Bringing you the best of mental health every week. Sometimes I get new books to review. I just finished The Smokefree Way by Tamir Turgal. As an addiction counselor, I’ve read many books and heard many people talk about addiction and the process of setting oneself free. I’ve never read anything as clear and directContinue reading “The Shrink’s Links: The Smokefree Way”
Tag Archives: Addiction
The man who loved lobster
There was once a man who loved lobster so much he couldn’t stop eating it. He was surrounded by stinking lobster carcasses because he couldn’t take the time away from eating to clean them up. They stunk to high heavens. No one wanted to be near him and his lobster carcasses. Every time he startedContinue reading “The man who loved lobster”
When Madness Takes Cover
So, you’ve stopped drinking, or drugging, or gambling, or sleeping around. Your depression seems to have lifted. You haven’t been violent. Your anxiety no longer makes all the decisions. You’re up in the morning and dressed when you need to be. The madness seems to have gone away. Has it, really? Madness takes cover sometimesContinue reading “When Madness Takes Cover”
Acknowledgment: April is the Cruelest Month
Contrary to popular belief, suicide rates do not peak at Christmas time. Here in Western New York, as elsewhere, they peak in April. So does all kinds of psychiatric hospitalization, depression and relapses of addiction. Why is this so, when hopes of Spring abound? Maybe the contrast between the inner weather and the outer weatherContinue reading “Acknowledgment: April is the Cruelest Month”
What is Madness?
Someone asked why the name of this blog is Madness 101. Shouldn’t I call it Mental Illness 101? Isn’t mental illness the proper, politically correct term? It is, but it’s not really mental illness that I’m writing about. I’m writing about the related subject of madness. Illness is something that happens to you beyond yourContinue reading “What is Madness?”
The Shrink’s Links: Secular Organizations for Sobriety
Bringing you the best of mental health every week. If you like the idea of a self help group to assist you in your recovery from chemical use, but think AA and it’s kin talk about God too much, there is another choice: Secular Organizations for Sobriety, otherwise known as SaveOurSelves. It’s AA without theContinue reading “The Shrink’s Links: Secular Organizations for Sobriety”
The Shrink’s Links: The Night of the Gun
Bringing you the best of mental health every week. Cultural commentator, David Carr, of the New York Times, died recently. He was a recovering cocaine addict. Fourteen years after he stopped using, he decided to write a book about his addiction. Being the journalist he was, he did not write it the usual way, asContinue reading “The Shrink’s Links: The Night of the Gun”
Some Things You May Not Know About Substance Abuse, Part 21: You can’t stop cravings from knocking at the door, but you don’t have to answer
You could stop using whatever it is that is destroying you and you will still think about it from time to time. You’ll have dreams of using. A beer truck might roll by and you’ll feel thirsty. That old life will seem good every now and then. You could have some very good reasons toContinue reading “Some Things You May Not Know About Substance Abuse, Part 21: You can’t stop cravings from knocking at the door, but you don’t have to answer”
The Shrink’s Links: Mary Gauthier
Bringing you the best of mental health every week. I went to hear Mary Gauthier in a concert a few weeks ago. From an earlier life of abandonment, addiction, and despair, she harvested songs that say it all. She’s one of the good ones, the type who, even though she may have let go ofContinue reading “The Shrink’s Links: Mary Gauthier”
The Shrink’s Links: In the Rooms
Bringing you the best of mental health and relationship articles on the internet. Today’s link from the shrink is: In the Rooms Can’t get to an AA meeting, or NA or GA, or any of the other varieties of self help groups/ Experience strength and hope is right at your fingertips. Join In the RoomsContinue reading “The Shrink’s Links: In the Rooms”
Keith Wilson - Counseling 