Mental disorders

Depressed? Try These Remedies (Or Don’t)

by Bill Brenner March 7, 2012 Depression

I noticed on Facebook this morning that one of my friends is still fighting a persistent bout of depression. She said something about staring at her clenched fist for nearly ten minutes. Mood music: We’ve compared notes on our depressed moments in the past, and since I dealt with a lot of depression in December and January (give or take a month. Winter’s a bitch) I thought I’d share some observations. –The extra darkness of…  [Read More]

#LulzSec Lesson: Narcissism Will Get You Every Time

by Bill Brenner March 6, 2012 Communication Skills

In my job as an information security scribe, I find case studies in mental distortion almost daily. Today’s news about LulzSec’s ringleader is no exception. Mood music: This morning we’re following the story of how leaders of the hacker group LulzSec  were rounded up this morning, with law enforcement acting on information apparently supplied by the group’s alleged leader — Hector Xavier Monsegur, nickname “Sabu.” What strikes me is how much this guy appears to have craved attention….  [Read More]

Recognizing Cries For Help In Your Friends’ Online Posts

by Bill Brenner February 29, 2012 Children's issues

For all the drama and groan-inducing crap we see on social media every day, there is a very redeeming quality in the social networking site. Mood music: It’s a good early-warning system for identifying friends in need. I’m not revealing anything you don’t know, but a New York Times article my wife sent me really drives the point home. Written by Times reporter Jan Hoffman, the article points out, among other things: For adolescents, Facebook and…  [Read More]

The Most Important Book Ever Written About Sharon Tate And The Manson Murders

by Bill Brenner February 25, 2012 Addiction

I’m reading a book called “Restless Souls: The Sharon Tate Family’s Account of Stardom, the Manson Murders, and a Crusade for Justice,” written by Tate family friend Alisa Statman and Brie Tate, niece of Sharon Tate. It may well be the most important book written on the Manson case. Mood music: The simple reason is that it captures a family’s grief and struggle to move on — something all our families have dealt with in various forms. I’ve…  [Read More]

The Right Drugs Will Set Her Straight

by Bill Brenner February 21, 2012 Addiction

Here’s an advertisement that pushes a lot of different thoughts into one’s mind. Mood music: A friend shared it on Facebook recently: In case you can’t see the wording of this 1967 masterpiece, the high point is this: Beset by the seemingly insurmountable problems of raising a young family, and confined to the home most of the time, her symptons reflect a sense of inadequacy and isolation. …Serax (oxazepam) cannot change her environment, of course….  [Read More]

I Bet Health Insurers Would Gladly Cover Suicide Pills

by Bill Brenner February 13, 2012 Depression

The Catholic Church is bringing out its heavy artillery to fight a Massachusetts ballot initiative that, if passed, would allow doctors to prescribe lethal pills to terminally-ill patients that want to be put out of their misery. I’m with the church on this one. Mood music: Boston Globe columnist Scot Lehigh describes this quite nicely: An initiative petition to legalize physician-assisted suicide has been certified by Attorney General Martha Coakley. If backers collect enough signatures, and…  [Read More]

RIP: Whitney Houston

by Bill Brenner February 12, 2012 Addiction

As a rocker kid in the 1980s and 90s, I never really liked Whitney Houston. I always respected her talent and she seemed like a decent person, but that was it. Mood music: Whitney at her best… http://youtu.be/5jeUINzHK9o But I had kept track of reports in recent years about the drug use, the family dysfunction and the fall from musical grace, and it always made me sad. Everyone has a demon or 10 to fight….  [Read More]

Playing Chicken With The Wedding Train

by Bill Brenner February 6, 2012 Communication Skills

It’s a common pain in the ass when a couple is planning their wedding: Someone threatens to boycott the event unless so-and-so is uninvited. Mood music: In the run-up to my wedding in 1998, a close cousin pulled this when he got into a fight with my aunt — his mom. She went to the wedding and he skipped it. I haven’t seen or heard from him since then. Erin and I were paying for…  [Read More]

The Job Performance Review

by Bill Brenner February 3, 2012 Job discrimination

A confession that probably won’t shock you: I used to turn into a pile of jelly each year when it was time for the job performance review most employed people endure every 12 months. Mood music: I bring this up because my annual review is Monday. Today I’m supposed to turn in my self-evaluation. And I feel an absolute lack of drama about it. Overconfidence? Perhaps. Apathy? Definitely not. It’s just another indication of where…  [Read More]

Me And My Facebook Unfriend Finder

by Bill Brenner January 31, 2012 Communication Skills

Yesterday Mashable had an article about a new plug-in that alerts you when someone unfriends you, de-activates their page or ignores your friend request. Mood music: “That would be bad for my mental health,” I told myself, seconds before hitting the “install” button. I was reminded of the Black Flag song where Henry Rollins screams: You say you don’t want it You don’t want it Say you don’t want it Then you slip it on in…  [Read More]

← Previous Entries

Next Entries →