Bill Brenner

Suicide in the Blood

by Bill Brenner August 23, 2013 Depression

A friend sent me a fascinating article yesterday about medical advancements in which a person’s severe depression and suicide could possibly be predetermined by biomarkers in their blood. Mood music: The article in Nature outlines how six biomarkers in blood can conceivably identify people at risk of suicide. Indiana University psychiatrist Alexander Niculescu and six of his colleagues published their findings in Molecular Psychiatry. They identified nine men with bipolar disorder who are part of a larger, separate study. Between testing visits, the men…  [Read More]

Years Wasted, by Things Large and Small

by Bill Brenner August 22, 2013 Depression

When writing about depression, it’s easy to go into so much depth about the myriad causes and effects that the bigger picture is lost on some people. Mood music: http://youtu.be/fvVFg1wLtBs My last two posts about a sleep apnea diagnosis and the its probable effects on my depression over the years led one friend on Twitter to say this: I think there might be confusion about cause and effect here. Also, depression is not just a…  [Read More]

Depression Causes: Add Sleep to the List?

by Bill Brenner August 20, 2013 Physical Health

Yesterday’s post on my sleep apnea diagnosis got a lot of response. Two big lessons from all the feedback: Far more people have sleep apnea than I knew, and those who have since been treated recall the huge mental distress caused by inadequate sleep. Mood music: Said one friend: “BIll, I too have sleep apnea. It’s a vicious, horrible physical problem. You don’t even realize how badly the lack of REM and deep sleep is…  [Read More]

Pushing It to 11 with a Better Night’s Sleep

by Bill Brenner August 19, 2013 Physical Health

According to the results of my sleep study, I have something called sleep apnea. I stop breathing for a few seconds or a little over a minute and then snore ferociously as the breathing kicks back in. I’m told mine is moderate to severe. Scary, you say? Not really. Mood music: I know a few people with this condition, including my father. It afflicts people from all walks of life: the fat, the thin, the…  [Read More]

Learning to Live with Difficult Colleagues

by Bill Brenner August 15, 2013 Uncategorized

You see it in every office: People who become enemies because they can’t reconcile their conflicting agendas. I’ve allowed myself to get sucked into it more than once in the last two decades. But I eventually found another approach. Mood music: I used to let difficult colleagues get to me. If someone criticized my work or blocked my efforts, a spiral into long bouts of rage and depression came on, which usually gave way to…  [Read More]

Treat Red Bull Like Alcohol and Cigarettes

by Bill Brenner August 14, 2013 Addiction

I’m an avid consumer of sugar-free Red Bull and have been known to down more than one can a day. I see it as one of the only vices I have left after quitting booze, flour and sugar a few years back. So when I saw online protests about the government looking to regulate the sale of such energy drinks, I balked. Mood music: I was originally going to write a post blasting government for…  [Read More]

The Paul Revere Owl of Rage

by Bill Brenner August 13, 2013 Depression

A friend of mine from Revere found a drawing I did in junior high school. I had totally forgotten about it, but once I had a look yesterday, I remembered what it was about. Mood music: I was asked to draw something that could be used for the Paul Revere School eighth-grade graduation program. I was a misfit back then, a fat, slovenly kid who sucked at sports and verbally fought with just about everyone….  [Read More]

A Night in the Sleep Lab

by Bill Brenner August 12, 2013 Medicine

I’m a chronic snorer. Hardly a week goes by where I’m not banished to the living room couch at least once for making a racket. My oldest son gleefully tells his buddies that I sound like a “busted chainsaw” at night. Erin has also observed that I sometimes stop breathing for short spurts. It’s an old problem, and two surgeries to the nose and throat failed to fix it. A hefty weight loss didn’t help…  [Read More]

Sending Our Kids to Another School

by Bill Brenner August 9, 2013 Family

After weeks of agonizing, debating, praying and researching, Erin and I made the painful but necessary decision to move the kids from the only school they’ve ever known to someplace new. Mood music: In three weeks, Sean and Duncan won’t be starting school at St. Joseph’s in Haverhill. Instead, they’re going to St. Augustine’s in Andover. We love the St. Joe’s community and always will. But the bottom line is that both boys have extra…  [Read More]

Plot Twist!

by Bill Brenner August 7, 2013 Coping tools

Someone on Facebook recently suggested that when life hands us curveballs, we yell “Plot twist!” and adjust to the unexpected, often inconvenient scenarios that throw the days off course. Take it from someone whose OCD makes schedule changes seem like calamities, that’s good advice. Mood music: In more recent years, I’ve gotten better at quickly adjusting when things don’t go as planned, though sometimes it still throws me into a foul mood. When I was…  [Read More]

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