Wary of Psych Meds? Here is My Personal Experience With Them.

Just why am I so adamant against psych meds in the first place?

Since I was in elementary school until I became disabled at 25, I used psych meds to regulate my life. I started with Ritalin and moved up to Cylert in college. In my early twenties I had a great deal of faith in modern psychiatry. I wanted to fix my head and they promised to give me the tools to do it. The tools they gave me, however, came in bottles.

I was diagnosed as an adult with ADHD, a Panic Anxiety Disorder, and Depression. I took various psych meds for the Anxiety, but none worked. For Depression I took Wellbutrin, then Paxil over a period of time I cannot recall completely. The drugs made me quite loopy and disconnected. I'd acclimate, they'd up my dose. I'd acclimate, they'd up my dose. Soon I was taking the max of a particular drug so they'd switch me over to a different one. I repeated this cycle until I sought a specialist who gave me Desoxyn and Zoloft.

I remember how productive I was on Zoloft and Desoxyn. Boy, I accomplished a lot. I wondered if that was what "normal" people felt like. This period lasted for about three weeks. Then I started twitching and ticking. Even after stopping the Desoxyn I continued to tic. The ticking was so bad my wife had to cut my food for me. Fifteen years later I still tic and she still wants to cut my food, though I don't like to let her.

What is interesting to me is the fact that even though the Desoxyn had damaged me to the point that I ticked involuntarily, even when I stopped taking it I still continued the Zoloft. I trusted the doctors that much.

Having one's arms fling about madly for no reason while one's head tries to launch in the opposite direction tends to give one a different perspective on the efficacy of psych meds, however. I began to realize that even with the medications, I was still depressed. The psych meds took the highs and lows out of my life, but I was still miserable. The Zoloft wasn't working.

At this point I was fairly fed up. On top of that the ticking grew progressively worse and after a while vocal tics followed. I no longer had faith that the doctors could help me. I figured I was distracted and moody before they messed me up, and I figured I could go back to being that way.

I stopped Zoloft cold turkey. I went through a 30 day period of intense Depression and suicidal ideation. It was a rocky month, but I came through on the other side free of psych meds and taking responsibility for my own mind again. Doctors had failed me so I was on my own. This is why I am personally opposed to psych meds as a solution. Statistics show that I am not alone, either. Psych meds are no more effective than sugar pills for a large portion of the population.These people in particular I am trying to reach with my writings. For them I spread the word that they don't have to be victims of their own mind. They can overcome these disabilities and be happy and productive again. The power to transform their life is inside their own minds.

This message may offend some. If you feel that psych meds are your own personal savior, then more power to you, but don't project that onto others. I also hope you will not feel the need to defend yourself for being on psych meds. If you are one of the small percentage that can actually make use of them, then, as I said before, more power to you. Some of us, however, need to find a different, non-medicated path, and it is high time that path was respected.

In the end, though, the method you use to overcome your Depression, ADHD, Bipolar Disorder, etc. is between you and your advisor. I'm just trying to help you, my readers, understand why I get my socks all twisted in a lump when the subject of side-effects comes up. I'm permanently, neurologically damaged, and I consider it my duty to warn others of the dangers.


Like reading The Splintered Mind? Share articles with your friends, link from your blog, or subscribe!

---

Wary of Psych Meds? Here Are Some Stories to Consider.

A cautionary tale of the dangers of side-effects and drug cocktails...

Thanks to Philip Dawdy's Furious Seasons I've had a bit of reading lately about the ills of side-effects from psych meds and worse, the difficulties of coming off those meds. I'll follow this post up with some personal anecdotes of my own. In the meantime, I'd like to share these links with you as recommended reading.

Philip shared with us the story of Molly over on the Soapy Water blog who has written about her trials having her son misdiagnosed with Bipolar Depression and given the anti-psychotic Abilify. Of particular import is Molly's entry in response to Philip's where she details how she feels the Bipolar symptoms were caused by side-effects from his medications. I highly recommend reading their own words. The comments from other parents on Philip's article are worth reading as well.

Another story from Philip's blog that I found interesting was the account of author Dan Savage's encounter with Ambien. Called "Scambien", Dan details how he used the drug daily for three weeks because it worked so well and then, when he needed to be alert one particular night, he skipped his dose and found himself awake - all night. Turns out one of Ambien's side-effects is insomnia IF you stop taking it. Dan immediately went cold turkey off Ambien and stayed awake for three days. Definitely worth reading.

The last story I found fascinating was Philip's plea that Psych Med Withdrawal Needs To Be Researched. He cites the experience of Gianna Kali and her ordeal weening herself off of psych meds for Bipolar Depression after being on them for two decades. Phil explores this subject with some depth and brings up many excellent points. I highly recommend this article as a must read for anybody struggling with side-effects.

