Often Drugs Work Too Well

You’ve told your doctor you are anxious or in pain. You got a prescription for Atavan, Klonopin, Valium, or Xanax, if it was anxiety; if it was pain, you might’ve gotten a script for a narcotic like Percoset, Vicodin, Oxicotin, or Morphine. These will certainly take away your anxiety or pain; fast. If you useContinue reading “Often Drugs Work Too Well”

Slipstream Change

Change many things at once, rather than one thing at a time Anyone attempting to break a habit can learn a lot from marketers. They’re the experts at getting you to change. They love it when you are at a transitional period of your life. Advertisers love to target pregnant women. They have their ways ofContinue reading “Slipstream Change”

How to Understand Yourself

A very smart man once came to me and said he wanted to understand himself. “Have you read Freud?” I asked. “No.” “Jung?” “No.” “Lacan? Winnicott? Bion? Kline?” “Never heard of any of them.” “Did you ever take psychology?” “I took a course or two. I graduated from Stanford summa cum laude, with a doubleContinue reading “How to Understand Yourself”

Alexithymia and the Hermeneutic Laborer

When Your Partner Can’t Talk About His Feelings “She loves me, she loves me not, she loves me, she loves me not, she loves me, she loves me not. She loves me!” Saying this while pulling petals off a flower is a silly way to determine whether she loves you, but it’s easier than engagingContinue reading “Alexithymia and the Hermeneutic Laborer”

Emotional Labor

Who’s Really the Boss? It sounds like a capitalist’s dream come true, monetizing your feelings. Except it’s already come true. There are many jobs that include emotional labor. Sociologist, Arlie Hochschild was perhaps the first to write, back in 1983, about emotional labor in her book The Managed Heart: Commercialization of Human Feeling. In herContinue reading “Emotional Labor”