Written by john on February 23rd, 2010
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Like many, I’ve been worried that the revision of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, the source for all our diagnoses, could lead to what’s been called the medicalization of normality. But there are even more fundamental problems inherent in the classification system itself. It slots you into [...]
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Written by john on February 12th, 2010
Recovery from depression meant a lot of change in the way I lived, and cutting out the stress of a tension-filled job was at the top of the list. Once I had ended that life of constant pressure, I could feel the relief at the start of each day.
A freedom and energy filled me, and [...]
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Written by john on February 5th, 2010
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An important part of my recovery has been exploring emotional memory when I respond so deeply to a story or song or even just a moment in a film that somehow reaches right inside. A feeling long held back flows out freely, even though broken away from the memory [...]
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Written by john on February 2nd, 2010
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A friend sends out a poetry email every Monday, and here’s what he sent this week.
Pablo Neruda, toward the end of his life, was invited to read in Caracas, Venezuela, in the great national theater there.
The theater was filled with people celebrating him as the icon and the [...]
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Written by john on January 22nd, 2010
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(Note: This is adapted from an unfinished novel of long ago that turned out to be a lot more therapy than fiction. I’ve changed the writing a little so it will make sense without its earlier context.)
Depression takes away of lot of life. I’ve been so lost I felt [...]
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Written by john on January 9th, 2010
Sherwin Nuland is the best-selling author of How We Die: Reflections on Life’s Final Chapter and many other books. As he says in this video, he had never before disclosed the experience behind the spiritual dimensions of his writing until presenting this talk at the TED Conference in 2001. Everyone’s reaction will differ, of course, [...]
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