Hi Folks, Salut Come join me this Sunday at Montreal Walks for Mental Health Venez me rejoindre ce dimanche à Montréal Marche Pour La Santé Mentale ________________________________________________________ Speaking of mental illness here is an article on the topic of stigma: THANK YOU, HOWIE MANDEL! What’s the big deal with shaking someone’s hand? Well for someone [...]

Hi folks, I know I’ve been away a while but I haven’t gone anywhere. I am no longer at the Douglas Institute but plan to keep blogging for many years to come I hope. This blog will probably move at some point but so far let’s stick with the status quo. Yesterday I published this [...]

Sorry for my long absence but here is something I published yesterday in the Huffington Post. It is a follow up to an earlier post (How would you like to die, Sir?): PRESERVING LIFE OR PROLONGING DEATH? Let’s cut to the chase – should we allow euthanasia? A Quebec man – Michel Cadotte – is [...]

What more can be said about Donald Trump’s America that hasn’t been said? It isn’t even about him in particular. It’s about the mentality he represents. That enough people share his thinking is what’s most disturbing. Give me your tired, your poor / Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free / The wretched refuse of [...]

For last year’s Bell Let’s Talk Day I listed some reasons why we should be more open about our mental health struggles. But what happens when we do open up and seek treatment? (Published Jan 25, 2017 in the Huffington Post) Here is just a partial list of some of the biggest issues we might [...]

Sorry, folks. It took a while to find my writing discipline again. Here is something I published yesterday on the rising trend of identity politics in the Huffington Post. (See: Tribalism Remains Mankind’s Most Dangerous Instinct) CAN WE LEARN FROM HISTORY? Here’s a disturbing thought. If human nature produced the atrocities of the last century, [...]

Last March the Huffington Post was running a series on youth mental health. For that series I wrote an article about the theory of mind (the ability to imagine another person’s thoughts) and how the lack of this ability can impact children’s behaviour. This makes them point out differences in classmates because they are oblivious [...]

Hi folks, I decided to take the easy way out and honour the Rio Olympics by dragging out an old post. It was originally published in this blog in 2012. (I can touch my ceiling…and other great Olympic feats!). A slightly updated version (with unfortunately a much more bland title chosen by them) was published [...]

I published this in The Huffington Post following the events in the US last week: (See What Is Feeding Gun Violence, Racism and Anger). BLACK MAN, DEAD MAN Last week’s death toll: two black men following what should have been routine police interventions – or even non-interventions – and five white officers gunned down by [...]

Hi, I published this article in the Huffington Post this week in the aftermath of the massacre in Orlando. (see: If You Think ‘Guns Don’t Kill People’ You Are Missing The Point) KILLING MADE EASY The National Rifle Association in the United States, and other gun owner lobby groups constantly proclaim the “Guns don’t kill. [...]