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All Posts Tagged With: "mental health"

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Depression is

Kate Spade, now Anthony Bourdain….the numbers continue to rise. But the only time anyone talks about suicide is when a celebrity is struck down by THIS AWEFUL DISEASE CALLED DEPRESSION!!! They say we (society) need to TALK about IT. Yet, those who suffer from IT feel so ASHAMED they often keep IT to themselves. They […]

8Jun2018 | | 1 comment | Continued
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Letting Go

Anyone following this trail of essays on mental health might find themselves feeling sorry for this old fool.  That is not my intention.  About ninety-eight percent of my troubles have been the consequences of my own decisions.  Does that make them less painful?  No.  Becoming aware of consequences directly related to one’s own decisions relieves […]

17Feb2018 | | 1 comment | Continued
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The Individual, Mental Health, and Maturity

Previous posts have explored my personal mental health from both nature and nurture.  Clearly it is difficult to sort out cause and effect.  How might we look at any adult and determine cause of poor behavior?  Individual humans throw a curve ball at stereotypes.  We do not know why two soldiers experiencing the same trauma […]

7Feb2018 | | 1 comment | Continued
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Chemical Changes To Behavior

Mental health is a concern to many.  In our modern world we see acts of unstable mental wellness often.  These episodes come in the form of mass shootings, the killing of innocent children, tent cities of homeless people along river banks, road rage, and other acts of humanity that are less than humane.  Even so, […]

14Jan2018 | | 1 comment | Continued
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Poverty And No Birth Control

I have written about the ‘twoness’ of parenthood.  The paradox of love versus stress.  My parents were not different than other parents.  They loved us even when they were unable to express the love overtly.  When my father came home from the War in Europe he reunited with my mother, they were promptly married, and […]

9Dec2017 | | 1 comment | Continued
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No Yellow Ribbons Here

What are some words used to describe me?  Intense, forceful, resolute, aggressive, difficult, stubborn, unyielding, Aries – You get the idea – My history is one of confrontation and unforgiving in-your-face anger. There are regular videos on facebook of soldiers returning home unannounced to reunite with their families.  The families choke up and well with […]

5Dec2017 | | 1 comment | Continued
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Anger Disguised As Political and Religious Reasoning

Most of the extremist people I know, left or right, have troubled backgrounds.  There is no other way to say it.  Today I am going to use a dear troubled friend as an example.  Of course, the name has been changed.  Some will argue that this is mere anecdotal reasoning and thus not comprehensive enough […]

7Mar2016 | | Comments Off on Anger Disguised As Political and Religious Reasoning | Continued
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Stop Fighting

Most of us do not know how to fight.  Sadly, most of us think we do know.  We are proud of our wit, our sarcasm, our humor at the expense of others.  If not, then we act as if we are in control – proudly and falsely saying that we would not ‘stoop to that […]

9Oct2015 | | Comments Off on Stop Fighting | Continued
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Investing Our Self In A Cause

When we completely invest ourselves in any cause we risk our sanity.  From religion to politics to civil rights to social justice – to being employed in a noble profession – any cause can be consuming.  Problems come when we identify ourselves in the context of the cause.  We risk losing touch with social norms.  […]

14Jan2011 | | Comments Off on Investing Our Self In A Cause | Continued
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The Criminal Paradigm, Fiddling around on the Roof

We were watching the old Topol character in Fiddler on the Roof. He portrays a man who struggles with tradition, struggles with the idea of changing ideology, struggles with changing his cultural prejudices. The movie is so universally accepted because all people relate to changing times and changing cultures, and the gut wrenching emotion those […]

16Apr2010 | | 8 comments | Continued
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Dick Cheney’s Pre-Existing Condition

To say that a snow storm in Washington D. C. proves there is no global warming is like saying that Dick Cheney received good health care proves there is no need for health care reform.  Cheney has had five heart attacks – the first when he was in his late thirties.  He has changed jobs […]

25Feb2010 | | Comments Off on Dick Cheney’s Pre-Existing Condition | Continued
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12 Steps – A Program of Recovery

To continue this dialogue on 12 step programs – it seems only natural to describe the 12 steps. Distortions abound. Some clarity about this process might be useful to students of health care, people in the Ministry, medical professionals, and especially to those suffering from a hopeless state of mind and body. From page 59 […]

27Aug2009 | | 5 comments | Continued
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Total Loss of Control

Inspired by Bill Cosby – he is making a big toot about the irresponsibility of his fellow black people. Rather than lump a race into the same bucket – we should probably consider behavior rather than color. We have some literature that is not of our making. This literature has been copied and copied again. […]

18Sep2008 | | 5 comments | Continued
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Step 9 – Justice

Son, Step Nine of Twelve is very clear. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others. We are talking about Justice. Justice is not easy. This concept seems reasonable and most of us believe that we are fair and honorable people. But many of us […]

23Nov2007 | | Comments Off on Step 9 – Justice | Continued
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Step 8 – Responsibility

Son, Step Eight of Twelve is where the rubber begins to hit the road.  Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all. The essential character trait is Responsibility.  In the process of working these steps our candidate for sanity has already done a ‘fearless moral […]

18Nov2007 | | Comments Off on Step 8 – Responsibility | Continued
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Step 4 – Courage

Son, Step Four of twelve is a big boy – the success of this step takes nothing short of courage. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves. Addiction causes problems, no argument here. The problems are generally beyond what the addict understands. But the addict knows that to look closely at self means […]

15Nov2007 | | Comments Off on Step 4 – Courage | Continued
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Step 6 – Willingness

Son, Step Six of twelve is an exercise in attitude, separating the men from the boys – Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character. The essential character trait is willingness. This encompasses everything essential for spiritual growth. The wording is challenging, the thought process even more so. Check it out: […]

15Nov2007 | | Comments Off on Step 6 – Willingness | Continued
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Step 1 – Honesty

Son, Step One of 12 Step Programs states simply: We admitted we were powerless over alcohol (insert your own problem), that our lives had become unmanageable. I have said before that there are consequences to belief systems. Well, what would be the consequence of believing that you had become powerless, that your life had become […]

13Nov2007 | | Comments Off on Step 1 – Honesty | Continued
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Reckless Attitude Indicators

Son, I continue my diatribe on behavior, inspired by Bill Cosby. Many of us venture out into the world with fundamentally reckless attitudes that get us into trouble. The real dilemma is that the reckless attitude itself denies that it exists – that is a reckless attitude. I found some literature on this – again […]

19Oct2007 | | Comments Off on Reckless Attitude Indicators | Continued
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Psychcentral – help for troubled people

Son, We have had some comments this week from someone at an internet place called Psychcentral. I have just been to their site – I was even attracted by one of their blogs and wrote a comment to some poor desperate soul. I am impressed with Psychcentral – they have a great service. I know […]

18Oct2007 | | 1 comment | Continued