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Category Archives: Stop the Madness
Take out the Garbage
I once facilitated a group for people recovering from severe mental illnesses. We met once a week and they talked about how things were going for them. They tried to support each other. One day a man came in and … Continue reading
Posted in Anger, Love, Marriage, Relationships, Stop the Madness
Tagged Anger, forgiveness, Love, Marriage, mental health, Relationships
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What Color are Your Glasses?
You know what rose colored glasses are, right? People who are said to be wearing rose colored glasses are said to be seeing the world as only pleasant and happy. We scoff at people wearing rose colored glasses. They are … Continue reading
How to Live Up to Your Potential
Let me introduce you to another object in my office: the jade plant. This plant, I think you will agree, is a beautiful specimen; as good as a jade plant can be. It is lush and green and healthy. It … Continue reading
The Broken Window Theory of Personal Relationships
Go to any down-in-the-heels, crime-ridden, poverty-stricken inner city and you are certain to find one thing. Lots and lots of broken windows. Most of these broken windows will be in abandoned buildings, where no one appears to care and no … Continue reading
Posted in Love, Marriage, Relationships, Stop the Madness
Tagged Love, Marriage, Relationships
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How to Re-Traumatize Yourself
First, a bad thing happens. Rape, murder, combat, abuse. You don’t have a lot of control over it. That’s the point. Something happens way, way out of your control. You barely make it. Now you’re left with the memories. That’s … Continue reading
Posted in Stop the Madness, Trauma
Tagged mental health, psychotherapy, PTSD, Trauma
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Marriage Rights for Singles: The Buddy System
We live in remarkable times. For decades, heterosexuals have been fleeing the institution of marriage; first, by divorcing in great numbers, then, by living together outside of marriage and by delaying it to later in life. At the same time, … Continue reading
Posted in Love, Marriage, Relationships, Stop the Madness
Tagged Love, Marriage, Relationships
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Nine kinds of madness and the hole in the middle of it all
In the middle of everything, there’s this deep, dark, depressing hole. It’s a chasm, really, and when you fall in, sometimes there’s no climbing out. When we call it anything at all, we often call it death, brokenness, or despair. … Continue reading
Posted in Stop the Madness, The Self
Tagged character traits, enneagram, existentialism, mental health, personality
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Ride the Ego Balloon
It all starts with you being a child. You have it really good. People take care of you, they feed you, clothe you, give you hugs, and put your awful drawings on the refrigerator with unrestrained praise. But nature cannot … Continue reading
Posted in Stop the Madness
Tagged adolescence, aging, ego, human development, Parenting
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What my tennis coach taught me about change
How can reading a blog help you stop the madness? It can’t. You can’t learn to play tennis by reading, either. You’ve got to play. I took tennis lessons once. The coach asked me to show him my serve. I … Continue reading
The man who loved lobster
There was once a man who loved lobster so much he couldn’t stop eating it. He was surrounded by stinking lobster carcasses because he couldn’t take the time away from eating to clean them up. They stunk to high heavens. … Continue reading
How to get out of quicksand
I was walking along the beach one day, having a nice vacation, when I stepped into quicksand. It wasn’t a deep pit like you see in the movies, the kind that can swallow a horse and rider, but it was … Continue reading
When Madness knocks, don’t answer
When people try to stop the madness, they often expect to reduce the frequency of episodes. The want to stop having negative thoughts, anxieties, urges to use drugs, unwarranted guilt, paranoia, or impulses to do what they’ll regret. When they … Continue reading
Posted in Stop the Madness
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