mental illness

Infosec’s Mental Health Role Models

by Bill Brenner December 2, 2013 Depression

This weekend some friends asked about the reaction this blog has had in my industry. Truth is, I was unprepared for what followed the blog’s launch four years ago. In hindsight it makes perfect sense. Mood music: Friends asked if my information security colleagues were weirded out by the blog and whether it had an adverse effect on my ability to interview people. In fact, the opposite happened. By the time I was done baring…  [Read More]

Objects in the Media Are Often Smaller Than They Appear

by Bill Brenner September 25, 2013 Communication Skills

After yesterday’s post on the Washington Navy Yard massacre fueling the stigma around mental illness, I got the usual assortment of feedback after that post published. If you’re for gun control, you told me I was minimizing the reality of gun violence by suggesting more gun control laws will accomplish nothing. Those of you who don’t see this as a gun control issue took me to task for picking on NRA Chief Wayne LaPierre for suggesting…  [Read More]

On My Sixth Birthday, the Ramones Changed Everything

by Bill Brenner August 27, 2013 Music therapy

I’m tickled to discover that my birthday is a special day to The Ramones, too. Turns out, yesterday was also the 37th anniversary of the band’s debut album. They were always an important band for me, especially after I learned that Joey Ramone was a fellow OCD sufferer. Mood music: I owned multiple Ramones albums on vinyl, and wore them out from playing them so much. A favorite was Halfway to Sanity. Back then I…  [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]

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]

Putting a Face on Suicide

by Bill Brenner September 24, 2012 Depression

There’s a page on Facebook everyone should check out called Putting a Face on Suicide. It’s powerful stuff. Mood music: [spotify:track:14YR9VCoseu7zq2dx9Qr6w] Having lost a close friend to suicide, this page hits me where I live. We hear about suicide statistics all the time. We know of the famous suicides, like Ernest Hemingway and Kurt Cobain. But regular people die by their own hand every day, and their faces are easily forgotten. That’s what makes this…  [Read More]

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