Depression

TV News and Depression: How I Learned To Turn It Off

by Bill Brenner April 21, 2013 Depression

This week’s news coverage of the Boston Marathon bombings and the aftermath only hardened the feelings I express below. I have nothing but contempt for the big three: CNN, Fox and MSNBC. Local news did a far more admirable job covering this tragedy.   I find myself increasingly outraged at what I see on the TV news channels lately. I’m not talking about the news itself, but the way it’s presented with loud graphics, dramatic…  [Read More]

Julian Assange: Autistic Hacker Or Just An A-hole?

by Bill Brenner April 9, 2013 Communication Skills

Last year I wrote a post about a report suggesting autism is an affliction of the brilliant. One man mentioned as an example was WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who has described himself as having the “hacker’s disease.” Yesterday, a reader’s comment inspired me to revisit the issue. Mood music: [spotify:track:74Tgft8pxSCO0nkf4uxiM4] The reader said in part: This compares a neurological disorder to genius people whose curiosity takes finite state machines to places that their creators never imagined. How’s…  [Read More]

Human Tourniquets And Freaks Who Love Them

by Bill Brenner March 29, 2013 Communication Skills

I originally wrote this three years ago. Looking at it again, it’s an important post describing a time when not even best friends were safe from my insanity. I’ve updated it for the present.  Mood music: [spotify:track:2YGwSRjcY4Hjz6fktW9619] You know the type. They hang  out with people who act more like abusive spouses than friends. They are human tourniquets. They absorb the pain of their tormentor daily and without complaint. This is the story of the…  [Read More]

In the Cold Spring, Whine Flows Freely

by Bill Brenner March 20, 2013 Depression

Fellow New Englanders are pissing and moaning about the latest blanket of snow we received yesterday. Today is the first day of spring, but it looks and feels like January. Nothing is more discouraging and depressing, especially if those with depression feel it the worst in winter. I know this as fact because I’m one of those people. Mood music: [spotify:track:6DfC1aCH6TanpsEwewNn0m] It’s been said that New England is particularly defiant in the weather department. We…  [Read More]

The Information Technology Burnout Project

by Bill Brenner February 11, 2013 Depression

The Information Technology Burnout Project, created by friends in the security community, addresses something most of us experience at one point or another: work-induced depression. Mood music: The website is only part of the project. Project members have also held panel discussions about job stress and burnout at various security conferences across the United States. During those discussions, people have been open about the depression, despair and hopelessness they’ve traveled through in the face of…  [Read More]

Lessons From the Hemingway Curse

by Bill Brenner January 25, 2013 Depression

I’ve always been drawn to Ernest Hemingway and his family, not because of his writings or his antics, but because of the deep stain mental illness has left on the Hemingway legacy. Mood music: [spotify:track:3dqpehdO04w6T38WB97sOF] I remember an English teacher talking about Hemingway’s 1961 suicide. The teacher suggested Hemingway was an asshole, that he was too macho to accept that he was getting too old to seek out adventure and thus gave up. I accepted…  [Read More]

Friends Of The Gifted Need To Learn Suicide Intervention Tactics

by Bill Brenner January 17, 2013 Depression

One thing I’ve learned over the years: Some super-smart, super-gifted, ahead-of-their-time people often battle with depression and eventually lose their war. So it was for my best friend who took his life 16 years ago. So it has been for far too many of my industry peers. Mood music: I’m thinking of them and for those who continue to struggle with depression daily. I’m grateful, particularly in my industry, for those who have stepped up…  [Read More]

‘Lincoln’ Captures Presidential Triumph Over Depression

by Bill Brenner December 10, 2012 Depression

Since Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln arrived in theaters, I’ve been asking myself: Is the depression issue adequately addressed? The 16th president is a hero of mine because he showed depression sufferers how to rise above the despair and even turn it into a powerful ally. In fact, it was the subject of one of my first posts when I started this blog. Mood music: [spotify:track:0WKNW7g0aTpenB8jdsxlfD] Lincoln lived through horrific episodes of melancholy in an age where…  [Read More]

Five Inexpensive Christmas Gifts for the Depressed

by Bill Brenner December 4, 2012 Depression

It’s easy to find Christmas gifts that poke fun at a person’s OCD. I’ve captured some good ones and bad ones in previous posts. Less easy to find are gifts that are appropriate for a person in the grips of depression. Why are these gifts so hard to find? One reason is that if you are suffering from depression, especially from the sad, suicidal variety, gag gifts can backfire, adding to the hurt because the…  [Read More]

Another Christmas Season, Another Depression Diagnosis

by Bill Brenner December 3, 2012 Depression

Though I’ve made peace with the demons that left me hating Christmas for many years, I’m still easy prey for winter depression. Last week, after asking me lots of questions and taking lots of notes, my shrink told me what I already knew: I’m once again clinically depressed. Mood music: [spotify:track:0feXvJJWws7RDvC0kHfbLr] When most people hear the word depression, they immediately think of someone who is sad, anguished and afraid to leave the house. In the…  [Read More]

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