Bachelor Hatchings, Episode 4: Staying Sane

Reducing Your Sadness

Vacant: A fictional short-short story

The Desexing of America

Why We're Sadder…and How Can We Improve

Music as Front-Line Treatment for Mood Disorders?: A thought experiment

A Scared Teen: a short-short story

Depressed: A short-short story

Should You Accept Life As It Is?

Recently, a client told me that he wants to raise the white flag and accept life as it is. My Psychology Today article today paraphrases why he feels that way and my response. Perhaps it might help you or someone else who is dispirited about life.

Are You Thinking About Disengaging From Life?

Some people decide they’ve had enough. They're not suicidal. They're just giving up on striving for much of anything. My Psychology Today article today asks some questions.

Are You Usually Sad? Some thoughts

A small percentage of my coaching clients aren’t clinically depressed but are sad, not just situationally sad but have been sad, sober, serious most of their life.

If that describes you or someone you care about, you might find my Psychology Today article today of value.

The Happy Slitting Party: A Short-Short Story about Depression

In an attempt to avoid the pontification and aridity of the how-to article, I've recently been embedding psychological and other how-to-do-life issues in  short-short stories.

Today's offering looks at a person with depression.

What's New in Neuropsychology?

Sure, many of today's "exciting findings" will become tomorrow's blind alleys, but the quantity, quality, and centrality of the new neuropsychology research findings boosts my hope that we'll finally get those breakthrough cures and even ways to make us better "normals."  

I briefly describe the current crop of research findings in my PsychologyToday.com article today.

My Advice to a Person With Depression Who Then Got Cancer

In each installment of my daily PsychologyToday.com series, I respond to a composite letter that asks for my career advice.

Today, I offer advice to a person with depression who then got cancer.

Top Apps for Your Mental Health

Apps may never replace a therapist...or maybe they will. Good efficacy data isn't yet available but it's unarguable that an app is available 24/7 instead of 50 minutes a week, is more patient than a human therapist, there's no stigma to using an app, and it's dramatically less expensive.

Of course, for some people, therapy will be a better choice. But, for cost and convenience alone, in my PsychologyToday.com article today, I describe seven apps and two YouTube channels that deserve a look for anyone dealing with anxiety, depression, addiction, OCD, making or breaking a habit, or suicide. They all incorporate well-established psychological principles and have high user ratings across many reviewers.

Stories of Solitude: A Person With Major Depression

Today's installment of my PsychologyToday.com series on people who spend a lot of time alone profiles a person with major depression.

When You Feel Washed Up: An exploration of what to do when you feel you've been put out to pasture.

Do you feel washed up? Perhaps you’re in your 60s, been “laid off” and doubt you can ever find another “real” job, but you’re not ready to retire. 

My PsychologyToday.com article today explores what you might do when you feel out-to-pasture.

We're Sadder as a Nation...and How We Might Better Cope

Statistics indicate America is sadder, more depressed, and yes, more suicidal. 

My PsychologyToday.com article today offers explanations for why and probably inadequate suggestions for how to better cope.

Using a Light Therapy Box for Seasonal Depression

A light box is a first-line treatment for seasonal affective disorder, sometimes called seasonal depression. In my PsychologyToday.com article today, I summary how to use it.

Beyond SSRIs and Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy: What are other approaches to mild to moderate depression?

Recently on PsychologyToday.com I interviewed Dr. Thomas Insel, Director of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH).on how to treat depression.

That interview as been gnawing at me ever since. You see, the advice he gave is pretty much what has been recommended for a decade or more, that most people with mild to moderate depression are best treated with an SSRI (like Prozac and Zoloft) and/or cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT.)

In my admittedly anecdotal experience, having been career and personal coach to many people with depression, their most common experience is that the drug yields some benefit, typically taking the edge off their depression but often, the effect wears off. And the side-effects are often problematic, for example, sexual dysfunction, flattened affect, nausea, and drowsiness. People often go off the medication feeling unsure that the benefits outweigh the side effects

And my clients’ typical experience with cognitive-behavioral therapy is that it helps but, pardon the pun, it’s no magic pill.

Without turning to the treatments usually reserved for severe depression such as electro-convulsive therapy (ECT) or vagus nerve stimulation, what else seems worthy of trial? I address that question in my PsychologyToday.com article today. HERE is the link