Many of us may be layman compared to the experts, but there is at least one thing we are more expert at than they are. We know our own bodies. Don't take anything that is harming you. If your doctor won't help you ween yourself off of psych meds that are harming you, switch doctors. Taper off slowly for the best results and work with somebody who has your best interests at heart. I recommend finding a warm, friendly Cognitive Behavioral Therapist, but you may find good results with other professional therapists or psychiatrists as well.

In my next article I'll detail why I personally have little regard for psych meds and the people who peddle them.

Week Two in the Process: Evaluating the Importance of This Blog

In which Douglas contemplates his binary navel.

One thing I noticed now that I've mentally put my blog on the back burner is that I am awfully dedicated to something that doesn't do anything for me. I refer, of course, to earning money, the universal validator of purpose and relevance. However, if I wanted to blog for money, I certainly wouldn't blog here. I know you folks don't click on the Google ads. If I just wanted money, I'd update my Bear Grylls blog which earns money through Google ads and Amazon.com affiliate purchases each and every month. But I don't update that blog. Instead I blog here.

That doesn't sound smart. Why do I blog here?

Frankly, I feel like I've got a free lemonade stand on the side of the Information Super Highway. People expect the stand to be there when they feel like dropping by. They also expect the lemonade to taste the same as the last time they visited. If my current lemonade has a faint hint of Depression and they were expecting the sparkling flavor of spicy ADHD, then I lose them. Same if it's the other way around. The majority of readers aren't here to learn more about Douglas Cootey. They just want some more lemonade, and only when they're in the mood for it. The end result is that I stay still while my readers move on with their lives.

That can't be any fun. So why do I blog here?

Roughly 3000 people a month drop by for my quirky flavored lemonade. Most don't bother letting me know what they think of it. They just drink and go. I have no idea one way or another what it is they enjoy here or why some never drop by again. This bothers me sometimes, especially when I'm paying attention to stats. For example, I'm down 30 subscribers from last month, but then I don't know why I was up 30 subscribers to begin with.

That doesn't sound like fun, either. So why do I blog here?

The readers who do take time to comment truly make my day. I love feedback. Even the negative kind is better than silence. My need for feedback means I don't just blog for myself. I blog to be heard.

Ah, so I blog for feedback, I blog to express myself, and I blog to be heard. Is that enough, though?

Lately, I feel by writing about my weaknesses all the time I am allowing them to define me.
I don't believe that is a good path towards success. My message, that you can master your disabilities without psych meds by utilizing optimism, humor, determination, and a large dose of self-analysis, is meaningless to many people. They like their psych meds. They feel the meds are worth the risk of side-effects. They need solutions now, not ten years down the road as I have done. And besides, who am I but just another guy with an opinion?

If I really want that opinion to have any weight then I will need to find success - financial success. This will mean taking my disabilities on in a way that is more intense than I have ever attempted. It will mean finding success outside of my blog in a way that is national, not local. I have current freelance work. I've also had art published in England, and my scrapbook papers have been sold around the world, but none of it has built to a critical mass. Each success seems detached from the other. In the end, I'm still just this guy.

Since I want more for myself, and since I am determined not to let my disabilities define me, I must simply roll up my sleeves and work harder. I'm glad I'm taking time to analyze just how terribly ADHD interferes with my productivity. Instead of just rolling with it day by day, I'm stepping back and seeing things in a new light.

Lastly, I want to thank all my readers for their subscriptions and comments and time. I know you are busy and I appreciate every one of you. I'm not going anywhere. The Splintered Mind is one of the most successful things I have ever done in my life. I have touched thousands of people while coming to terms with my own limitations. It has been a good experience for me and I'm glad for the opportunity. I just think it is time I grow here to incorporate my new goals. This blog needs to be part of the creative process for me, not separate from it. I'm just not entirely sure how I'll bridge the gap, though, and not lose readers, but I have some great ideas.

The Miley Cyrus Scandal Through an ADHD Lens

There is a lot of material to cover, so I'll cut right to the crash: The Miley Cyrus' scandal is distracting me. Now, don't go closing the browser window. This isn't one of those typical "Oh my heck and biscuits! Miley's nekkid!!!" posts.

Still, you may be wondering what the Miley Cyrus scandal has to do with ADHD. I can answer that with two words: Hyperfocus and Worry. OK, technically that's three words, but one of them isn't very ADHD specific. At any rate, those two words have everything to do with ADHD and how it affects me. Couple those words with other ADHD words like "easily" and "distracted" and you begin to understand what a fix I can find myself in.

