Mental health

Why So Serious? The Case for Self-Deprecation

by Bill Brenner January 29, 2010 Depression

The author on why self-deprecation is a handy tool for controlling demons. Mood music: [spotify:track:0g1HLSNG4KxjDXdeYMnLym] A few readers have told me I put myself down too much in these blog posts. Since I’m really not trying to put myself down — I do have a monster ego, after all — it’s time to say a bit about the power of self-deprecating humor. It’s true that I like to poke fun at myself. I do it…  [Read More]

How I’m Feeling

by Bill Brenner January 28, 2010 Addiction

As I mentioned in my posts Prozac Winter and The Mood Swing, I recently went up 20 milligrams on the Prozac because of the depression that tends to set in during the winter. [For more on the background, see The Bad Pill Kept Me From The Good Pill and An OCD Christmas] I’m three weeks into the higher dosage and it’s working — mostly. I woke up feeling blue this morning and still feel that…  [Read More]

Understanding Mental Disorders: The Brain as an Engine

by Bill Brenner January 26, 2010 Addiction

I’ve written a lot about my use of Prozac as just one of many tools to treat my OCD. [See The Bad Pill Kept Me From The Good Pill] Mood music: As a result I’ve gotten a fair amount of questions about the true value of anti-depressants. I’m not a doctor, so don’t take my perspective as Gospel. Also remember there’s no one-size-fits-all solution here. What I write here is based on my own personal…  [Read More]

Have Fun With Your Therapist (A.K.A.: The Shrink Stigma)

by Bill Brenner January 20, 2010 Addiction

Mental-illness sufferers often avoid therapists because the stigma around these “shrinks” is as thick as that of the disease. The author is here to explain why you shouldn’t fear them. Mood music for this post: “Just Another Psycho” by Motley Crue: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ko23M-4AAbg&hl=en_US&fs=1&] It’s a funny thing when I talk to people suffering from depression, addiction and other troubles of the mind. Folks seem more comfortable about the idea of pills than in seeing a therapist….  [Read More]

Rockit Records Therapy Session

by Bill Brenner January 12, 2010 Mental health

The author has mentioned Metal music as one of his most important coping tools for OCD and related disorders. Here’s a look at the year he got one of the best therapy sessions ever, simply by working in a cramped little record store. Back when I was an angst-filled teenager bent on self-absorbed periods of depression — and before I became an angst-filled grownup bent on self-absorbed periods of depression — it was a place…  [Read More]

The Third Brother

by Bill Brenner January 9, 2010 Depression

Remembering Peter Sugarman, another adopted brother who died too early — but not before teaching the author some important lessons about life. The first time I met him was my second day as a reporter for The Stoneham Sun. He was an oddball who wore a jacket and tie to go with his sneakers and sweatpants. He was rail thin with a mustache that could comfortably hide a pound of whatever crumbs got caught there….  [Read More]

Marley and Me

by Bill Brenner January 8, 2010 Addiction

The author describes the second older brother whose death hit harder than that of the first. Mood music: [soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/48842027″ iframe=”true” /] It doesn’t seem right that a friend’s death would hit me harder and fuel my insanity more than the death of a biological brother. But that’s what happened. This is the story of Sean Marley, who introduced me to metal music, taught me to love life, and whose death was one of the…  [Read More]

6 Guys I Look To In Times of Trouble

by Bill Brenner January 5, 2010 Coping tools

This is the perfect time to write about why I’m such a history nut. I’m in a rotten mood because my office technology is on the blink, keeping me from getting things done. People with OCD don’t just shrug off such things. We zero in on the problem like the proverbial laser beam, trying anything and everything to fix the problem until, exhausted and bewildered, we realize what we knew in the first place —…  [Read More]

Growing Pains

by Bill Brenner January 3, 2010 Depression

Despite all the progress I’ve made in managing OCD, there are still times where I forget to use my skills — momentarily, at least. This morning is a good example. I woke up depressed. Two hours later I was angry. Maybe I was getting tired of the winter outside my window. Maybe I was just plain tired. I was snapping at Erin and the children. I realized I was letting the crazy side loose and…  [Read More]

Prozac Winter

by Bill Brenner January 2, 2010 Depression

The author discovers that winter makes his depression worse and that there’s a purely scientific explanation — and solution. My therapist and I recently agreed that my Prozac intake should go up a bit for the duration of the winter. I’m doing well for the most part, but there’s a three-hour window of each day — usually late afternoon — where my mood slides straight into the crapper. The reason is simple: People who suffer…  [Read More]

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