REVERSING UNHEALTHY RELATIONSHIPS It seems to me that most Americans have one or more people somewhere in their family or friends that they just can't get along with. The way it feels is like, "I just don't feel comfortable around them. I can't be myself. They make me feel and act crazy, so I […]
STRUGGLING WITH MONEY AND WORK DISORDERS: HOARDING, GAMBLING, UNDER-EARNING, BINGE-SHOPPING, AND WORKAHOLICS by Dr. Paul Schmidt Forty years ago, some research I was doing proved that people with upper-upper income levels tend to live their lives in some ways very much like people with lower-lower incomes. Both groups were preoccupied with money […]
MANAGING CHRONIC PAIN: STOCKING YOUR TOOL BOX For the first time in my life last winter, I let pain whip me. I panicked in an ER that wasn’t diagnosing or treating me. I fought the pain and in my own eyes, made a big baby out of myself. All that energy I put into pushing […]
ARE YOU IN DEFIANCE OF MEDICAL COMPLIANCE? Has your doctor told you that you are making yourself sick, that your pain or disability will continue to get worse until you change your lifestyle? Perhaps you have had trouble complying with doctor’s orders about alcohol, cigarettes, street drugs, prescription pills, physical therapy, losing weight, getting […]
Marijuana: Thoughts on its Use, Abuse, and Legalization by Paul Schmidt, Ph.D. I have never really had a position or opinion on marijuana, and in recent weeks I have grown weary of this ignorance. To prepare my thoughts on this subject, I have done three things. First, I have obtained professional training as a […]
HOW TO QUIT SMOKING Wise people have had lots of trouble with nicotine. Mark Twain said, “Giving up smoking is the easiest thing I’ve ever done in my life. I ought to know. I’ve done it a hundred times.” Sigmund Freud died of a cancerous jaw caused by smoking cigars. He was clearly aware of […]
EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE: How does Yours Stack up? Like mental intelligence, emotional intelligence is a combination between inborn giftedness (temperament) and learned abilities (acquired skill sets). It is easier to learn if we didn’t inherit an extreme emotional disposition, and if we have had healthy role models, or chosen them for ourselves. The theory and […]
TEN GREAT HOLIDAY GIFTS IN YOUR BUDGET There’s one contagious infection we’re all trying to catch this year—the Christmas Spirit. If you do catch it, be careful you don’t lose it in all the rush to find, buy, decorate, and deliver the kind of presents you wrap. Too many of those gifts can wrap […]
HOW GOOD ARE YOUR PERSONAL BOUNDARIES? The food, drink and pills you take in through your mouth determine more than anything else how healthy your body is. Likewise the beliefs, expectations and responsibilities you take in through your relationships mostly determine the health of your heart, mind and soul. Your happiness depends even […]
A CHALLENGE FOR INTROVERTS TO CELEBRATE WHO THEY ARE In 2014 a powerful and introverted New York lawyer Susan Cain wrote an influential and popular book, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that can’t Stop Talking. She documents conclusively that in the last ninety years America has been developing a clear bias […]