Miley Cyrus' penchant for saucy photography isn't news to me. I've been following her career for some time now and discovered her naughty side this past January. Here in the Cootey household we have four beautiful girls who, like many other American girls, find celebrities fascinating. Girls such as Miley Cyrus come up in conversation a lot. Even more worrying is the fact that I have my own aspiring country music singer. She's sixteen, rebellious, interested in boys, and is naive in that cute but scary way that makes parents want to lock their children up until they are twentyone. I've been thinking that thirtyone might be safer, but I realize that will be a tough sell for my wife.

I don't really enjoy Miley's show, Hannah Montana. I find it trite and predictable and insulting to my intelligence. Since I don't have very much intelligence I need to be careful with it. Watching Hannah Montana makes my brain feel bruised so I tend to avoid the show altogether. However, I have studied Miley's career, and being interested in country music my daughter and I can't help but bump into her name now and then, what with Billy Ray Cyrus being Miley's dad and all.

Without diving into all the gory details that you can find better fleshed out elsewhere, the gist of the scandal is that fifteen year old Miley was pitched to Moms and Dads as a church going virgin who was purer than Snow White and twice as talented. She's even apparently pledged to remain a virgin until married. Unfortunately, her marketing machine wasn't around to stop her from posting stupid pictures of herself on the internet which were at first silly but progressively became sexual.

Pictues of Miley in a psuedo-lesbian "kiss". Miley in her bikini. Miley in a bathtub. Miley in her panties on her bed. Miley sprawling all over her boyfriend on a bed. Miley exposing her bra. Miley posing partially nude for Vanity Fair magazine in an Annie Leibovitz photo shoot right after being photographed sprawled all over her own dad.

This isn't really that difficult to figure out. Have teenager. Give them millions of dollars and a camera. Let them live unsupervised in their own wing of the house. Get pictures of them in their underwear on MySpace. Heck, take out the money and private wing and you still get pictures of them in their underwear on MySpace. All the cool kids are doing it. Add clueless parents and amoral corporations into the mix and you have a recipe for nuclear flambé. It's like watching Miley's career combust right before our eyes, and all within a scant five month period.

Do I personally care what happens to Miley Cyrus? Not really. Cynically speaking, she's just making more room up at the top. However, this is the career my sixteen year old is aspiring to. It warps people. With the news of the Vanity Fair photoshoot, I broke out in a sweat and haven't been dry for two weeks.

So I worry about this stuff. It doesn't personally affect me, but I worry nonetheless. This story represents everything I've warned my daughter about showbiz. I tell myself to put it out of my mind, but I read and read about it. I search for the story behind the story. I try to spot trends. I lecture my poor daughter about the moral ambivalence of showbiz. It's the ADHD. I'm on the eternal quest for closure.

As Hallowell and Ratey put it in their Diagnostic Criteria for ADD in Adults:

13) A tendency to worry needlessly, endlessly; tendency to scan the horizon looking for something to worry about, alternating with inattention to or disregard for actual dangers.

Now, I'm not quite that bad, but my daughter doesn't even show her face on the internet, nevermind bare her midriff or give the kids on MySpace a peep show. In the cosmic scale of things, this just isn't an issue in our lives. Here I am worrying about my ability to steer my daughter wisely into these waters, and she's not even selling records yet. But then, I wouldn't be diagnosed with ADHD if I didn't fit some of the criteria for it like ruminating and hyperfocusing. Fortunately, I can laugh at myself. Maybe now that I've written this article I can hyperfocus on something productive and useful instead, like global warming skepticism.


Coping Strategies:

1. Go out for a walk. You need some fresh air.
   
2. Write down your thoughts. I am hoping that this article will be cathartic for me and douse the fire in my brain.
   
3. Don't put your kids into showbiz.
   

I'm Going Back to College...Kinda

Just a quick note to let you folks know I qualified for a scholarship to the BYU's 9th Annual Writing and Illustrating for Young Readers Workshop. It's a five day workshop featuring hands on critiques with authors and editors. There will be agents there as well. I'm fairly excited about it. Now I really have a fire under my fanny to get Benjamin Fudge done. I'll also need to finish a few more chapters in my middle grade novel. All that while doing a site redesign for a client. What a lot of work. It's a good thing I already designated May to work on only Benjamin Fudge and the website redesign. Otherwise, I'd find myself furiously working on the novel to the detriment of my client.

This month's experiment seems to be working.

Week One in the Process: Project Creep in the Vacuum

In which Douglas discovers the wheel and wonders what to do with it.

I wrote a blog two weeks ago that struck terror into my heart. My favorite flaw had reared its ugly head again, like a perennial popping up out of the muck every Spring. I had Multi-Irons Syndrome (MIS). However, instead of just quitting a bunch of projects only to add more back over time as I usually do, I decided I would do something different. I'd tackle this MIS once and for all and chart my progress here.

