Happy Days Are Here say Again! (But Not for Me, I’m Depressed) by Terri Marini, RNBC, CARN

I’m feeling depressed, blue, sad, disinterested, but I don’t know why.  There are many reasons a person may feel depressed-personal problems, illness, conflict, abuse, grief or loss, substance abuse, to name a few.  Other times it’s a feeling or state of mind that you can’t attribute to anything.  You rack your brain trying to find the reason, so you can make peace with it, but you can’t identify the cause.  Honestly, I’m more comfortable with my depression when I know why I’m depressed.  At least when I know why or think I know the cause, I can experience and embrace my depression with a sense of entitlement.  I can say “of course I’m depressed, my dog just died,” or “you’d be depressed too if you lost your job,” but what do you say when there doesn’t seem to be anything identifiably wrong?  Not just to others, but even to yourself.  Your mind runs an inventory of possible reasons-maybe it’s money, no I just got a bonus; maybe it’s my marriage, no we just went on a luxury vacation and things are great; maybe it’s something medical, but no I just had a complete physical and received the “awful” news that I was in great shape.    read more...

The Armchair Psychiatrist/Misguided Mental Health Diagnosing  by Terri Marini, RNBC, CARN

We all have met the “armchair quarterback,” but have you met the “armchair psychiatrist?”  I think you have, I think we all have.  You may be one yourself.  You know who I mean.  It’s Uncle Gunnar who tells everyone his wife is “bipolar” when she screams like a “maniac” because she doesn’t appreciate having to un-ball his smelly socks before throwing them in the washer.  It’s your best friend Belinda who says her boyfriend must have “split personality” because today he ignored her while she was cooking his breakfast wearing an old stained tee shirt and sweatpants, when last night in bed he told her she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.  It’s your daughter Venus who calls you “psycho” because you won’t let her take your new car during a blizzard to go to her best friend’s house to take selfies in the snow.  You get the picture.   read more...

My Projects - Provisional Patents for ADHD Medication  by Leon I. Rosenberg, MD

My mother repeatedly said the following: “be nice to everyone”; “you can be anything you want to be.” My father repeatedly said "if at first you don't succeed try, try again."  This combination of "rules to live by" undoubtedly contributes to my always looking for a new project to work on. There are always new projects in the pipeline, and, at the same time I'm starting this blog, the two of my numerous and biggest projects relate to two provisional patents I filed in November 2016 related to ADHD.  read more...