Tag: depression

The Dead Among Us

I’ll never forget the day my friend Martin told me he just got diagnosed with cancer. As I sat sad and stupefied across from him over coffee I silently mused over the possibility that this charming old wise man may leave us way too soon. His erudition and idiosyncratic views of life are legendary. He …

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Between Straight Lines

Elise abruptly stopped using her brown crayon to color the space between the lines of a puppy. She brushed her wispy blond bangs from her eyes and, with a dead-serious expression, blurted out, “I have to go potty.” My wife, our twin 5-year-old daughters and I walked to the steel door. The counselor unlocked it. …

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Acceptance

I had on my brown Ecco shoes. They have rather large, funny heels anyway, but when I looked down just moments after the car accident, my right heel was moved over to one side. I put my right hand on the bottom of my thigh and my left hand on the top, and knew it …

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The Road to Resilience

tree in the desert

Our knee-jerk reaction to the idea of being depressed is that it is a terrible state in which to find ourselves: sad, discouraged, stressed out, fatigued, puzzled, hurting, lonely, afraid. It sounds pretty awful. So why is it that some doctors and philosophers put a positive spin on depression, saying that it can frequently be …

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How to Keep Your Sanity During the Holidays

I hate the holidays. I know that seems like a strong statement, but — even at nearly six years sober — I still find the holidays incredibly challenging. It’s a time loaded with expectations, increased tensions in relationships, competing priorities, stress, and good old family dynamics. As if that isn’t enough, we can start to …

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