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 […]
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A Rooster’s Wisdom
Maurice was a real rooster whose death was featured in the NYT on June 26. For years his owner would devise his quotes. He was extremely popular in France. “ A little more patience, a little less agitation, never did any harm. I never went anywhere, and I was happy. There’s more to a coop […]
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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Why Law School?
My interest in law started when my daughter graduated from William and Mary Law school. She was a prosecutor. I am so proud of her . When teaching philosophy, I became interested in the philosophy of law. As I mentioned to my niece, getting a law degree isn’t always because you want to practice in […]
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A Vaccine Soon?
Will Covid 19, eventually disappear at year’s end like an annual flu. No. It could last for several years like previous pandemics. Why.? Here are some reasons: A vaccine may not be developed. It normally takes ten years to develop a vaccine for a new type of virus. If developed the virus may mutate making […]
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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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Know the Law
Why does it take weeks for the Floyd death to result in arrests and charges? Prosecutors do not want to bring cases to court that they are likely to lose. In cases against police, the Supreme Court has ruled that they have limited immunity, which means that their activities are presumed to be necessary enforcement. […]
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Biography
Hello, my name is Don Peterson. I am a retired Air Force Chaplain who has been teaching philosophy and psychology at University of Phoenix and the Community College of Denver for the past 25 years. I graduated from Ohio University in 1968, the Methodist Theological School in Ohio in 1971 and the Master’s program in […]
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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 , […]
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Stay Safe
Wash your hands and stay inside the worst is yet to come.
