Our blogs highlight different topics and concerns in mental health and psychology, bringing fresh perspectives, ideas and news updates in small, digestable nuggets. Below, you'll find an index of the most recent entries from our blogs.
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Mike Webster & the NFL Lawsuit over Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy
Any Pittsburgh Steeler fan over the age of 36 could tell you about Mike Webster. He was our All-Pro center who, alongside Terry Bradshaw, Jack Lambert, Franco Harris, Mean Joe Greene and so many notorious others, carried the team to four Super Bowl wins in the 1970s. Mike was bigger...
When 2 of Your Values Are in Conflict
I spend a lot of time thinking about questions such as, “How do we change?” “Why is it so hard to make ourselves do things that we want to do?” For instance, Why is it so hard to make myself go to bed? and “How can we stick to our...
6 Ways Pets Relieve Depression
The day I returned from inpatient therapy, my Lab-Chow mix cuddled up to me on the bed as I cried. She looked into my defeated gaze and licked my tears. I was astounded that this creature was capable of the empathy that I so craved in my closest friends and...
Job Layoffs: The Aftermath of Redundancy
In a previous post, I mentioned there was a rumor of redundancy for some friends of mine. Some people were in fact let go, though none of my friends were among the unfortunate ones. Redundancy — losing your job in a layoff — is difficult for most people. I’ve worked...
DSM-5 Released: The Big Changes
The DSM-5 was officially released today. We will be covering it in the weeks to come here on the blog and over at Psych Central Professional in a series of upcoming articles detailing the major changes. In the meantime, here is an overview of the big changes. We sat in...
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Kristin Selby Gonzalez Mental Health Hero #MentalHealthMonth Kristin Selby Gonzalez 2013 Mental Health Hero Cartoon-A-Thon Drawing by Chato Stewart Kristin Selby Gonzalez received a grim fate on Oct. 15, 2004. She was told her son, Jaxson had Autism and that he would never look, talk, have any friends and would be in a group home by the time he was 8 years ......
Porn Addiction Relapse: The Pros and Cons of a Harm Reduction Approach  Porn Addiction can be notoriously hard to quit. Relapse is the norm, at least in the initial months of recovery. Many recovering porn addicts quit for a long period, sometimes by giving up their computers entirely, sometimes with the use of blocking software, only to relapse again. The harm reduction approach to addiction treatment is conceived as...
Bobby Durham Mental Health Hero #MentalHealthMonth Bobby Durham 2013 Mental Health Hero Cartoon-A-Thon Drawing by Chato Stewart I was born and raised in Louisville, Kentucky. 10th of eleven children. I have two beautiful grown daughters and a grandson, age 5. I remarried in 1999 and have been since. I was diagnosed manic depressive in 1999 but knew prior to that that ......
Victoria Cannon Mental Health Hero #MentalHealthMonth Victoria Cannon 2013 Mental Health Hero Cartoon-A-Thon Drawing by Chato Stewart ” I’m a cheerleader, cheering others on for better mental health!” I have had depression and anxiety since childhood, but I refused to get treatment because even at a young age I knew the shame of seeing a “shrink”. In 1993 I was living ......
NIMH’s Thomas Insel on a New Understanding of the Brain (Video) Director of the National Institute for Mental Health Thomas Insel gives a TED Talk on the new domain criteria research direction, and how an important first step is to reframe mental illness as brain disorders. By doing so, diverse fields like psychology, cognitive science, molecular neuroscience, genetics, psychiatry, and more can work together...
Body Image Boosters From The Blogosphere 5.19.13  A positive body image goes beyond liking your looks. It encompasses taking good care of yourself and leading a fulfilling life. In this weekly series, I share some of my favorite posts from some of my favorite bloggers on this topic. Sometimes I also share relevant pieces that I’ve written on the Web. Hope... |
Not Enough Time? Don’t Take It Personally The Hidden Causes of the Work/Family Conflict Laura: “Now that I am back to work full time, I get up at 5:00 A.M. to get the kid’s lunches ready. I often find myself doing laundry at 10:00 P.M. Last week I was picking up groceries at the supermarket at 11:00 P.M., and my stomach is churning while driving to the day care center because I don’t want to be...
