Oxford professor Mark Williams notes that many adults suffering from serious depression are essentially discouraged and hopeless about feeling discouraged and hopeless. In other words, they are depressed about being depressed. All, or nearly all, or us experiences low moods. These can be associated with experiencing...
I have to say that I was very surprised to see the strong response to my last column. Clearly I offended Steve Oakey with some of my statements on the topic of suicide. I like Steve, and agree that there is great value in public...
As I drove home from the office Saturday I picked up the Standard Journal (Nov 5) and was saddened to see the cover story about the young boy who took his own life, and his mother’s efforts to find some meaning in the loss and...
Working closely with young gang members in Southern California helped me to better understand the drive many feel to “get even”. Revenge seems to offer protection from being hurt, something we all desire. A young lady recently told me, “Nice people get walked on. If I...
Several weeks ago I wrote about discouragement—the condition in which one finds it difficult to move toward a worthy goal for fear it may not be accomplished as hoped. In that column I discussed ways of helping our children to overcome discouragement. But as a...
Last week the Standard-Journal published thoughtful and respectful responses to my last two columns. At first I was a bit self-conscious of the critiques. But since I am a licensed therapist I scheduled some time to talk to myself, and I’m okay now. (Too bad...
Many of us woke last Tuesday morning to the disturbing news that comedian Robin Williams had taken his life in the throes of depression. Before the day was over members of the media and of this community were trying to make sense out of what...
Last week we discussed the nature of panic attacks—sudden episodes in which one feels intense emotional and physical sensations associated with a sense of doom or dread. These “attacks” don’t directly result from anything dangerous; the sense of panic is spurred by perceptions that something...
A sudden sense of impending doom; something awful must be happening! Your body doesn’t feel right—heart pumping, breathing fast and difficult, your insides feel like Jell-O. There is no real danger, at least not anything obvious. There must be something wrong with you… Panic attack—a sudden...
In the 1970’s comedian Flip Wilson created a ridiculous character whose signature line was, “Here comes the judge! Here comes the judge!” That phrase has often passed through my mind as I work to help people recognize the problems with judgment—even those small, seemingly-harmless thoughts that...