Fight off Depression from Winter Cold, Long Nights, and Holiday Stress The winter crud that climbed into me last year sat into my sinuses and didn't leave for two months. So this Friday I'm getting my flu shot. And to prevent Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) and the holiday burn-out blues, I'm going to give […]
MY FIVE COMMUNITIES AND WISDOM STREAMS Wisdom is knowing what matters, what is good, what lasts, what is real, and especially, what is best for all concerned in the long run. I have five sources of truth from which I draw regularly, to guide my life and my work. They all confirm each other, so […]
ARE YOU SELFISH AS A GRANDPARENT? by Dr. Paul Schmidt A client recently shared with me a very helpful sermon he had heard from his pastor, Brian Tome at Crossroads Church in Lexington. It helped me as a grandparent, and it made me think about the various styles of grandparenting I have heard described […]
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 […]