Poor and Rich  The Poor we have the flowers and the trees… we have the grass beneath our knees and feet  we have the air so fresh and sweet! we have the rivers and the streams we have the butterflys and bees ...
Psychedelics: A Shortcut to Enlightenment  Attaining Oneness with all being is a goal that many spiritual seekers spend decades working towards. It takes many years even for the most diligent meditator to lastingly quiet the chattering mind, and to move towards deep experiences of transformation and lasting happiness. Back in the sixties though, the two psychologists and then-academics Timothy Leary and Richard Alpert – the...
The DSM-5 Controversy – Who is the best source of information?  A recent article published on Yahoo Health has caused some major controversy in the mental health field. The article titled, “DSM-5: Will Millions More Americans be Diagnosed with Mental Illness?” discusses, in a nutshell, the following: The impending publication of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition (DSM-5) has kindled fiery debate about whether Americans are being vastly over-diagnosed...
8 Ways To Cope When You’re Stressed About Your Body  {via etsy by BLintonPhotography} We’ve all had those days when one look in the mirror spikes our stress levels. (I still do.) For many of us, that’s when the inner critic starts ranting and raving. Before we know it we’re bashing our bodies and berating our qualities...
Watering the Seeds of Depression, Watering the Seeds of Resiliency  I often write about the demanding and criticizing voices in our heads a lot because it is so amazingly prevalent and I figure just about anyone can identify with that and almost all of us need support with them. Every day these voices kick in out of habit telling us “I can’t do that right” or “what a failure I am.”...
Mom in the Mirror  Recently my longtime dear friend and colleague, Dr. Dena Cabrera, and a newer friend of mine, Emily Wierenga, released a much-anticipated new book to help moms who are recovering from an eating disorder. Yay! “Mom in the Mirror” was released this month by Rowan & Littlefield Publishers. When Dena first mentioned the...
How to Write a Wanted Poster – for Singles!  different types of wanted posters Do they still hang Wanted posters up in Post Offices? I haven’t been in one in so long… But I’ve always been fascinated by those bad boys the FBI wants so desperately. As a single person, if you want to find a mate, you...
The Ohio Kidnapping Case: The Moral Injury of Witnessing Atrocity  In the past two weeks it has been difficult to be anywhere without reading or hearing about the Ohio Kidnapping, 10 year captivity, sexual abuse, torture and beatings causing miscarriages to three young woman and one daughter, locked in a neighborhood house by one man. Both in and outside of my office people have commented and questioned: ...
Hurtful Comments and Chronic Pain Written with Cassandra Rossum  In a moment of frustration I posted this on my Facebook page dedicated to Chronic Pain, Tracy Rydzy- Oh What a Pain: Sometimes I wonder, when something comes up that is difficult to accept or hurtful or upsetting because of living with chronic pain, do people try to be jerks about...
Misadventures of the Mind Food for thought: “Symbolism must be eliminated. Once we end symbolism, we are also participating in the demise of cultism and superstition. ... Humans were in a special state of mind when they created symbols. That special state of mind is what I call a neurological misadventure, a diseased state.” (Edgar Ridley, The Golden Apple: Changing the Structure of Civilization).... |
Grass is Greener Syndrome  It’s easy to catch a case of this: You see someone else’s life (or what you think you know of someone else’s life), and you think how much better they have it than you do. Why are we so susceptible? I think it’s because it’s hard to keep hold of the big picture. It’s hard to remain in a place...
9 Steps to a Happy Marriage  Relationships tend to be the most balanced when the foundation is strong. If you can get the basics down, you’re much more likely to have a long-lasting and happy marriage. Here are nine steps to a happy marriage (or non-married relationship): 1. Worry about your own relationship. Couples can make the mistake of paying too much attention to what’s going on in...
