Happy Mental Health Awareness Month!
Everyone in the world is affected by mental illness in some way. Whether you have mental illness yourself or if you have a friend or family member who does, mental illness is universal.
DetailsMay 12, 2015
Famous Alcoholics: Ernest Hemingway (1899 – 1961)
It’s midnight. There’s a candle burning in a bedroom, a bottle of Bordeaux gleaming in its wake. Creative genius flows as quickly as the wine. Ernest Hemingway — Nobel- and Pulitzer Prize-winning author — is hunched over his typewriter in a frenzy, crafting the perfect prose: clickety-clack-clack-clack as he sips the red wine. The Sun Also Rises takes shape. He’s drunk. Truth is, Hemingway never drank while writing. But when he was not writing, he was a certifiable lush.
DetailsMay 08, 2015
The Psych Report: Mental Illness in the Media
When you hear the words “mentally ill,” the first thing that comes to mind is probably “crazy” — and we have the media’s negative depictions to thank for that. The truth is, many of us who are mentally ill manage our symptoms with medication and therapy and are able to lead normal or near-normal lives.
DetailsMay 15, 2015
The Top Ten Most Authentic Films About Addiction
Alcohol and drugs are featured prominently in many movies because they make for sexy storylines. From prescription-drug thievery to heroin overdoses, I compiled this list of the definitive films featuring drug and alcohol addiction.
DetailsApril 21, 2015
The Psych Report: Special K To Treat Bipolar Depression?
Ketamine is now being used to treat bipolar depression in clinical trials. First developed for use as an animal tranquilizer, the anesthetic is also known by its street name, Special K. It is used recreationally to enhance the experience of being at a rave or club, producing euphoria and hallucinations.
DetailsMay 05, 2015
Book Review – An Unquiet Mind: A Memoir of Moods and Madness
An Unquiet Mind, a galvanizing memoir that tugs at the heartstrings of the manic-depressed and their loved ones, is required reading for anyone who is bipolar or who has a loved one who is. My family and I read it cover-to-cover within weeks of my diagnosis.
DetailsApril 24, 2015
Eccentric of the Month: Bipolar Jennifer
In this excerpt from The Eccentrics – my book out in 2016 – we meet Jennifer, a coke-head musician who finds solace in punk rock and classical music.
DetailsMay 01, 2015
Bipolar Geniuses: Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe is one of the most iconic celebrities in American history. She’s right up there with Elvis Presley and Michael Jackson for her fame fingerprint. Her face is emblazoned in the pantheons of art history as the beautiful subject of many Andy Warhol screenprints. She was the ultimate sex symbol – Playboy magazine’s…
DetailsApril 28, 2015
Eccentric of the Month: Ian
Ian is a 41-year-old graphic designer and aspiring art therapist. In this excerpt from my book The Eccentrics – out in 2016 – we hear about his mostly innocent childhood and how drugs and alcohol nearly ruined his life.
DetailsApril 07, 2015
Ask The Author: How To Feel Better On a Bad Day
I’m not the best role model when it comes to coping with bad days. Oftentimes I will take a nap, but that’s just an easy way out. However, I find that any of these five action steps can help relieve the pain of a bad day.
DetailsApril 14, 2015
