mental-health

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]

Starting Over

by Bill Brenner November 9, 2012 Fitness

In a lot of ways, I feel like I’ve been starting everything over this past week. Not in big, drastic ways, but in little ways that will hopefully add up to something good. Mood music: [spotify:track:3IRovqSVYx3CNtDWRebsET] There’s the afternoon tea I’ve been drinking instead of Red Bull and more coffee. There’s the meditation and yoga. And there’s the significant tightening of my food plan. What’s the reason for all this? I attribute some of it…  [Read More]

To a Friend: Your Pride Is Killing You

by Bill Brenner November 8, 2012 Mental health

A longtime friend is letting a bout of depression hold him back. He needs a helping hand but won’t ask for it because he’s too proud. This post is for him and anyone else living under the delusion that not getting help is a sign of strength. Mood music: [spotify:track:2FEfAIvMfp24ZBRVCZIiBZ] I know what you’re going through. I’ve been there many times myself. I’ve had bouts of depression that made me lose interest in everything except…  [Read More]

Halloween Ho-Hum

by Bill Brenner October 31, 2012 Mental health

Some of my friends go bonkers for Halloween. They run an endless torrent of zombie apocalypse memes on Facebook. They revere the holiday above Christmas and Easter. Good for them. It’s more of a ho-hum holiday for me. Mood music: [spotify:track:3iuftv60t76f8Lps5TZPXl] It would be easy to tell you I’m down on Halloween this year because so many people are suffering this day from the damage Hurricane Sandy left them with. But the truth is that…  [Read More]

Another ‘Crazy Mike’ Facebook Page? Jerks.

by Bill Brenner October 30, 2012 Political discourse

Last year, I found a disgusting Facebook page making fun of someone with a serious mental illness. The site was taken down, but now there’s a new page dedicated to the man locals call Crazy Mike. I want the creator and those who like the page to know something. By embracing such a page, you are making a much broader statement: either that you don’t understand the suffering a person experiences from mental illness or…  [Read More]

I Was Tricked Into Yoga

by Bill Brenner October 18, 2012 Lighthearted

I’ve long balked at the idea of doing yoga. Frankly, it always looked boring to me. It didn’t fit the tough-guy image I have of myself, either. Tough guys don’t do a bunch of poses. They lift heavy things. Yet here I am, doing yoga. Thing is, I’m starting to appreciate and respect it. Mood music: [spotify:track:3b04Qs9AoBRBIFu9aDQfqI] How did I reach this strange place? My therapist tricked me. For years, he’s been trying to push…  [Read More]

The Winter Bill Blues

by Bill Brenner October 9, 2012 Depression

This is a typically a shitty time of year for me, when I come off the high of summer and crash hard onto the cold pavement. When the days grow shorter and the air colder, I become easy prey for seasonal depression. And when that state of mind sets in, I usually do something very stupid. Winter 2011: By February, I was forgetting things all the time, including Valentine’s Day. I was traveling on this…  [Read More]

I’m Stressed About My Stress-Reduction Class

by Bill Brenner September 26, 2012 Mental health

Tonight is the first of eight weekly stress-reduction and mindfulness classes I’m taking. I have to admit the whole thing stresses me out a bit. It’s not that the description is bad. In fact, it sounds delightful. I’m going to learn how to use yoga and other techniques to keep my thoughts in the present, where they belong. Here’s a little background from the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction website: Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn developed the Mindfulness Based…  [Read More]

Which Is Worse? You Decide.

by Bill Brenner September 25, 2012 Mental health

I woke up pissed at the world yesterday. Part of it is that people in my life are acting like idiots, and part of it is my realization that thinking this way makes me a Grade-A hypocrite. Mood music: [spotify:track:1GnCH2KszUkpUjXuDP2G3N] I’m sick of all the ass-hat political posts friends and relatives are putting on Facebook lately. Rather than sticking with issues like our economic well-being and the best way to achieve national security, people are…  [Read More]

Is Humor Reinforcing the OCD Stigma?

by Bill Brenner September 7, 2012 OCD

I got an interesting response to some older posts about OCD gag gifts — particularly one about OCD hand sanitizer. The reader was worried these gifts and other brands of OCD humor would only reinforce the stigma monster that keeps people like us in the shadows. Mood music: [spotify:track:2TJRQj7XJvGBY4ZzIue2ei] Here’s the comment, from Arthur Lawrence: I can laugh at it, and so can you. We both have OCD. And laughing at the OCD “monster” does indeed…  [Read More]

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