MSI Press Blog

    excerpt from Depression Anonymous  (Dennis Ortman) --  PSYCHOTIC DEPRESSION Jennifer, a suicidal woman with two children: “I’ve never been happy in my marriage. The only good thing that has come of it is my two children. My husband is a drunk. When he drinks he becomes mean. When I argue with him, he can become violent. I can’t believe I was so stupid to marry someone just like my father. That depresses me. After fighting with my husband, I often feel hopeless and trapped and fall into a deep depression. I’m inconsolable at those times and just want to sleep. I have zero energy. I literally can’t do anything. My sister has to come and take care of the children when I get that way. I feel so guilty about that, but can’t help myself. One time I became so depressed that I didn’t want to live anymore. I began making plans about how I would kill myself. I didn’t want to leave my children with my alcoholic husband, so I also thought about how I would kill them. I belie...

  BODY OF CHRIST “The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ?” --I Corinthians 10: 16)   When I left the priesthood many years ago, I was disillusioned with the Catholic Church. I was looking to belong to a loving family. In my distressed state of mind, I experienced the Church as a dysfunctional family. For a few years I was estranged from the Church, and from all institutional religion. However, I felt something missing. So, I went to churches of various denominations, looking for a home. Eventually, I found a Catholic parish that filled that need. I discovered that being a Catholic since childhood was in my bones. It was a truth about myself I could not deny. After leaving the ministry, I became a psychologist. A life of service still motivated me. My passion was, and still is, to understand the dynamics of personal transformation and to accompany my patients on their journeys toward healing and growth. I have come to believe ther...

  excerpt from Depression Anonymous by Dr. Dennis Ortman PERSISTENT DEPRESSIVE DISORDER Alice, a woman feeling cheated by life: “I’ve been jinxed. Nothing has ever gone right for me. It began in childhood. I was the fat kid everyone picked on. In high school, no boys ever wanted to date me. And then there’s my health. I’ve suffered from asthma my whole life and had several auto accidents in which I was severely injured. I tried to make up for all my failures by being good at my job. I became an extremely competent executive secretary, a perfectionist. I took pride in my work. Would you believe I was fired because I complained so much about problems in the company? I just wanted the business to succeed. Even now, I’m the one who has to take care of our elderly parents because my siblings don’t want to have anything to do with them. You’d think my parents would appreciate all my help, but they just take me for granted. I often stay awake at night thinking about all the unfair ...

                                Today's Publisher's Pride is  Depression Anonymous  by Dennis Ortman, which recently reached #79 on Amazon in emotional self-help. Book Description: When you feel depressed, suffering from a deep sadness, do you feel powerless over your mood? Does your life feel unmanageable because of it? Does your preoccupation with past hurts and regrets interfere with your life? Do you feel hopeless about finding a cure for your depression? If you answer "yes" to these questions, you may be addicted to your mood. It acts like a drug that sedates, numbs, and possesses you, causing you to sleepwalk through life. Viewing your depressed mood as an addiction, Dr. Ortman guides you through the time-tested Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous to find healing and growth. He shows how the Steps offer practical wisdom to awaken your spirit deadened by your depression. The Steps p...