Mental Health Topics

Bipolar Disorder

I felt prompted to write about bipolar disorder after recent public revelations from two American congressmen who suffer from this illness.   Bipolar illness falls into the mood disorder category of our DSM IV, but is called bipolar because both “poles” of mood, high and low are part of the symptomatology.  An earlier label , …

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Anger, Danger Ahead!

Anger might be one of the most ordinary of human emotions, and practically impossible to avoid, but uncontrolled and or prolonged,  it will destroy.   People kill in anger , maim in anger and cause massive destruction and countless of scars in the hearts of others. Anger is a violence of thought, words and deeds that …

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When Crisis Hits

There are times in our life when we are shattered by a crisis unforeseen.  It could be a betrayal, or loss of a job or an abrupt rupture of a relationship.  Sometimes things happen out of the blue without any warning and we find ourselves torn into emotional shreds. Our initial reaction can be scattered …

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After the Struggle, Comes Strenght

Can you remember a time in your life when you did not know how you where going to make it or even if you were going to make it?  I know I have on several occasions .  I think most of us have lived through several of them, and have survived despite our worst fears.  Getting through …

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Winning an Olympic Medal; Exploitation for Glory

The media is flooded with news of our high-powered Olympic athletes who have sacrificed all to win.  Many have spent the most precious years of their childhood shoved and pummeled towards winning. Years of grueling training, three to five hours a day for a moment of glory.  A glory indeed well deserved!  But at what …

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Love at First Sight; Mysterious as Ever

The French have an absolutely marvellous word for love at first sight, calling it a “coup de foudre”, which translates out to being struck by a bolt of lightning! To me that sorts of sums it up as the ultimate meaning.  this mysterious love, at first sight, is really a feeling of being struck with …

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Generalized Anxiety Disorder

When I was just starting out as a therapist, it seemed that I was seeing a lot of anxiety disorder patients.  This was because my psychiatrist colleague was well-known as being the sine con ultra in treating them, therefore we drew patients from the three bordering states. Anxiety disorders are varied from generalized anxiety disorder …

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On being Gay; Compassion and Understanding Still Needed

This past weekend was the annual gay pride parade which I have always loved going to.  The incredible colors, the outlandish costumes, the very bare skins, the brazen frivolities of gay youth, all mixed with the ubiquitous base driven beat drumming in your ears.  A time when being non gay makes you feel left out, …

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The Power of Smells

I awoke last night with this incredible smell of honey that came with a cool breeze and bloomed like a cloud in my bedroom .  I knew that this odor must be coming form the mass of tall trees across the avenue that are sugar dusted with little white flowers.  I started to think of …

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Promiscuous Sex, More Risks than Bargained For!

If you think you might be risking only a possible unfriendly STD, think again! True, there is no such thing as safe sex, just “safer”sex, but there are other consequences than just the physical ones. In 28 years of practice, the psychological melee of promiscuous sexual adventures are most commonly brought in, not surprisingly, by …

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Suicidality

I woke up this morning reading about another suicide that occurred last night at the Eiffel Tower.  What is one of the most sought out beautiful sights in the world, became a vehicle of death to another desperate human being.  But, we are in the season as May and June have the highest rates of …

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The Sexless Marriage or Practically

I remember dancing to Mick Jagger’s “I aint got no satisfaction” at the Locomotive discotheque near the Moulin Rouge in Paris at the mere age of 20, which pretty much sums up this title!    As a  young therapist I never realised how common the sexless marriage or practically sexless unions were. To me it …

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