It's deeply personal. Maybe it's a recent diagnosis, something chronic and unescapable? The doctors say you have a year or less, and that's that. There's nothing else they can do. It's a dead-end situation. No amount of problem-solving will fix this one. Or perhaps you crashed your car and don't have the money to fix… Continue reading When emotions are too scary and thoughts too sharp
Category: Mood and anxiety
When depression meds don’t work: antidepressant amplifiers
Sometimes depression doesn't get better, not with a single antidepressant. With all the medications on the market and all the pressure not to prescribe, what should a psychiatrist do? Add more medication, and the patient has side effects. Withhold medications, and they suffer or worse. People are complicated. Medications are complicated. But then there are… Continue reading When depression meds don’t work: antidepressant amplifiers
Mood journal conquers depression
Depression. A miserable experience. When mild, it steals your dreams. When severe, it runs you over with stagnancy, painful thoughts, guilt, and shutdown. It's also not just a single emotion. Depression comes in dozens of flavors and intensities, if not hundreds, and can vary from day to day, if not throughout the day. One minute… Continue reading Mood journal conquers depression
7 great habits of horrendously happy people
Here's a draft page about happiness from my (very slowly upcoming) Weird & Wacky Addiction Workbook (name subject to change, and soon... Colorful & Crazy Sobriety Workbook ? A Bizarre & Barbaric Coloring Book for People in Recovery? Stay tuned!)
Panic Disorder
A panic attack is a sudden attack of intense fear that typically lasts 10-15 minutes, although they can last longer. They often leave the sufferer so distressed the person changes their routine to avoid having another. Episodes of panic are more common than you'd think: one in ten Americans have an attack every year, and… Continue reading Panic Disorder
PTSD: conquering nightmares
People with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) often suffer from debilitating nightmares. The dreams can be so terrifying the person is afraid to sleep. If this sounds familiar, here are six nightmare-busting methods that might help you conquer those bad dreams. (1) Talk about the nightmares. Share your dreams with someone you trust, ideally a therapist… Continue reading PTSD: conquering nightmares
100 ways to conquer depression
Often when I see a patient with depression, I show them the List*. It's just a basic run-through of available treatments for depression. It takes five separate angles -- biological, psychological, social, systems, and alternative methods -- and pulls them together onto one sheet. But this List is about more than just conquering an illness. … Continue reading 100 ways to conquer depression
Writing your way out of depression
"I believe that words are strong, that they can overwhelm when what we fear seems more awful than life is good." --Andrew Solomon, The Noonday Demon Writing as a weapon Depression is an evil companion. It challenges us with a duel to the death but takes away the very weapons we need to fight back:… Continue reading Writing your way out of depression
Nine tips for living with bipolar disorder
Bipolar disorder isn't for the faint-of-heart. The depressions are catastrophic. They're black, painful clouds of existence that hardly count as living. The manias bury you with baggage and regret. And the in-betweens, when you're trying to remember how to be "normal" and make sense out the fact that none of this is normal... No, not… Continue reading Nine tips for living with bipolar disorder
Schizoaffective Disorder
Perhaps your doctor diagnosed you (or someone you care about) with schizoaffective disorder. Your first thought is, "Does that mean I have Schizophrenia?" The second is typically, "I've never heard of schizoaffective disorder. Is the doctor making things up?" The quick answers: No, you don't have Schizophrenia. No, your doctor isn't inventing the diagnosis. Although… Continue reading Schizoaffective Disorder
