhile, you’re never going to get better. I definitely laughed when I saw this sitting on my desk: Repeated hand cleaning was never my biggest OCD quirk. Checking my laptop bag a dozen times before leaving work and checking the door nob before leaving the house were much bigger hangups for me. But I have used a lot of hand sanitizer in my day, so…  [Read More]

Talk Therapy: Sane or Satanic?

by Bill Brenner December 20, 2010 Coping tools

I touched a nerve with my post about the pros and cons of the therapist taking the patient through the same things over and over again. They didn’t slam my perspective outright, nor would they. But they flagged some dangers in this technique that are important to share. Mood music: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZzus86pdls&fs=1&hl=en_US] What makes their feedback so valuable is that they are therapists themselves. The following responses came my way by way of the LinkedIn NAMI…  [Read More]

Facebook Follow Friday: Dec. 17

by Bill Brenner December 17, 2010 Uncategorized

Welcome to the latest edition of Facebook Follow Friday. Each Friday there’s a tradition on Twitter called Follow Friday, and I decided to do a Facebook version here. What’s it have to do with OCD and addiction, you ask? Mood music: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dv9-zSWMGP0&fs=1&hl=en_US] Simple: A person in recovery needs the people around him/her to stay sober and abstinent. Most important are your family and closest friends. But the friends on Facebook can be helpful too, especially those who…  [Read More]

WTF Is That Shrink Doing?

by Bill Brenner December 16, 2010 Medicine

A friend of mine recently started going to a therapist, and he’s puzzled as to why the therapist keeps making him rehash the week. Here’s my theory. Mood music: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34wASuHRuRo&fs=1&hl=en_US] He’s asking a lot of redundant questions to dig up patterns. They seem like stupid, recycled questions. But when you have to answer the same, stupid questions over and over again, no matter how infuriating that is, something important happens. The stuff that’s really haunting…  [Read More]

Editing the Legs Off Your High Horse

by Bill Brenner December 15, 2010 Adventures in writing

Erin and I were talking last night about the often shaky relationship between copy editors and writers. We writers tend to see copy editors as nitpickers who just want to make our lives harder. Copy editors tend to see writers as spoiled brats. But what happens when the writer is in the grip of OCD? Mood music: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uR6HPzhlvoc&fs=1&hl=en_US] I usually shy away from posts about the mechanics of writing and editing because it’s all so…  [Read More]

The Christmas Dispirit

by Bill Brenner December 14, 2010 Depression

Yesterday was a day for vicious mood swings. It started on a high note at work. I got a lot done and I’m loving this new newsy focus we’re transitioning to. But by the drive home, my mood grew as dark as the sky. Mood music: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIaXYIEQivk&fs=1&hl=en_US] Things got progressively worse at home. Sean and Duncan were high maintenance and I let it get to me much more than I usually do. I started thinking…  [Read More]

Things Kids Say, Part 3

by Bill Brenner December 13, 2010 Children's issues

This was a tough weekend in the world of parenthood. Duncan was pretty manic. We expected this, because he suffers over the season’s lack of daylight just like his old man. Mood music: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTwNkyKKgAI&fs=1&hl=en_US] I’m constantly worried about the kids inheriting my genetic disposition toward mental disorder. I feel like Duncan’s mood swings are my fault, though I know it’s not that simple or even fair. All I know is that his mood swings rival…  [Read More]

The Diagnosis

by Bill Brenner December 12, 2010 Mental disorders

A lot of readers have been asking me about when exactly I was diagnosed with OCD and how I reacted to it. Did it drive me into a deeper depression? Did I worry about being misdiagnosed? Let’s see if I can retrace those moments… Mood music: [spotify:track:4bKGlkCUp5hBEVT14oifgI] The diagnosis was slow in coming, though I always assumed I had what I had. When I first started getting help in 2004, that first therapist resisted giving…  [Read More]

Facebook Follow Friday: Dec. 10

by Bill Brenner December 10, 2010 Gratitude

Welcome to the latest edition of Facebook Follow Friday. Each Friday there’s a tradition on Twitter called Follow Friday, and I decided to do a Facebook version here. What’s it have to do with OCD and addiction, you ask? Mood music: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6JufyuBcSY&fs=1&hl=en_US] Simple: A person in recovery needs the people around him/her to stay sober and abstinent. Most important are your family and closest friends. But the friends on Facebook can be helpful too, especially…  [Read More]

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