Foreword – By Lloyd I Sederer MD Why do we need yet another book on addiction?  The groundbreaking research by Harvey Milkman and Wiliam Frosch (1973), more than half a century ago, “On the Preferential Abuse of Heroin and Amphetamine,” has had a profound influence on the field. They demonstrated distinct personality types underlying drug preference. Simply stated, the drug of choice is harmonious with the user’s characteristic style of coping with stress.  Shortly after publ

A novel by Laura Knoy Reviewed by Dr. Lloyd Sederer For 25 years Laura Knoy was “the voice of New Hampshire” as a brilliant NPR radio host. Putting her microphone aside, Laura now returns to us in the arresting voice of her first novel, The Shopkeeper of Alsace. We enter the story in 1915, as the boots of Russian soldiers enter a small town in Poland to prosecute their war against Germany. History has a lengthy record, continuing to today, of countries living by the credo of

By Lloyd I Sederer MD I think I know how you feel. The world around us, through no fault of our own, is collapsing. Even – now especially - in America. A deluge of miserable information clutters our TV, radio stations, and print media. It’s still there after a night of not so restful sleep. That must mean something! Well beyond, “I forgot to buy the milk...” Or a birthday or anniversary, or, inexcusably, the beer, wine, and nachos. Shuttershock Why is the itch still there? No

By Lloyd I Sederer MD Lucid dreams have been sought after by seers, gurus, prophets, dedicated meditators, and the like. They are a mark of what I have learned, not many years ago, as evidence of noetic experiences. Noetic refers to a non-local consciousness, “existing” outside of our brain and cranium. I imagine this to be a timeless (past, present, and some say future) repository of ideas, feelings, and events beyond the local (focal) consciousness of our brain. A type of i

Source: Shutterstock By Lloyd I Sederer MD I was well trained in psychodynamic psychotherapy and underwent ‘classic’ psychoanalysis, on the couch, 4x/week, for 6 years, with a “training analyst” (top of the totem pole), and an emphasis on my dreams. I never pursued “the full monte” of becoming a psychoanalyst, that was not what I sought as my career. Psychoanalysis was intellectually stirring, which is to say it could capture many a good mind. But I doubted whether undergoing

By Lloyd I Sederer MD While one (Physical) Rehabilitation Center will be different from another, trust what you see.  Trust when you feel staff are treating you and other patients with dignity and respect, are explaining their program to you in a way you understand, invite and answer your questions, and place your care before the financial interests of the facility you are in. Trust yourself, as well, when you come to believe you need to get out of the facility you are in. No

A Film Review by Lloyd Sederer, MD Bullies take pleasure in ruthlessly capitalizing on their position of power. They pretend to be acting for the common good, but their compass is fixed on their own aims.  Yes, that’s the current, 47 th  President of the US, who is walking in the footsteps of many others. One particularly noxious and lying predecessor was Joseph McCarthy (1908-1957). As a US Senator (R) during the 1950’s Communist “Cold War”, he was Chairman of the Senate Per

Proud Boy A Documentary Film of the January 6, 2021 storming of the US Capital (featuring the Proud Boys) Reviewed by Lloyd I Sederer MD On January 6, 2021, wielding an army’s worth of guns and other deadly arms, an unhinged mob of tens of thousands stormed the US Capital intent on overthrowing the results of 2020 US Presidential election. The insurrection, carefully planned for months, drew malcontents from throughout the United States. Their aim was to declare Donald Trump

A Series Review, streaming on Netflix By Dr. Lloyd Sederer Clare Danes, Matthew Rhys Source: Netflix She’s (Aggie Wiggs, played with mounting suspense and terror by the gifted Clare Danes) a hugely successful writer who, for two years, cannot put words to paper for her next book, which she knows is as best a soporific; while she is running out of the advance money, and the patience she has been granted by her publisher. Her grief and fury are near the breaking point some four