Depression

Find Yourself a Real Doctor

by Bill Brenner November 26, 2013 Addiction

Written in June, 2010. Here’s the thing: Asking me for medical advice is like asking Charles Manson how to be a pacifist. Mood music: [spotify:track:79DVDD46pdqwjYucn91fny] In the months since I started this blog, I’ve noticed something expected but weird nonetheless: People are coming to me for medical advice. Several people who saw my post on living with Crohn’s Disease sent me their phone numbers and asked me to call them. I always do, and the…  [Read More]

Depression Takes Another Friend

by Bill Brenner October 17, 2013 Depression

Thomas John “TJ” Leduc was a constant companion during my childhood in Revere. I swam in his pool and slept over his house. The first time I was weirded out by the sight and sound of Boy George, it was during one of those sleepovers, when we were eating popcorn and watching Solid Gold, puzzling over the girl on the screen who sounded like a man. Mood music: TJ had a sunny personality that was…  [Read More]

9-11-01 Jumpers: A Suicidal Mystery

by Bill Brenner September 7, 2013 Depression

I remember the photo well. It was a man falling to his death in a zen-like pose that haunted me for a long, long time. It haunted us all. Mood music: Yesterday, I came across an entire documentary based on that one photo. The program, like the photo, is called “The Falling Man.” Associated Press photographer Richard Drew snapped a series of pictures of a man falling from the North Tower of the World Trade Center at 9:41:15 a.m. during 9-11-01. He was one…  [Read More]

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]

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]

Assessing Suicide Risk and Learning Intervention Tactics

by Bill Brenner August 6, 2013 Depression

Having lost my best friend to suicide in 1996 and suffered my own bouts of depression over the years, I’m grateful for those who rise up to stem the tide of this often-misunderstood scourge. In my industry (information security) I’ve met a lot of good people who suffer in silence. Among them are folks who refuse to sit back and take it. And so we’ve seen the rise of such endeavors as the Information Technology…  [Read More]

An #InfoSec Burnout Survey

by Bill Brenner July 26, 2013 Depression

As many of you know, I’m a big supporter of The Information Technology Burnout Project, created by friends in the security community to addresses something most of us experience at one point or another: work-induced depression. A friend who is part of that effort, Dan Ward, is exploring the possibility of conducting a professionally-proctored Areas of Worklife Survey and Maslach Burnout Indicator survey. In his blog, Ward writes: In an effort to continue our understanding of burnout in the…  [Read More]

Dennis Wilson and the Manson Family

by Bill Brenner July 23, 2013 Depression

As someone long fascinated by the Manson Murders case, I’ve taken a special interest in the late Dennis Wilson, drummer of The Beach Boys and one-time friend of Charles Manson. His time with Manson scarred his mind and soul for the rest of his life, something that’s evident if you listen to the entirety of his solo album from the ’70s, Pacific Ocean Blue. The story of Dennis Wilson is an extreme case study in…  [Read More]

Yeah, This Is EXACTLY What Depression Is Like

by Bill Brenner 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 you that she nails what it’s like. In fact, I don’t think I’ve seen it explained so clearly. Enough from…  [Read More]

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