Pride Anxiety

Pride Anxiety

Today is Pride. We had plans to go with a friend to see the parade and walk around the festival. Then the thoughts crept into my mind. Last night, I was fretting about the hill we’d have to walk up from our car to the festival. What if I couldn’t climb the hill? What if […]

Waiting on (Another) COVID-19 Test

I can’t remember how many times I’ve been tested for COVID-19, but I’ve always been negative. Right now, I’m waiting for my latest results to return and sitting with this uncomfortable sense of “what if?” playing out in my mind. Last Saturday, Laura and I were both exposed to someone whose family member tested positive […]

When Housekeeping Services are Ableist and Traumatizing #MentalHealthAwareness

Mental health Awareness Month Anxiety

I’m continually amazed how using social media to find a housekeeping service ends up being an exercise in disrespect and dismissive futility. My most recent provider does not have staff who are vaccinated so we cannot work with them any longer. It was an amicable parting, but now I’m back in the jungle looking for […]

A Day With Social Anxiety

Mental health Awareness Month Anxiety

Today is Saturday. My wife and I decided to run some errands. We set our schedule the evening before – we wanted to accomplish several things Go to the shoe store for her to get some new sneakers Drop my ballot at the County Executive Office PIck up a curbside order from Target Stop by […]

Q&A with Arvind Venkat, Candidate for PA House District 30

Telehealth is a game changer in access to healthcare, especially for mental health services. Legislation has not moved in the General Assembly on this topic due to abortion politics, specifically related to the use of Telehealth to give women access to reproductive healthcare. As the only physician in the General Assembly, I will be a […]

Behind the Scenes with Social Anxiety on the Day of the Hannah Gadsby Show

Mental health Awareness Month Anxiety

This will be updated through the day. I’ve written several posts about this situation. My anxiety is so high that I am trying to document it. We have a plan. We have a schedule. We have four different sets of instructions from the venue. Overnight – very poor sleep. Lots of frightening dreams involving crowds […]

Today is the 30th Anniversary of My Graduation From College #MentalHealthAwareness

Marymount University graduation

On this date, 30 long years ago, I graduated from Marymount University with a Bachelor’s of Arts degree in Political Science. May 3, 1992. I remember the day in little flashes. I was remaining on campus for the summer months, working at the University’s conference center and preparing to head to Louisiana in the fall […]

Where do These 36 Pennsylvania State and Federal Candidates Stand on the Potential to Overturn Roe? Nine of Them Have Told Us in our Q&A Series

Political Q&A

As part of our current Political Q&A series with candidates running in the May 2022 Primary, we require participants to identify as pro-choice along with meeting other criteria. For me choice/body autonomy/reproductive justice are deeply embedded in LGBTQ equality and rights. That is also true in terms of the Supreme Court rationale used in cases […]

Et tu, Hannah Gadsby? “Phone Free Experiences” and ADA Accommodations #MentalHealthAwareness

Mental health Awareness Month Anxiety

This won’t be the post you expect. Noted lesbian and creator Hannah Gadsby is coming to Pittsburgh this Thursday as part of her Body of Work tour. She’s performing at the noted Carnegie Music Hall in Oakland, part of the Carnegie Museums. A lovely venue. My first visit there was in the 1990s when I […]

And Spring Depression Cometh …

I’ve blogged many times about my reverse seasonal mood disorders – elevated in the fall, low in the spring. We are not so oldWe have miles to goWe will take it slowAs the years unfoldThat’s a lot to know. This past week, my mood began to dip. Some of this was due to increasing my […]