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 …
Category: mental health
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 …
What Will Tomorrow Bring? A Day With My Mother
Who knew what was coming? I didn’t. I assumed that lots of the stuff my mother shared was simply because that’s how she was. She didn’t ever talk about menopause so I assumed women of my family didn’t have any problem with the change of life. (Boy was I wrong.) At some point, things changed …
I’m Not Crazy! Are You Crazy?
Mental health is a tenuous thing. We all want it. And yet many of us struggle with it every day. Think of the people you know who suffer from anxiety or depression. The numbers are staggering. Officially one in five of us will experience a mental illness at some time in our lives. The other …
We All Have One, But How Are You Using It?
We’ve spent some time on this site looking at family roles, personality disorders, and a variety of other topics, including burnout. Although I’ve worked to keep the focus on facts, I’ve tried to ensure there would be value for writers as well. Many of our stories include villains who have some sort of brain dysfunction. …