I’ve never been officially diagnosed with Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD), partly, I believe, because there have been so many other disorders for my doctors and I to focus on (depression, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and Attention Deficit Disorder, anyone?). Looking at the description of GAD, though, I am pretty sure that I have had at least […]

For many older adults, the “golden years” are indeed golden. My parents, who are both over the age of 65, are enjoying their retirement here in Northern California. My father is supervising the building of their new house and my mother runs a website she created for senior women. They go to baseball games and […]

You can stop feeling like it’s your fault that you haven’t found an antidepressant that works. Not that you should have ever felt that way anyway, but most depressed people blame themselves for everything that goes wrong in their lives.
But this one is definitely not your fault, and probably not your doctor’s either, for that […]

It’s 5:30am and it’s still dark. For some reason I’m actually awake. Granted, my usual waking time is only half an hour later, but to me, voluntarily getting up early is an idea that just doesn’t compute. However, I am deliberately giving up sleep for a good reason. I’m going to do some yoga to […]

Before I was diagnosed with depression and realized that I suffered from a mental illness, in my mind the most vital issue in terms of health insurance was whether I had it or not. I think you’d find that’s the case for nearly everyone in America. If you have good health insurance, for the most […]

I’ve been taking Wellbutrin (generic name Bupropion) for about seven years, minus the time I was pregnant with my son. I would say that overall it’s been very successful, except during one period. All of a sudden, even though I was faithfully taking my medicine, it was as though I was taking sugar pills. I […]

Are you a compulsive shopper? At this time of the year, when the gift buying starts to get out of control, you may begin to wonder. I personally am afraid to add up how much I’ve spent on Christmas presents. But when the holiday season is over, most of us will go back to a […]

Recently, research by a team at the University of California, Berkeley, uncovered a link between sleep deprivation and psychiatric disorders. Previously, it was thought that psychiatric disorders caused sleep deprivation, and not the other way around, but it appears now that sleep deprivation may create symptoms that mimic psychiatric disorders or may be partially […]

I just got back from shopping on Black Friday, the day after Christmas. It’s called Black Friday because it’s the first day of the year that retailers (potentially) start seeing black ink on the balance sheet instead of red. For almost anyone else, unless you’re suffering from the holiday blues, Black Friday is the beginning […]

Someone recently asked why I spend so much of my time working to raise awareness of depression. To be honest, I hadn’t really thought about it in years. It’s been such a big part of my life for the last twelve years that I no longer think about the actual reasons why I do what […]