The Stay At Home Dad – Re-Math SAHD’s are appalled, shaken, and verbally heated, about my message on the stay at home dad. I let the comments fly, cause everyone has a right to their opinion. Thinking deeper… We put certain judgements on a parent, male or female, that stays home with the kids. http://blogs.psychcentral.com/manic-depression/2013/05/14/the-stay-at-home-dad-let-the-double-standard-continue/ ...
Why Pain Affects the Perception of our Future  I used to have a very clear picture of my future. I saw myself in a nice house, accomplished in my job as a therapist and an author. I saw a couple children, saw myself running around after them and laughing. I saw a healthy, fun life, full of laughter and smiles. Two years ago that picture became fuzzy...
This Weekend Create A To-Notice List  {via etsy by Katie Daisy} I’m not much for clever planners, productivity apps or special efficiency software. I live by to-do lists. I love jotting down what I need to do on stationary or even a napkin (clearly, whatever is handy). I...
The Things We Hide  I skipped my psychiatrist appointment today. Well, I rescheduled it. My relationship with my shrink is hard to figure out. I hate going there, but feel better when I leave. He’s not my therapist, he’s my med patroller. So, I don’t have to get into the ugly dirty stuff, but it bleeds out here and there during our sessions. Sometimes he’s...
Eric Maisel on Dealing With Stress To Be More Creative  Creativity coach, author and psychologist Eric Maisel, PhD, notes “Some people become doctors, lawyers, accountants, or marketing executives. Some people stay at home and raise a family. “But millions of people make another sort of choice, maybe only as part-time employment if you count the money they earn but as their full-time identity: they...
NASCAR Legend Dick Trickle Found Dead at 71, Apparent Suicide  It’s a sad day for NASCAR fans and the family of racing legend Richard “Dick” Trickle. On Thursday, May 16, 2013, the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Department received a phone call informing them they’d soon find the dead body of the 71-year-old “White Knight.” Upon investigation, authorities found Trickle dead from a gunshot wound outside his pickup truck...
Cancer, Grief, and Words  “I am not what has happened to me. I am what I choose to become.” ~ Carl Jung I have been thinking a lot about cancer these days. Almost half my caseload has cancer or I see children who have lost a parent to cancer or spouses with a partner with cancer. It seems like cancer is everywhere. Cancer does...
Thinking About Anger  Depending on who’s doing the thinking, people (including “experts”) have differing, even openly conflicting, viewpoints on anger. Here are some: Anger, and the expression of anger, is healthy, natural. It’s only a problem when it is out-of-control or hurts someone. Anger is only a problem if it is repressed. It is good to get your anger out (as...
Self-Determinism There is no “and” in Cause-and-Effect. Cause and Effect are one and the same uninterrupted flow of reality. Mind breaks up the flow of this reality into Cause and Effect b/c of its information-processing limitations, essentially, dropping out of the flow of “What Is” to deal with reality (by categorizing it, by breaking it up into moments and ideas). So,...
Top Ten Fortune Cookie Fortunes For ADHDers  One mans fortune … I spent most of my undiagnosed life blaming bad luck for the lows and feeling very lucky when times were good, which wasn’t often. I didn’t then, nor do I now, believe in the art of fortune telling. I get a kick out of numerology...
An ADHD Holiday Primer  lintmachine via Compfight This Monday is Victoria Day in Canada. Its origin is a celebration of Queen Victoria’s birthday and it occurs on the weekend prior to May 25. (Canada still has a British Queen, why I don’t know. Maybe we’re...
Emetophobia: The Ugly Fear Of Nausea And Vomiting  (Trigger warning for emetophobes: the “N” and “V” words are used in this post.) I really wanted to do another “Win Wednesday” post yesterday, but I couldn’t. And why, you might... |
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Site last updated: 19 May 2013
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