(part 1 here) I began a suicide note which I worked on constantly until I had what I would call a nervous breakdown (now called a “major depressive episode.”). I began to shake and a thin, plaintiff wail began to well up inside me. With my cousin Jane rubbing my back to soothe me, I […]
Suicide
Twice in the Psych Unit part 1
(part 2 here) In 1996, while living and working in Cleveland, Ohio, I was diagnosed with a carotid body tumor – a rare, usually benign growth almost always occurring in men over forty. I was forty one at the time. The otolaryngologist, Dr. Harvey, explained that the risks of cutting along the artery wall were […]
Fighting Hard Battles
My uncle moved in with us when I was 6 years old. He had returned from WWII and had been in a hospital in the USA before moving in with us. He had what they called “shell shock.” Today I think they might be using the term PTSD or trauma. I had heard why he […]