2009 August | Depression On My Mind

Stigma sells: “The toaster isn’t real, Brian”

Saturday, August 29th, 2009

Too bad I don't eat subs because I'd really like to boycott Quiznos. I am being stalked by the imaginary talking toaster commercial. Every channel I turn to I am assaulted by that inane ...

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My mania: Do you really want to get in the ring with me?

Wednesday, August 26th, 2009

Hey, I have an idea... When you are bipolar - even just hypomanic like me - you have lots of ideas. Tons of ideas. Sometimes they come out of nowhere and zap me like static electricity. ...

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Rant-o-rama: The sheriff vs common sense

Monday, August 24th, 2009

Last week our local sheriff - reacting to a demand to cut $3 million from his proposed $480 budget - threatened to cut a successful substance-abuse treatment program before cutting deputies. In other words, if ...

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Depression, anxiety and fetal positions

Saturday, August 22nd, 2009

What I hate most about anxiety is waking up with it. It's like an emotional hangover - the first thing you feel before you open your eyes. I want to be able to tie my ...

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Missed meds = misery

Wednesday, August 19th, 2009

I felt like crap today and I chalked it up to just coming back from a very laid back vacation in the Florida Keys, a 14-hour day yesterday, the sudden announcement today of a massive ...

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Mental Health: Maybe gays, lesbians and bisexuals are braver and smarter

Saturday, August 15th, 2009

Of the smorgasbord of mental health news in my email box this morning was a press release on a UCLA study that found lesbians, gays and bisexuals are twice as likely as heterosexual men ...

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Vacation and depression: Square pegs and round holes

Thursday, August 13th, 2009

This has been a weird vacation. Normally I spend weeks - even months - researching a destination, scheduling travel arrangements and planning an itinerary. I always said I enjoyed the planning as much as the ...

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The mentally ill neighbor

Monday, August 10th, 2009

Every Sunday I read Randy Cohen's column, The Ethicist, in the New York Times. Cohen settles moral dilemmas with humor and common sense. This week's ethical conundrum: A mentally ill neighbor. The writer moved into ...

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How can people doubt that depression is real?

Wednesday, August 5th, 2009

I am on vacation in the Florida Keys. I had dinner tonight with a friend at a restaurant on the Gulf of Mexico. The sunset was postcard over-the-top stunning - pink, orange, lavender, yellow. After ...

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Depression: The thief that took my joy

Sunday, August 2nd, 2009

On my bedside table there are stacks of books, most on depression. On the table next to my beside table, there are stacks of book, most on depression. I have not read any of them. ...

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