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As the saying goes, it’s easy to be a “Monday morning quarterback.” Thus, I begin this piece with a shout out to Netflix and the producers of “13 Reasons Why,” a series that tackles the epidemic and tragedy that is youth suicide. If nothing else, it has sparked a spirited national conversation that is, frankly,…

It seems counterintuitive: Sadness in the spring as flowers bloom and temperatures rise. Yet, paradoxically, the time of year many yearn for can come attached to some serious psychopathology. For years, conjecture about this conundrum centered around raised and then dashed expectations. I mean, after all, what could be better than the return of sun and sand?…

New York Times columnist David Brooks, in his April 18th piece “How to Leave a Mark on People,” points to employment at  a Connecticut summer camp (Incarnation) as an analog for what University of Virginia researchers James Davidson Hunter and Ryan Olson refer to as “thick” (vs. “thin”) moral frameworks or cultures (IASC, 2017). What’s the difference? According…

This month marks seven years since a nearly life-ending event. Heretofore, I have neither written about that experience nor, frankly, spent much time analyzing its import. Was it a game changer? I honestly don’t know. Nevertheless, my decision not to write about being diagnosed with a big (think “large orange”) brain tumor in July of 2010 changed…

Writer Caleb Daniloff’s book, Running Ransom Road – Confronting the Past, One Marathon at a Time, presents as a force field of positive energy aimed at beating addiction. In his case, mostly to alcohol. But it is also something more. It is about asking essential questions on your choices in life, and answering them. It is…

An article I wrote for an upcoming (November/December) edition of Camping Magazine, “Door Number 3,”  discusses the rather circuitous route of adolescent identity formation, quoting – among others – Kevin Arnold (Fred Savage), the main character in the television series “The Wonder Years.” He once said, “Growing up doesn’t have to be so much a straight line as…

Several developmental prerogatives permeate the everyday adolescent experience: becoming more independent from parents and other adult caregivers; establishing deeper, more meaningful relationships with peers; and establishing an identity across multiple spheres, including personal, social, spiritual, sexual and, ultimately, vocational. Like overexcited game-show contestants vacillating between prizes, young people in the throes of forming an identity…

With this week’s countdown to the beginning of autumn, no doubt more than a few people are mourning the impending loss of warm, sunny days. For many more, such days may seem a distant memory regardless of season…or sun. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), which promotes National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month every September, “Suicidal thoughts, much…

An era of senseless tragedies has begrudgingly brought to the fore issues of mental health and the fragility that often lies beneath the surface of sometimes high-functioning, seemingly “normal” people. But what is normal, anyway? Too often, society views mental health as a matter of polar opposites: well and unwell. The problem with this equation…

April draws its name from the Latin word aperio, “to open” (Olde Farmer’s Almanac, 2015). For college students on the brink of summer break, April very well may represent an opening to explore new horizons—at home, abroad, in work, and at play. Surprisingly, it may be that last opportunity that holds the most cachet for…