About

Would you like to help a loved one or a close friend dealing with mental illness?.”

10/21/11 Chris’ First Visit

My first visit with Dr Z was very encouraging to me.    I had seen many doctors in the past, but the problem with my visits before is that they were not my idea, and I didn’t even want to be there.  It’s different now.   I’m actually excited to see this doctor because I’m open to […]

Background to A Path Not Taken

Welcome to “A Path Not Taken.” To see an introductory video click on “Read More.” In my first book, Too Good to be True? Nutrients Quiet the Unquiet Brain, published in 2003, I shared my family’s four generation bipolar odyssey.  Some of you sent me emails thanking me for the positive contribution that book made in […]

My Background

My father asked me to participate in an online blog, an ongoing discussion between him and me that we will post periodically on the internet.  In this blog, he has asked me to detail feelings, thoughts and experiences I have on my journey towards recovery, especially in regards to my treatment.   I am more than […]

The Fair: Word of the Day

Published in The Union, September 2, 2019 OK, let’s be honest. The fair was great; the weather spectacular; the cool refreshing air was a pleasant contrast to last year’s smoke-filled ambience. The food was to die for.  Job’s Daughter’s corn dogs were as outstanding as usual, especially with a smattering of mustard and ketchup. What […]

From the wastewater pond to the kitchen table

This article was published 16 may 2019 in The Union. As a retired person, I find it easy these days to retreat from the concerns of the world and mindlessly watch TV. However, the other day two articles on the internet and a television ad jolted me out of my entertainment-mediated somnolence. But first, some […]

A Simple Proposal

EMF effects on your heart can now be assessed using your cell phone.

Curtailing the Corporatocracy

In 1995 I saved the life of my then 78- year-old mother-in-law. Before I discuss this further, some context is needed. In the introduction to my third book, Beyond Mental Illness, I state that I am not a PhD, or an MD, but merely a JSW (just a social worker), actually a retired LCSW who […]

We are the Radium Girls.

Little remembered snippets from our history provide illuminating insights for today.

The calomel story is one example. From the 1890s to the 1940s, calomel or mercury chloride, was used in powders to ease the pain of teething in babies. The powders contained 0.21 percent mercury, a potent neurotoxin.

Enemy of the People?

….We are the jumping jacks, they pull the strings and we dance. Our talents, our possibilities and our lives are all the property of other men. We are intellectual prostitutes.

“Looking at all Avenues?”

A culture that ascribes homicidal ideation and behavior to “mental illness” and then fails to explore the biological avenues that contribute to these behaviors is a culture stuck in the past, incapable of accurately diagnosing and treating those whose brains are broken.

Dear President -Elect Trump

For those of you following this now occasional blog, note that the emphasis is changing from the small picture (my son) to the big picture, those institutional memes that prevent him and others from being treated for their diagnosable illnesses. For those wanting to know more about this I refer you to two books, both […]

Lessons from Malakoff and my Backyard

On July 21st, the Nevada County Planning Commission will consider a request by a Verizon-affiliate to install eight antennas on top of the Friar Tuck Building. Peer reviewed studies point out harmful health effects for those living near such antennas. However, federal law prevents this as a consideration. Local history may provide perspective. In 1853 […]

Dr Bransfield speaks on Microbes and Mental Illness

Dr Bransfield, who wrote the introduction to my first book gave a Dean Center Lecture Grand Rounds March 14 this year at Harvard Medical School Teaching Hospital. His topic was microbes and mental illness. Some of his ideas I discuss in Beyond Mental Illness. In that book I discuss some of the effects of quinolinic […]