fear and anxiety

The Power of Admitting Ignorance

by Bill Brenner October 21, 2013 Fear and anxiety

I’ve often gone through my career feeling like an impostor. I work with some ridiculously smart people and know many more in my industry. They seem interested in my opinion on things, and I try to deliver. But many times I don’t know the answer. So I sit wondering how the hell I got here. I know people who can bullshit their way through the answer to a question, but I lack that special talent….  [Read More]

Hope and Happiness Amid a Government Shutdown

by Bill Brenner October 1, 2013 Fear and anxiety

Forget about the effect the government shutdown has on mental health services; government mental health services suck anyway. Instead, let’s focus on keeping ours head on straight when political horror stories send our fear and anxiety into orbit. Mood music: http://youtu.be/lpRzYEHwnUo I mentioned last week how I used to latch onto world events as if my life depended on it. TV media reports political squabbles as it would report about war: loud graphics, chilling music….  [Read More]

Flying on September 11

by Bill Brenner September 10, 2013 Coping tools

One of my biggest moments of shame came a week after September 11, 2001, when I scrubbed a planned trip to Arizona for a relative’s wedding. I was terrified to get on an airplane, and fear won out. Not only did I miss an important day in a loved one’s life, I also deprived my wife of the same thing. I didn’t want her flying, either. Mood music: I’ve talked to many people over the…  [Read More]

Perception or Reality?

by Bill Brenner July 10, 2013 Fear and anxiety

A couple friends who were at the 1992 Lollapalooza show I recently wrote about agreed with my general retelling of events but experienced something much different than I did. Said one: “I guess it’s true: Perception is reality.” Mood music: I couldn’t agree more. It reflects a point I’ve repeatedly tried to drive home: The events I describe in this blog are based on my own personal truths, the most accurate retellings I can offer….  [Read More]

Good Luck, Gretchen 2.0

by Bill Brenner July 2, 2013 Gratitude

A quick note that long-time friend and former boss Gretchen Putnam is leaving The Eagle-Tribune to pursue new creative opportunities. The news organization won a Pulitzer and many other awards under her leadership as metro editor and managing editor, and her dedication to the communities she covers has been inspiring to watch. Though I left the paper nearly a decade ago, I have memories of working with Gretchen that I’m forever grateful for. I was…  [Read More]

Kiera Wilmot Case: Proof We’ve Gone Off the Deep End

by Bill Brenner May 2, 2013 Fear and anxiety

You want an example of how fear has pushed society off the deep end? Check out the case of 16-year-old Kiera Wilmot. A student of Bartow High School in Florida, Wilmot did something worthy at least a few weeks of after-school detention: She mixed a few chemicals together in the science lab and caused a small explosion. But she had no sinister intent. She was being a curious teen, doing something stupid and reckless. Now she faces…  [Read More]

Williams-Sonoma’s Overreaction to Boston Bombings

by Bill Brenner April 26, 2013 Fear and anxiety

I wish I could appreciate Williams-Sonoma’s decision to pull pressure cookers off the shelves in Massachusetts following the Boston Marathon bombings. It was done to show some respect for those who might be traumatized at the sight of a pressure cooker, which the bad guys used as their bombs. But the move was foolish. It’s the typical knee-jerk reaction to fear that makes me wonder how the human race got this far. Mood music: [spotify:track:5lnzidC2Roj5tkGtvAfj98]…  [Read More]

The Worst Abuse of All

by Bill Brenner April 8, 2013 Fear and anxiety

I’m taking a lot of abuse lately, the kind that leaves me mentally tired and physically aching. It’s not abuse from family, work colleagues or law enforcement, however. I’m doing it to myself. Mood music: [spotify:track:4emCyQ2KnNU16c02l4ToPP] In the past, I’d binge myself sick in times of uncertainty, but these days the abuse takes other forms: I allow myself to get lost in the deep weeds of worry. The kicker is that I’m not worried about…  [Read More]

Control Freak-Out

by Bill Brenner April 5, 2013 Mental disorders

OCD sometimes makes me feel adrift even when things are going well. I’m feeling it a lot these days and this post, originally written in 2010, captures the malady well. Mood music: [spotify:track:44sz0rNbTA687rs9CYi0IN] There’s another byproduct of OCD that I’ve described indirectly before, but never head on. A byproduct for my own special blend of dysfunction, that is. Sometimes, no matter how well things are going — and no matter how good my mood is…  [Read More]

What’s Your Phobia?

by Bill Brenner February 18, 2013 Fear and anxiety

I’ve recently come across a couple of interesting phobia lists, and being the OCD head I am, I decided to carefully go through the lists to see which applied to me. Mood music: [spotify:track:2b9lp5A6CqSzwOrBfAFhof] The Phobia List is a straight-up dictionary of phobias, in alphabetical order. Here are some of the phobias that have applied to me at various points: Agateophobia: The fear of insanity. Who’s not afraid of insanity? Aviophobia or aviatophobia: The fear…  [Read More]

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