I'm Depressed
My favorite niece (she is my only niece but I do adore her) made me very proud today. She wrote a blog post about being diagnosed with depression. She is doing well, getting the proper medications and she will go on to live a normal life. Okay, okay, as normal a life someone can have when they're my niece.
Suffering from depression doesn't mean you are crazy, or "damaged" or "broken." I know. I've been battling depression off and on (mostly on) for more than 20 years. I began seeing a therapist when my second marriage fell apart. For a while, just the psychotherapy was enough for me to function and get through the days. Even when my 2nd ex-wife chose to announce her desire for a divorce by phone on my birthday, I managed to cope. I got into one of those so-called transitional relationships and for months that gave me the strength to go on. To do my jobs and have what I considered a normal life.
I may be a complainer of sorts with the written word, but I'm pretty darn stoic when it comes to keeping things bottled up inside. I learned that from my father. Men don't cry. We aren't allowed to show weakness. We seek to be the best. We compete. I was programmed to be a Type-A personality throughout my childhood and teen years.
Finally I talked to my physician and not my psychotherapist and I found relief through chemistry. The "happy pills" didn't make me happy, but they enabled me to deal with the emotional roller-coaster that victims of depression find so incredibly overwhelming.
I was still seeing the psychotherapist but not on anti-depressants when I got sick. When I came out of the coma, they were one of the first drugs my doctors added to my very long medication list. I take them today. I am not ashamed to admit I suffer from depression. Depression is a mood disorder. it doesn't require psychiatric hospitalization unless the victim is suicidal. It is not a reason for its victims to be stigmatized; but because there are bullies within every age group, many are afraid to admit they have a problem.
Me, I have so many health problems to deal with, what's one more? My clients, colleagues and students don't see any signs of this. I learned to "suck it up" and show no signs long ago. Having medications merely makes that process easier to do.
Some studies show that victims of depression have shorter life expectancies. I suspect this is due to the fact that this segment of the population has a higher suicide rate than other population groupings. This skews the numbers. People who suffer from depression and receive appropriate treatment will live just as long as anybody else...at least in my opinion. I intend to be my own best anecdotal evidence of this.
* * *
I saw a tweet today that made me sit up and take notice. Here it is: https://twitter.com/jjauthor/status/564111468568666112. For those who don't want to click the link, the relevant text is: "#WakeUpAmerica There hasn't been 1 day during the O presidency when as many Americans were working FULL TIME as on the day Bush left office."
That made sense at first glance, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized it was probably untrue. So I checked the data on the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) website. Based on a definition of full-time employment as being 35 or more hours of work per week, there were roughly 113.8 million Americans working full-time on the day President Obama was inaugurated. Full time employment by this definition rose above that number in August of 2011. It was above that level throughout 2014.
What the limited data capabilities of the BLS won't tell me is if these numbers are for full-time people working at just one job, or working two part-time jobs and a weekly total of more than 35 hours per week. So technically, Ms Johnson's contention might be correct.
But it isn't. The truth is there has been a recovery. And while employers continue to try to convert full-time positions to part-time positions providing the same number of labor hours, some employers know that the best way to operate is to pay employees strong wages and benefits; encouraging long-term employment.
The moral of this story is just because something is on the net doesn't mean it is true
* * *
Random Ponderings:
Jerry Rice has admitted to cheating during his NFL career. Does this tarnish his achievements? I think it does. He is still the best wide receiver of all time.
Harvard has banned sex and/or romantic relationships between faculty and all undergrads. Previously the ban only applied to faculty and students they taught. This is silly. If there isn't a direct teacher-student relationship and the student is of age; and gives informed consent, it isn't the university's business.
It didn't take long for the jokes about women drivers to hit the net once the news of Bruce Jenner's automobile accident spread.
Speaking of Bruce Jenner, while Zoey Tur is a very courageous woman, she has no business demanding that he make his announcement about his transition so he can become a role model for the LGBTQ community. It is Bruce's life to do with as he pleases (I'll refer to him with female pronouns once he makes the official announcement).
We know why Dustin Diamond wasn't at the Saved by the Bell reunion. His fellow cast mates might have lynched him. But the story from the publicist representing Lark Voorhies was that she had too intense of a work schedule to make the Tonight show. Work schedule? She hasn't done anything in entertainment in nearly 3 years and her 2012 video was so bizarre that one has to wonder what she's really up to these days.
AirBNB says host in Los Angeles earned $43 million last year. That's millions in lost hotel room tax revenue the city lost. This is one reason why exempting Uber, Lyft AirBNB and others from taxes and regulation is a bad move.
One last Jenner note, after seeing photos from TMZ.com just before and at the moment of impact, I can't help but wonder if the presence of multiple paparazzi cars behind him and beside him at least contributed to the accident. Hopefully the investigation will make the cause or causes of this tragedy clear.
Taxslayer.com is advertising its online filing with the claim that there is no fee for paying them with your refund. It looks to me like they don't charge a fee for this service, but their site does say that this service is "...a product of Citizens Savings Bank of Sandusky, OH." I wonder if the bank charges a fee for this product. That would be.......misleading, eh?
