Knowledge is Necessity

History - Because We're Lost Without It

The following is from a book I'm working on on bipolar recovery. This is a continuation from my previous post, Applying Your Thinking Hacks ... I’m forever indebted to my fifth grade teacher, Mrs Clancy, who opened my mind to reading and history....

Published Mon, Apr 08 2019 1:30 PM by Knowledge Is Necessity

Applying Your Thinking Hacks

The following is from a draft of a book on bipolar recovery. Enjoy ... If we look upon philosophy as the root of all critical thinking and natural science as its trunk, now we need to examine its various branches. These would include disciplines such...

Published Tue, Apr 09 2019 2:26 AM by Knowledge Is Necessity

Columbus Day Reflections

Happy “There Goes the Neighborhood Day.” Before Christopher Columbus crashed the party on this day 519 years ago, the people who really discovered America were doing just fine. This comes out loud and clear in two books: Jack Weatherford’s 1989 “Indian...

Published Wed, Oct 12 2011 5:14 AM by Knowledge Is Necessity

Filed under: John McManamy, Charles Mann, Jack Weatherford, Columbus Day, American Indian

Rerun: Lost!

In keeping with this week's spiritual theme, another blast from the past ... “He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." I love that passage...

Published Sat, Sep 24 2011 5:19 AM by Knowledge Is Necessity

Filed under: John McManamy, Lost, stuck in recovery

Rerun: Death of a Healer - Ron Urquhart

Another post in honor of World Suicide Prevention day ... This is a terribly difficult piece to write. Last week, I Googled the name of someone I had known two decades ago, while living in a different country, in what seemed a different lifetime. All...

Published Sat, Sep 10 2011 5:09 AM by Knowledge Is Necessity

Filed under: John McManamy, suicide prevention, Ron Urquhart

Rerun: Guest Blog - Trying to Comprehend Loss

In honor of World Suicide Prevention Day ... At age four, Nancy Rappaport's mother took her own life. Her just-released In Her Wake: A Child Psychiatrist Explores the Mystery of Her Mother's Suicide (Basic Books) explores the author's own...

Published Fri, Sep 09 2011 5:01 PM by Knowledge Is Necessity

Filed under: John McManamy, In Her Wake, suicide, Nancy Rappaport

The Ghaemi Conversation: Why We Need to be Asking the Questions

This is my fifth installment in our conversation on Nassir Ghaemi’s “A First-Rate Madness: Uncovering the Links Between Leadership and Mental Illness.” My previous post made note of the fact that two myopic scribblers posing as NY Times reviewers trashed...

Published Tue, Aug 30 2011 4:01 AM by Knowledge Is Necessity

Filed under: John McManamy, A First-Rate Madness, Nassir Ghaemi, NY Times

Normal: It Ain't What It's Cracked Up to Be

This is my second installment in our conversation on Nassir Ghaemi’s “A First-Rate Madness: Uncovering the Links Between Leadership and Mental Illness.” (See The Normal Paradox.) Dr Ghaemi is by no means the first to comment on the positive association...

Published Tue, Aug 09 2011 1:32 PM by Knowledge Is Necessity

Filed under: John McManamy, A First-Rate Madness, Nassir Ghaemi, normal, homoclite

Ghaemi's A First-Rate Madness: The Conversation Heats Up

This is my fourth installment in our conversation on Nassir Ghaemi’s “A First-Rate Madness: Uncovering the Links Between Leadership and Mental Illness.” In times of crisis, Ghaemi tells us, we don’t send in someone chronically normal to do a crazy man...

Published Wed, Aug 24 2011 6:01 AM by Knowledge Is Necessity

Filed under: John McManamy, A First-Rate Madness, Nassir Ghaemi, Mallon, Maslin

Nora Volkow and Brain Networks

At this year’s International Conference on Bipolar Disorder held in Pittsburgh, a whole session was given over to Nora Volkow (pictured here), head of the National Institute on Drug Abuse. As well as overseeing a high-profile agency with a $1 billion...

Published Tue, Jun 14 2011 2:54 PM by Knowledge Is Necessity

Filed under: John McManamy, Nora Volkow, resting state functional connectivity

The Child Bipolar Diagnosis is Under Attack - Yet Again

It’s the silly season again, when people who attack the child bipolar diagnosis come out in force. Trust me, any time a child is labeled with a very serious lifetime psychiatric condition is always cause for concern, but the operative word is “concern...

Published Thu, Jul 28 2011 1:55 AM by Knowledge Is Necessity

Filed under: John McManamy, child bipolar

The RIght Med for the Right Brain - Not There Yet

Yesterday’s piece, Brain Science and Recovery, ran through a list of some of my favorite psychiatric genes, which - quite ironically - may signal the end of psychiatry as we know it. The exercise sent me back to my old notes, from an eye-opening session...

Published Thu, Nov 17 2011 12:57 AM by Knowledge Is Necessity

Filed under: John McManamy, psychiatric diagnostics

The Book of Fort: The Two Wise Old Fools

Book II in the series ... At the watering hole, along the barrens of Fey, on the fork of the road leading to Mem in one direction and Ar in the other, the wise and righteous Fort encountered a weary stranger in threadbare garments. And although Fort would...

Published Wed, Jan 25 2012 10:48 AM by Knowledge Is Necessity

Filed under: John McManamy, Book of Fort

Incompetence in Psychiatry: Readers Weigh In

“What percentage of psychiatrists do you think are incompetent?” I asked in a reader poll that ran some six weeks during December and January. Framing my question negatively carries the strong risk of encouraging rotten tomatoes responses and thus undermining...

Published Wed, Jan 18 2012 6:13 AM by Knowledge Is Necessity

Filed under: John McManamy, psychiatric incompetence

Forget the Whittaker Sideshow: Tom Wootton is the Main Event

I’m taking a brief time-out from not posting any pieces here to briefly comment on something I just read by Tom Wootton on Psychology Today. As many of you know, Tom is the founder of “Bipolar in Order” and the author of “The Bipolar Advantage” and other...

Published Wed, Jul 04 2012 2:06 PM by Knowledge Is Necessity

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