Look To The Living, Love Them, And

Which Of My Feelings Are Real? Which Of The Me's Is Me? The Wild, Impulsive, Chaotic, Energetic, And Crazy One? Or The Shy, Withdrawn, Desperate, Suicidal, Doomed, And Tired One? Probably A Bit Of Both, Hopefully Much That Is Neither.

I Compare Myself With My Former Self, Not With Others. Not Only That, I Tend To Compare My Current Self With The Best I Have Been, Which Is When I Have Been Midly Manic. When I Am My Present "normal" Self, I Am Far Removed From When I Have Been My Liveliest, Most Productive, Most Intense, Most Outgoing And Effervescent. In Sort, For Myself, I Am A Hard Act To Follow.

Conditions Of Thought, Memory, And Desire, Persuaded By Impulse And Irrationality, Are Influenced As Well By Personal Aesthetics And Private Meanings.

Far Too Many Doctors-many Of Them Excellent Physicians-commit Suicide Each Year; One Recent Study Concluded That, Until Quite Recently, The United States Lost Annually The Equivalent Of A Medium-sized Medical School Class From Suicide Alone. Most Physician Suicides Are Due To Depression Or Manic-depressive Illness, Both Of Which Are Eminently Treatable. Physicians, Unfortunately, Not Only Suffer From A Higher Rate Of Mood Disorders Than The General Population, They Also Have A Greater Access To Very Effective Means Of Suicide.

Anybody Who's Had To Contend With Mental Illness - Whether It's Depression, Bipolar Illness Or Severe Anxiety, Whatever - Actually Has A Fair Amount Of Resilience In The Sense That They've Had To Deal With Suffering Already, Personal Suffering.