Love the Teeth

(cc) Douglas Cootey

I'm busy working on revisions for two children's picture book manuscripts at the moment. I won't be blogging about Depression or Ticking or even ADHD today, though you can probably diagnose me with the picture above.



Like reading The Splintered Mind? Share articles with your friends, link from your blog, or subscribe!

Comments

Lizzie said…
Hi Douglas.

I just discovered your blog and love it. Are you inside my brain? I am with you on the drugs thing and think it is essential you do all the stuff you recommend first BUT if you have done all the CBT/meditation/managing it/accepting yourself stuff and you still have a stubborn and destructive 20% that won't move, drugs can be the thing that saves you.

I fought drugs for 25 years after a disastrous year on a very heavy anti-depressant at age 15 (year of the zombie) but I am very glad I relented at last. I think it was exhaustion actually! And, more importantly, my family are happy too.

Us ADHD'ers are brilliant, alluring, interesting and exciting but, apparently, we are also infuriating. Who knew?!

Lizzie

BTW, you were talking in an earlier post about wanting to die but not being suicidal ... I was that way and my psychologist friend told me it is called thanatos ... wanting to be dead but not to die. It's gone now and it is kind of odd to be without my constant shadow ... it was strangely comforting because it allowed me to stand back from my life. Does that make sense?
March 10, 2009 3:09 AM
D.R. Cootey said…
Lizzie ~ Thanks for commenting.

You do what you have to. It's between you and your doctor. I just want my voice out there letting people who can't use medication know that they don't have to suffer. They don't have to be miserable.

Thanatos. Isn't he a Marvel Universe super villian? Fought Spiderman? (I can't believe I know that)

Thanatos is the Greek god of death whose name has been used to describe the death drive. I suppose I had always assumed that the death drive was the same thing as being suicidal. Thanks for helping me learn something new.
March 10, 2009 4:23 AM
Post a Comment

Somewhat Liked Posts

Traveler's Notebook Distractions and ADHD eBay Blunders

Image
I joined the Midori Traveler’s Notebook (TN) club this past Summer. I missed the big blogging heyday about them around 2012 to 2015 when the Internet seem to explode over this nifty little notebook system, but I was all about digital back then. I loved my iPhone and didn’t feel a need to go analog. Recently, though, I noticed some artists doing inspiring things in their TNs, and I thought this could be the kick in the pants I needed to fit sketching back into my life. I started small with one notebook insert with a leather cover. Only when I noted that I was actually using it, I invested in more inserts. The only feature it was missing for me was a ToDo list insert, but nobody made one. And thus I began my journey yesterday into DIY Notebook Hell. With ADHD as my guide, I boldly discovered blog after blog of incredibly ornate notebook inserts that people made for themselves because the official ones were just “too expensive”. Since you can get official ones fo...
Continue Reading…

About Me

Image
Celebrating Year Nine I’m Douglas Cootey, and I’ve been blogging here since 2 January 2005 . Before that I blogged for years into a tiny text file called “what’s_new.html” and hosted it on a site so old not even archive.org remembers it very well. I would update that blog via telnet using vi on a 1200 baud modem. It was very exciting. I started out blogging about mental health in order to accomplish three goals: First, I wanted to overcome the stigma.  I couldn’t talk about my ADHD  or Depression  without feeling shame. The method I used to overcome this was self-deprecating humor and honesty—a method that continues to work well for me.  Next, I wanted to reach out to others who shared my issues.   My blog has reached thousands of people, many of who don't comment because the mental health stigma is strong. However, many of whom send me emails thanking me from time to time for something that I have written. I have learned so much from thei...
Continue Reading…

Hallowell and Ratey's Diagnostic Criteria for ADD in Adults

Image
If you have ever found yourself putting the milk away in the cereal cupboard on a regular basis or reading a magazine in the lobby long after that meeting you were supposed to be at started and wondered whether you have ADD or ADHD or AD/HD or Hyper Kinesis or Minimal Brain Dysfunction or whatever they're calling it this year, you could do no better for yourself than to turn to Doctors Edward M. Hallowell and John J. Ratey for diagnosis. I have long linked to their classic book on ADHD, " Driven to Distraction ", on my site and have used their list of criteria as fodder for many articles. Their book explores the phenomenon of ADHD through the cases of Dr. Hallowell and provides in depth descriptions of the various aspects of this disorder. I found the book revelatory and insightful, even comforting. I especially found it useful in providing words for me to help explain myself better to my wife in the early years of our marriage. I am much more articulate now than I was...
Continue Reading…