Mental health problems run in my family. Both my parents and all five aunts on my mom’s side were alcoholics. So was Uncle Glen and my grandfather. Both of my sisters suffered depression and my step-brother died of a heroin overdose. One grandchild committed suicide, and a sister and a daughter had bi-polar disorder. Since […]
Category: Mental health and life issues
Jeffrey Kruger writing in the July Time magazine, “Kids are not all right” during this Covid pandemic writes: “But those same younger kids have acutely twitchy antennae when it comes to reading the anxious mood of the older people around them. The ambient stress in a locked-down household in which parents are fretting, perhaps quarreling, […]
Best Books I taught developmental psychology for twenty years at the college level. I was also a licensed psychotherapist. Mary Trump’s book, “Too Much and Never Enough” about her Uncle Donald Trump is a masterful story about how growing up develops personality. She is a clinical psychologist whose writing is clear to anyone. In addition, […]
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Coping with Loss
If you feel distress from other types of loss or change (advice from CDC) During the COVID-19 pandemic, you may feel grief due to loss of a job; inability to connect in-person with friends, family or religious organizations; missing special events and milestones (such as graduations, weddings, vacations); and experiencing drastic changes to daily routines […]
Here is some info from CDC: Take care of your mental health You may experience increased stress during this pandemic. Fear and anxiety can be overwhelming and cause strong emotions. Get immediate help in a crisis Call 911 Disaster Distress Helplineexternal icon: 1-800-985-5990 (press 2 for Spanish), or text TalkWithUs for English or Hablanos for Spanish to […]
We need to know types of depression. My sister called me to say that she is depressed. She has been taking anti-depressants for years. I was able to tell her that she does not have “clinical depression.” As a former licensed therapist, clinical depression is the inability to do daily tasks like cooking, sleeping, loss […]
POLICING AND MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES Should police be replaced by mental health professionals on such calls? Not entirely. In Los Angeles the police made 6,000 mental health calls in 2019. Why so many? The budget for mental health was low. No hospital beds were available for psychotic patients. Psychiatrists were in short supply. This […]
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Teen Suicide
On April 3, 2020 David Brooks of the Ney York Times asked readers to give their concerns on mental health and Covid19. Here is the response I sent to him: In November of 2019 my 13-year-old granddaughter committed suicide as a result of online bullying. As the NYT reported, suicide is the second leading cause […]
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Chronovirus
Research shows that gratitude is a Hugh psychological booster. The best way to start practicing gratitude is to keep a journal to identify things in your life each day for which you are grateful. Gratitude is an attitude, not a feeling. —Elizabeth Bernstein, “A Surprising Way to Stay Resilient” Wall St Journal, May 5 , […]