Does the NARAS have to arrange for Kanye West to be physically restrained in order to keep him from rushing the stage when anyone other than he or Beyoncé is receiving an award? Seems like it might be a good idea.
Suffering from depression doesn't mean you are crazy, or "damaged" or "broken." I know. I've been battling depression off and on (mostly on) for more than 20 years. I began seeing a therapist when my second marriage fell apart. For a while, just the psychotherapy was enough for me to function and get through the days. Even when my 2nd ex-wife chose to announce her desire for a divorce by phone on my birthday, I managed to cope. I got into one of those so-called transitional relationships and for months that gave me the strength to go on. To do my jobs and have what I considered a normal life.
I may be a complainer of sorts with the written word, but I'm pretty darn stoic when it comes to keeping things bottled up inside. I learned that from my father. Men don't cry. We aren't allowed to show weakness. We seek to be the best. We compete. I was programmed to be a Type-A personality throughout my childhood and teen years.
Finally I talked to my physician and not my psychotherapist and I found relief through chemistry. The "happy pills" didn't make me happy, but they enabled me to deal with the emotional roller-coaster that victims of depression find so incredibly overwhelming.
I was still seeing the psychotherapist but not on anti-depressants when I got sick. When I came out of the coma, they were one of the first drugs my doctors added to my very long medication list. I take them today. I am not ashamed to admit I suffer from depression. Depression is a mood disorder. it doesn't require psychiatric hospitalization unless the victim is suicidal. It is not a reason for its victims to be stigmatized; but because there are bullies within every age group, many are afraid to admit they have a problem.
Me, I have so many health problems to deal with, what's one more? My clients, colleagues and students don't see any signs of this. I learned to "suck it up" and show no signs long ago. Having medications merely makes that process easier to do.
Some studies show that victims of depression have shorter life expectancies. I suspect this is due to the fact that this segment of the population has a higher suicide rate than other population groupings. This skews the numbers. People who suffer from depression and receive appropriate treatment will live just as long as anybody else...at least in my opinion. I intend to be my own best anecdotal evidence of this.
* * *
I saw a tweet today that made me sit up and take notice. Here it is: https://twitter.com/jjauthor/status/564111468568666112. For those who don't want to click the link, the relevant text is: "
That made sense at first glance, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized it was probably untrue. So I checked the data on the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) website. Based on a definition of full-time employment as being 35 or more hours of work per week, there were roughly 113.8 million Americans working full-time on the day President Obama was inaugurated. Full time employment by this definition rose above that number in August of 2011. It was above that level throughout 2014.
What the limited data capabilities of the BLS won't tell me is if these numbers are for full-time people working at just one job, or working two part-time jobs and a weekly total of more than 35 hours per week. So technically, Ms Johnson's contention might be correct.
But it isn't. The truth is there has been a recovery. And while employers continue to try to convert full-time positions to part-time positions providing the same number of labor hours, some employers know that the best way to operate is to pay employees strong wages and benefits; encouraging long-term employment.
The moral of this story is just because something is on the net doesn't mean it is true
* * *
Random Ponderings:
Jerry Rice has admitted to cheating during his NFL career. Does this tarnish his achievements? I think it does. He is still the best wide receiver of all time.
Harvard has banned sex and/or romantic relationships between faculty and all undergrads. Previously the ban only applied to faculty and students they taught. This is silly. If there isn't a direct teacher-student relationship and the student is of age; and gives informed consent, it isn't the university's business.
It didn't take long for the jokes about women drivers to hit the net once the news of Bruce Jenner's automobile accident spread.
Speaking of Bruce Jenner, while Zoey Tur is a very courageous woman, she has no business demanding that he make his announcement about his transition so he can become a role model for the LGBTQ community. It is Bruce's life to do with as he pleases (I'll refer to him with female pronouns once he makes the official announcement).
We know why Dustin Diamond wasn't at the Saved by the Bell reunion. His fellow cast mates might have lynched him. But the story from the publicist representing Lark Voorhies was that she had too intense of a work schedule to make the Tonight show. Work schedule? She hasn't done anything in entertainment in nearly 3 years and her 2012 video was so bizarre that one has to wonder what she's really up to these days.
AirBNB says host in Los Angeles earned $43 million last year. That's millions in lost hotel room tax revenue the city lost. This is one reason why exempting Uber, Lyft AirBNB and others from taxes and regulation is a bad move.
One last Jenner note, after seeing photos from TMZ.com just before and at the moment of impact, I can't help but wonder if the presence of multiple paparazzi cars behind him and beside him at least contributed to the accident. Hopefully the investigation will make the cause or causes of this tragedy clear.
Taxslayer.com is advertising its online filing with the claim that there is no fee for paying them with your refund. It looks to me like they don't charge a fee for this service, but their site does say that this service is "...a product of Citizens Savings Bank of Sandusky, OH." I wonder if the bank charges a fee for this product. That would be.......misleading, eh?
Does the NARAS have to arrange for Kanye West to be physically restrained in order to keep him from rushing the stage when anyone other than he or Beyoncé is receiving an award? Seems like it might be a good idea.
posted by me at 7:14 AM
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