New Perspectives, Inc.

“Regrets. I had a few, but too few to mention”. Those simple words so eloquently sang by Frank Sinatra in his classic hit “My Way” have, for some unknown reason, echoed in my brain for as long as I can remember. I often speak to patients about regret as the “shoulda, coulda, wouldas” or the “I wish” followed by the “I will” phrases. Call it what you will, regret plays a very integral part in how we perceive ourselves as people. Have you ever thought to yourself, “I should have bought that suit”, “I wish I was 17 again because I wouldn’t make those stupid mistakes”, “I I only invested my money wisely instead of buying stock in Enron”? Of course you have. We all do. It’s as natural as thinking about what you would like for dinner. What regret does to us emotionally is a whole different state of affairs and the reason for this blog. A very good friend of mine once brought up the subject of guilt during a luncheon discussion. During the conversation, he stated, “Guilt a...

I wanted to share with you a poem whose author is unknown. I have used this poem in lectures as it pertains to Fire Fighters and Critical Incident Stress Management. Please keep them all in your prayers. "I Wish You Could Know" I wish you could know what it is like to search a burning bedroom for trapped children at 3AM, flames rolling above your head, your palms and knees burning as you crawl, the floor sagging under your weight as the kitchen below you burns. I wish you could comprehend a wife's horror at 6 in the morning as I check her husband of 40 years for a pulse and find none. I start CPR anyway, hoping to bring him back, knowing intuitively it is too late. But wanting his wife and family to know everything possible was done to try to save his life. I wish you knew the unique smell of burning insulation, the taste of soot-filled mucus, the feeling of intense heat through your turnout gear, the sound of flames crackling, the eeriness of being able to see absolu...

Three….Two….One….Happy New Year!!!! The joys of celebrating the New Year echo in eternity. I can remember as a kid going outside and banging on pots and pans to celebrate the passing of a year. It’s a wonderful time filled with laughter and fun. Sadly, this joyous occasion often gets marred by the news of injured or even dead revelers who decided to drink and drive. Although Thanksgiving is the deadliest night for alcohol related driving fatalities, New Years Eve comes in at a close second. In 2008, nearly 16,000 US citizens were killed in Drunk Driving accidents with almost 500,000 injuries. A person is killed every one half hour due to drunk driving and every other minute a person is injured due to an alcohol related accident. Over 40% of fatal automobile accidents are alcohol related and nearly 30% of all Americans will be in an accident involving alcohol in some way. I do not want to preach to everyone, nor do I want to destroy any plans for you for your New Year’s...

Feeling blue, sad, or even depressed even though the holidays are upon us? You may be suffering from Seasonal Affective Disorder (aka SAD). According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, “Symptoms of winter SAD usually begin in October or November and subside in March or April. Some patients begin to slump as early as August, while others remain well until January. Regardless of the time of onset, most patients don’t feel fully back to normal until early May. Depressions are usually mild to moderate, but they can be severe.” SAD is often found in women in their twenties and thirties, but statistics report children, men, and teens may suffer from the symptoms as well. At first, symptoms are mild, but gradually increase in intensity. The symptoms of SAD include, but are not limited to, depression include oversleeping, daytime fatigue, carbohydrate craving and weight gain, features of depression, especially decreased sexual interest, lethargy, hopelessness, suicidal thought...

When I first set up this blog for the New Perspectives, Inc. web site, I had high hopes for myself. I was ready to sit down nightly and type out information which could be useful to any reader. But......I looked back to my last entry and saw that I had typed about summertime and here it is December 2009. What happened to my plan? What happened to all my hopes and goals? Did life just get in the way? NFL hall of fame coach of the Dallas Cowboys Tom Landry once said, "Setting a goal is not the main thing. It is deciding how you will go about achieving it and staying with that plan.” Obviously, Coach Landry speaks to the idea of procrastination. Procrastination refers to the deferment of actions or tasks to a later time. Psychologists often cite such behavior as a mechanism for coping with the anxiety associated with starting and/or completing any task or decision. There are three criteria: for a behavior to be classified as procrastination, it must be counterproductive, ...

Well i'm a-gonna raise a fuss, i'm gonna raise a holler About workin' all summer just to try an' earn a dollar Everytime i call my baby, to try to get a date My boss says, "no dice, son, you gotta work late" Sometimes i wonder what i'm gonna do 'cause there ain't no cure for the summertime blues' (Eddie Cochran) In a previous posting, I discussed the joys of having a stress free summer vacation, but I have noticed a significant trend among patients this summer. A trend, which at best, seems to be growing in a very rapid pace over the past few summers. This trend is the emergence of what the National Institute of Mental Mental (NIMH) has termed "reverse SAD" or reverse Seasonal Affective Disorder. SAD is most commonly asociated with the dark and gloomy days of winter where afflicted people suffer symptoms of depression including, but not limited to, fatigue, lethargy, excessive sleep, hopelessness, social withdrawal, decreased in...

Can you feel it? Do you notice anything different? I think Country singer Kenny Chesney sums it up best..... "Summertime is finally here That old ball park man is back in gear Out on 49, man I can see the lights School's out the nights roll in Man, just like a long lost friend You ain't seen in a while You can't help but smile." Ah yes, Summertime. I can remember (vaguely because it has been awhile) being in grade school during this time of the year and listening to friends as we discussed our plans for summer vacations. Some friends would go to the beach (yes, in Delaware we went to the beach and not the shore in New Jersey), some would go to camp, some would visit relatives, and some of the lucky few would fly to Disney or other really cool vacation spots. I could remember how we all made plans to play baseball and go to the swimming pool everyday, but it was that word vacation that gave us the biggest smile. It seemed like a magical time of youth. Su...