Q. I’ve heard that a woman’s risk for health problems increases after her husband dies. I didn’t know that. What are the most important issues I should be aware of as a widow?

Many studies show that losing your mate affects your own health. Most recently, a 2011 study at the University of Pennsylvania Population Studies Center found that widows had a 47%…

In this post I want to share my insights on suicide. In finding that those who have not experienced suicidal feelings are simply not able to comprehend what is happening, this blog is designed to urge these people to accept their ignorance and think carefully…

On June 24, I received a text message from my wife: "Problem with Gabe. Come home." When I reached home a few minutes later, my worst nightmare became a horrible reality. Gabe had jumped from the balcony of his apartment on the 59th floor of Marina City. Our beautiful, loving son was…

Grieving the death of a loved one and feeling depressed would seem to go hand in hand. Thus, the American Psychiatric Association has long warned against diagnosing depression in those who are recently bereaved. In fact, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders lists grief as an exception to the diagnosis of clinical depression. Now the APA is considering eliminating that exception. If they do,…

Q. My husband was killed in a job-related accident, and I can’t get past the responsibility I feel for letting him go in to work that day, which was his day off. We needed the extra money, but I keeping asking why didn’t I say, “Stay home. We’ll manage.” How do I cope with the guilt?



Who doesn’t have thoughts of “would have, should have, could have” when grieving for someone we love? It’s common to beat ourselves up obsessing over “what if” and “if only,”…

These days that have run together and formed a jagged rip into what I thought was sanity that are running mercilessly together... The hours glaring hard into my being as they pass me by, knowing that I am growing weaker and loosing sight of any glimmer of what I used to think was hope. My soul, my inner self, the place I never knew I could experience such emotion, has been plunged into a place, if you can call it that, that I never knew existed. A place that, honestly, no human being should…

I believe my dad used to take great pleasure in annoying me each morning by talking to me. I would grunt back “Good Morning” on my way out of the house to go for a run, my morning coffee.

But in recent years as I’ve added four dogs to life, I’ve learned that if you have a dog, you must get used to talking to people. Or as Frank, the man whose 1961 Chevy Impala we used for my recent photo shoot said, “To have a car like this, you have to be a friendly person willing to talk to…

A friend’s wife died suddenly a week ago. She was just a few years older than me and, as far as I knew, she wasn’t sick. When I called him to find out what happened, I was stunned to learn that she had an addiction, one that took its toll last weekend. He said it was something she had battled for a long time, and obviously he battled right alongside her.

This couple had an amazing love for each other, yet outwardly there was no sign of the struggle they endured…