I went to the opening night of Seattle's production of Next to Normal, the amazing Tony-winning dramatic musical about a bipolar mother, her family, her delusions, her therapy, and her slow, painful growth. Components: amazing 3 story set, great singing, great score (though a little loud), believable story, believable characters (even the imaginary one), and
The more stress and depression, the more inflammation. University of California, San Diego, medical school report from Newswise: http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/569853/
Daphne Merkin, a New York Times writer, articulately recounts her history and hospitalization for Depression: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/10/magazine/10Depression-t.html?pagewanted=all
Day 1: Bessel van der Kolk is lovely. He's humble, he's funny, and he is the premiere researcher on the neurobiology and/or efficacy of trauma treatments in the world. And cute and brilliant, of course. Here are nearly random gems from 3 hours of notes: With trauma, there are no stories, only sensory experience: images,
Yesterday I held my new book in my hands. It's hard for me to make meaning of 14 months of work being encapsulated in a 1 1/2 pound book. As I paged through it, I recalled the process of writing; my appreciation of the content of other people's chapters; editing squabbles; waiting, waiting, waiting for
I applied to the EMDR International Conference to lead a 3-hour workshop on Treating Depression with EMDR. I wrote four chapters about it in the new book, EMDR Solutions II, for Depression, Eating Disorders, Performance, & More. Instead of a workshop, I was invited to do a poster. I know how to write. I know
Dear Readers, Excuse me for the dearth of posts this summer. Last night I sent in the the 26 chapters, "Front Matter" and Glossary for the book on which I've been spending 20 or 30 hours each week. I had whittled my practice down to two days each week. I belayed most of my social
Michele Feingold, one of my readers, sent this link to me. It's timely since I'm about to start writing about trauma-based depression in the new book. http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/2/11/131710/774/1/454592 Thanks Michele!
My new favorite book is Instinct to Heal by David Servan-Schrieber (Rodale, 2003). It is simple enough for most clients and innovative and interesting enough for most clinicians. I recommend it to psychiatrists, any kind of physician or "alternative" medical practitioner and all psychotherapists. Why? Instinct to Heal gives clear explanations, references to good research
I'm writing several chapters about depression for the new book, and have been doing an informal survey of books about treating depression. Depression for Dummies (Smith & Elliott, Wiley Publishing, 2003) and How to Heal Depression (Bloomfield & McWilliams, Prelude Press, 1996) are consumer-friendly, step-by-step books for depressed people. They both give bulleted lists of