In the thirties, when the founders of Alcoholics Anonymous concluded that alcoholism was a disease, people were outraged. Everyone knew it was a moral weakness and nothing more. How times have changed. Today Substance Abuse Disorder is considered a mental illness. The DSM-V defines it as “A maladaptive pattern of substance use leading to clinically …
Month: October 2012
Depression: It’s More than Feeling Sad
If you’re reading this post and don’t know a person who has been depressed (including yourself) please leave a comment below. This malady is so widespread, it is almost commonplace. 1 in 10 of us will have depression in our lifetime and for 1 of 10 of those it is a fatal illness, culminating in …
Canadian Thanksgiving Weekend. What Did You Do?
Canadians celebrate thanksgiving on the second Monday of October. We get together with our families and friends, eat too much, drink too much and enjoy.Unlike our American neighbors, our holiday is not about the Pilgrims landing in the new world. Rather, it is a celebration of the fall harvest. It is a statuatory holiday …
Happy Birthday To Us, Happy Birthday to Us
In September of 2011, I was looking for a class to learn how to use about using social media effectively and I came across a course by Kristen Lamb, called We Are Not Alone. I signed up for the October class but I have to say a couple of lectures in, I was pretty …
Up and Down. Up and Down. Do You Have Bipolar Disorder?
Bipolar Affective Disorder used to be called Manic Depression. It affects from 1 – 2% of the population and affects men and women equally. Average age of onset is 15 – 25 years. It is difficult to diagnose, often co-occurs with a broad assortment of physical ailments and causes great distress for sufferers and their …