Fighting between you and someone you want to get along with is miserable, sometimes devastating and can negatively affect all areas of your life. The fight you had with your partner last night left you drained, depressed, and barely able to function this morning. You…
I can’t give this an absolute date, but it must have been at least eight or more years ago that I became obsessed with “productivity.” Before long I discovered “GTD,” or “Getting Things Done,” the productivity system (and book title) developed by David Allen and…
The academic and political war over drugs wages on. As Colorado and Washington declared marijuana legal and in early August, the New York Times ran a series supporting legalization of medical marijuana (something that has already happened in 36 other states), scientists investigating the effects of mind-altering substances often…
Mindfulness meditation is everywhere, for everything and for everyone. Right now I’m teaching a class for doctoral students in clinical psychology on “Contemplative Practices and Clinical Psychology” –and we are having a great time. We’re meditating together. Those of you who have read previous posts on this blog…
Someone recently responded to one of my blog posts, asking for some guidance in getting off marijuana after smoking it regularly for 20 years. The reader is struggling with depression—common to early recovery from both alcohol and marijuana, is taking a prescribed antidepressant, and wanted other suggestions, particularly those that might…
In our long-overdue discussion of profiling, we have focused exclusively on what happens to minorities and particularly to Black and Brown youth. We seem to have forgotten about women. This doesn’t mean our discussion should ignore the factor of race in profiling our vulnerable young…
In a blog post at the end of April, Thomas Insel, Director of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), came out with a long overdue critique of the “bible” of diagnosis of mental disorders, the DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders). Inspired by the publication of…
Its been a year since I wrote about marijuana addiction, focusing on the difficulties it causes, and the very real problems of attempting to stop, including a withdrawal that may include depression, anxiety, insomnia and even psychotic symptoms that may persist for four to six months. I described the effects…
I have been watching, listening, feeling the air around the “Republican” response to limitations on guns, magazine size, serious background checks, research by NIMH (National Institute of Mental Health) on factors involved in our epidemic of gun violence, and other reasonable steps proposed by the President,…
Over a decade ago I conducted a study with James King and Jack Berry on antecedents to psychopathology in chimpanzees. We used data that King had first collected in a study of personality in Chimps in 12 zoos, maintained under the auspices of the Jane Goodall Institute.…