New posts are available every Monday and can be read in under 5 minutes.

Pronouncing Someone Dead

Posted by Alex Lickerman Print Print Email Email to a friend

Photo: Tim Green

When I was an intern in internal medicine, I admitted a patient to my service with pancreatic cancer.  Pancreatic cancer is a bad one; back then, only ten percent of patients with it would be alive within five years after being diagnosed.  My patient was a farmer in the full bloom of late middle-age health when he began rapidly losing weight. Continue reading…


Email Email to a friend | Print Print this post

Get Happiness in this World via RSS or email

Handling Transitions

Posted by Alex Lickerman Print Print Email Email to a friend

When I was a child, I was afraid to go to summer camp.  Most kids found the prospect exciting and the experience fun, but I dreaded it.  What would the activities be like?  Who would my counselors be?  What other kids were going?  Would I be made to swim if I didn’t want to?

After a few days, the camp routine became just that—routine—and I settled down.  But transition periods remained challenging for me throughout my adolescence.  As adults, many of us still struggle with change—even good change, like starting a new job, moving to a nicer house, or getting married.  Just what is it about transition periods we find so challenging and how can we get through them with less stress? Continue reading…


Email Email to a friend | Print Print this post

Get Happiness in this World via RSS or email