Personal growth

Fear Factor

by Bill Brenner December 23, 2009 Children's issues

In this installment, the author describes years of living in a cell built by fear, how he broke free and why there’s no turning back. “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” — Franklin Delano Roosevelt This morning I led a meeting of Over-eaters Anonymous, a task that included standing before a room of people for 30 minutes to tell my story of OCD, addiction and recovery. It was my third time…  [Read More]

Fear of Loss

by Bill Brenner December 20, 2009 Family

The author looks back at fear of loss and how he learned to enjoy the precious present.

The Better Angels of My Nature

by Bill Brenner December 18, 2009 Addiction

It’s not hard for me to write about OCD, binge eating and pills. These are a part of life for people across political and religious divides. Depression and anxiety will hit you whether you’re Catholic, Baptist or agnostic; Democrat, Republican or Libertarian. Religion and politics. Those are tough. Those who know me know I have strong opinions on both. But I walk a delicate path between friends and family who are all over the map…  [Read More]

The Freak and the Redhead: A Love Story

by Bill Brenner December 17, 2009 Love

I wasn’t looking for a soul mate when I met her. It was the summer of 1993 and I was doing just fine on my own. Mood music: I was in a band and we were busy pretending we were really something. This was long before I woke up one day, realized I really don’t know how to sing, and decided to spare the masses the agony of me trying to play vocalist. I was…  [Read More]

The Stormy Present

by Bill Brenner December 16, 2009 Adventures in writing

A week and a half into this blog, I have most of the backstory etched in. There’s a little more backstory to come, particularly on how Faith has played a central role in my recovery and about how the signs of my craziness were there in my early 20s. More humor is yet to come as well. Response to this blog has been tremendous, and I thank those who are taking time to comment. Until…  [Read More]

The Bad Pill Kept Me From The Good Pill

by Bill Brenner December 10, 2009 Addiction

In a previous post I mentioned that I take medication for OCD: Prozac. It’s been extremely helpful, but it took a long time for me to even consider trying it. Here’s why: Mood music: As a kid sick much of the time with Chron’s Disease, I was often put on the maximum dose of a drug called Prednisone. The side effects were so horrific that I forever after resisted the idea of taking medication until…  [Read More]

The Most Uncool Addiction

by Bill Brenner December 8, 2009 Addiction

In this installment, the author opens up about the binge-eating disorder he tried to hide for years — and how he managed to bring it under control. I don’t beat myself for having engaged in addictive behavior. That kind of thing is obvious for someone with OCD. If there’s a compulsion to be rubbed raw, you go for it, no matter how destructive it is on body and soul. Then you wake up the next…  [Read More]

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