Statistically Speaking Regarding Life Expectancy We’ve heard this before, but here it is again – those who live with mental illness have a lower life expectancy than the national average. A previous report I cited back in March stated that the life expectancy of a person with bipolar disorder is 9 years less than the […]
Join Thank You Ninjas And Make Someone’s Day
You’ve probably seen the bumper stickers asking people to “Practice Random Acts of Kindness.” The message is good, but how many of us actually make the effort? One organization, called “Thank You Ninjas” is doing just that with a simple mission: to secretly thank the world. How do they do this? By sending anonymous Thank […]
Seizures and Bipolar Disorder: Is There a Connection?
When The Seizures Began About 15 years ago I had a series of blackouts. At the time I was living in Stockton, California, which is about 80 miles east of San Francisco. From my viewpoint the blackouts weren’t so bad. I would blackout suddenly and then come out of it suddenly. It would seem like […]
Weight Loss Updates
Many months back I committed to doing regular updates regarding my weight loss (or gains.) That didn’t work out too well so now I’m making a more difficult decision; from now on Monday’s posts are reserved for updates on my weight. The posts won’t be long, just a quickie update and a picture that, hopefully, […]
Meditation and its Effects on the Brain
Forms of Meditation Some in the West believe meditation is a modern technique introduced during the 1960’s and 1970’s. The fact is that ancient Hindu records of meditation go back as far as 5,000 years. The origins of Buddhist meditation are unknown, though it is said that the Buddha reached enlightenment by meditating under the […]
Make Amends And You Can Forgive Yourself
Research confirms what members of Alcoholics Anonymous have known for almost 80 years. It is the importance of making amends. An article published in The Journal of Positive Psychology, and reported in Medical News Today, support the claim that it is easier to forgive ourselves for hurting another person if we first make amends. Psychology […]
Treatment of Mentally Ill in the U.S. And How We Got Here
How It Began Our country does not have a good track record for treating the mentally ill. North America’s first public mental health hospital opened in 1773 in Williamsburg, VA. Named the Public Hospital for Persons of Insane and Disordered Minds. The treatments given were nothing short of torture. One procedure involved submerging patients in […]
Stigma Fighters Guest Post
Recently I was given the honor of being asked to submit a guest post to Sarah Feder’s excellent blog Old School/New School Mom. Sarah’s blog runs a series called Stigma Fighters which features real life stories about people living with mental illness. You can view my submission here: Bradley S. From her blogs bio, Sarah […]
The Lovable Neurotic
I think it’s safe to say that I’m more than a bit neurotic. I’m pretty anxious and insecure at times. Despite that, I have been lucky enough to have had several wonderful romantic relationships in my life. Not all of them ended well, in fact, two ended terribly, however, all of them began wonderfully. There’s […]
Obesity and Bipolar Disorder: A Difficult Choice
Having attended numerous depression and bipolar support group meetings, I have heard one complaint from new people over and over again – weight gain. When the new person timidly asks if anyone else has experienced weight gain, the usual response is a lot of stifled laughter as nearly every person in the room raises a […]