Todd A. Peperkorn's Blog, page 5

Reminders

Through a series of peculiar events, I am serving as a delegate to the 2010 LCMS Convention in Houston, Texas.  You may follow my general thoughts about it here.  One event today kind of served as a trigger for me that I thought would be worth reflection upon here.

Since my illness, I have been less comfortable around large crowds, loud noises, and kind of close in, packed situations.  Tonight I had opportunity to go to an awesome baseball game where the Cardinals whooped the Astros 8-0.  (GO ...

Recommended Reading List on Depression

I recently had the opportunity to speak at the Concordia Deaconess Conference on the topic of depression and how to care for those suffering from mental illnesses of various types.  Below is the reading list I prepared for this wonderful group of ladies.  If I have missed anything that you might consider important, please let me know!  I'd love to revise and update it along the way here.  Thanks!  -DMR

Bibliography for Deaconess Conf

Recommended Reading List on DepressionOn Depression

Greene...

Presentation on Depression for CDC

Below is a PDF file of the slideshow from the Deaconess Conference, as well as a QuickTime movie of the same.  I have not posted the actual slideshow file, since I will probably use portions of it in the future.  If for some reason you would like access to the actual Keynote or PowerPoint file, please contact me via email or telephone.

Thanks!

-DMR

Presentation on Depression for CDC

Presentation of Slides in QuickTime for CDC

Click here to view the embedded video.

Concordia Deaconess Conference presentation

This coming week I will be speaking to the Concordia Deaconess Conference about the topic of depression and mental illness.  I'll have about four hours with these fine ladies, and I am really looking forward to the opportunity.

My plan right now is to divide the presentation into two parts.  The first part will be on living with depression.  This section will be an overview of the book, and trying to provide some insight into the mind of the depressed and/or mentally ill.  The second part...

The dog days of depression

We recently bought a dog.  He is a Bernese Mountain Dog.  His name is Sebastian Augustus:

 

Yes, he's crazy cute.  Yes, we have an over-the-top approach to names.  Ask our children about that when they're adults!  And yes, he will be a lot of work, cost money, etc., etc., etc.  I know.  Believe me I know.  We got him because we've always wanted a dog, because the kids wanted a dog, and because the timing and the price was right.

I have to admit, however, that I was a little taken aback by one...

The sadness at Valparaiso

Chaplain's death at Valpo ruled a suicide

My heart goes out to the students and community at Valparaiso University right now. Here's the opening paragraph from the above article:

Pastor Darlene Grega, a chaplain at Valparaiso University, apparently died from suicide this week, according to a spokeswoman for the coroner's office in Porter County, Ind.

I have written and posted about pastors and suicide any number of times around here. I myself had a pretty harrowing Good Friday four years ago w...

Opinions solicited on the podcast

Friends,

So I've done 13 trial episodes of a podcast on depression and faith. You can check them out HERE or go back and look at past posts of DMR.

I am now at a crossroads of needing to decide whether this is worth the time and effort etc. to make this happen.

I don't have any really good way to get a sense of how many people are listening to this program. So I need your opinion. Do you listen to this, would you listen to it, and do you have any other suggestions on what would be...

Check out this blog: If Narky, Feed Profusely

If Narky, Feed Profusely

Read this site. I think you'll like it.

-DMR

Playing Doctor (Down the Rabbit Hole)

When I start to go down the rabbit hole into the darkness, what really makes me crazy is my own apparent need to play amateur doctor. I go through this crazy process of navel gazing, where each element, each feeling, each real or imagined failure is put under the microscope of my mind.

My mind does not have very good bedside manners. My mind cuts me no slack, gives me no room for reasonableness. There are no explanations to my mind that really matter. Sometimes I think my mind IS the...

Uneasy Priest – Change Your Mind

From Uneasy Priest – Change Your Mind:

For those of you on Facebook: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUaXFlANojQ

If you don't know the truth about mental illness, change your mind and learn about it today.

My name is Dave Juhl. I was diagnosed with clinical depression in the summer of 2008. It was a life changing diagnosis…for the positive.

For those of you who do not know, I blog about my struggles with mental illness here. It's the first time ever I have admitted that I am the author of this...