My first step was to clear my schedule a bit so I could focus on the problem. I did this by quitting Irish whistle lessons and prewriting articles for the rest of the month and scheduling them for automagic publication. Then I picked two irons from the fire that I knew could be finished within a month and set about to accomplish them. One iron was a paid assignment. The other was a personal goal. This time, however, instead of letting my ADHD mess things up on me, I would take notes and see what obstacles I encountered and what solutions I needed get around them.

The first thing my wife and I noticed once I started pulling irons was that I was extremely adept at finding new irons to replace them. The whole point of pruning my schedule was to make more time for the projects and goals that were important to me, not make room for new projects. However, as anybody who has tried to simplify their life can tell you, life has a way of complicating things, especially if you have ADHD. Reader JeanJeanie succinctly stated it the other day:

"Problem is, every time I manage to kill an iron, there's two or three waiting in the wings to replace it. Some of them are voluntary and I can force myself to avoid them, but some of them are forced on me by life and I can't avoid them. And it's constantly Too Much On My Plate. "

This means that when we begin to prune our project list, we need to do more than just prune the list. We need a new mental approach to the problem or we will become overwhelmed by projects again. Only by retraining our minds can we hope to have any success. This will be something I will investigate further.

Second thing I noticed was that my distraction time was considerable. I'm going to have to analyze this one a bit deeper as well. This one aspect of ADHD is my greatest weakness and the source of most of my short-comings.

On an upside, by being focused on just two projects I am making greater progress in them. Benjamin Fudge is coming along, but better yet, I was able to zero in on my client's website and discover that I had underestimated the work load. I had a productive phone conference with the client and turned the one website job into a two website job. More work, but more money. In the end her site's brand and message will be better for it.

That's my week in review. I hope yours went well. Don't just lurk in the cyber shadows. Pick an aspect of ADHD or Depression that bothers you and chart your progress here as you work to overcome it.

My First Steps at Managing Multi-Irons Syndrome

When project creep has taken over, it is important to isolate which projects are truly the most important

While I prune and whittle away at the colossal To Do List of Doom that is my life, I have reaffirmed three main goals that I want to spend my free time on:

Music:
Music is well in hand. I have no professional aspirations for my pennywhistle playing and so I am content to plug away at it when I can carve some time out of my schedule. I also play the fife a little bit - just enough to keep my embouchure in check. It's not a problem because they share the same fingering and are in the same key. I strive for daily practice, but never spend more than an hour between the two.

Although there are many, many instruments I'd like to play, I am forcing myself to focus on just the two. It's torture, but I'm determined and the results speak for themselves. My skill grows in quantum hops, skips, and leaps.





Drawing:
Drawing is still something I keep meaning to write about here, but never find the time for. There is an ache in my heart for drawing, but when I became disabled I lost much of my ability. I have discovered I have to start from scratch to fill in some holes. This, too, is torture and I don't fare as well at it. It is one goal I want to spend more time on, especially considering I am spending almost no time on it.





Writing:
Writing is the last goal, and specifically, I have a children's book I want to finish and a juvenile fiction novel I want to start. I am not working on this daily and often shove it aside for other "more important" activities. I especially find that blogging interferes with my writing time, so there is a conflict there that needs straightening out. I have a few ideas on the matter that might prove fruitful.

Of course, setting out to complete these goals is not an easy task. I still struggle with Depression, ADHD, and Chronic Motor Tic Disorder. I manage the Depression, but the ADHD is busy showing me new instruments I want to play (today I pined to replace my long lost student clarinet), and the tic disorder is busy fouling up my playing and drawing.

There are two other aspects of my life that take up my time. First and foremost, I am a full-time Dad - the stay at home caretaker of my girls. That must be number one priority. The other thing I ALWAYS seem to forget to factor in is that I need time to just let my mind spin - or in other words I must allow for distraction time. There's no use pretending it isn't going to happen. My mind is compelled to be distracted like my lungs are compelled to draw a breath. I might as well just face facts and factor it into my schedule as best I can. In fact, as soon as I've learned to manage my Multi-Irons Syndrome, I will be turning my eye towards reducing this spin time.

With so many things pulling at me, how shall I organize this mess? Since many of you have expressed an interest in how I handle this particular ubiquitous ADHD hurdle, I'll share my experiences here and write an article about it at the end that will summarize what I discovered. Feel free to pipe up and lend your advice if you've had experience in this area. I'm very open to suggestions.

In the meantime, I've decided to take a break from the blog for three weeks or so while I work on a solution. I've prewritten some articles and scheduled them to publish automagically every Monday. If I have time, I'll post an update on Fridays. (That post will be an excellent time for you to share your progress with your own goals or comment on mine.) I'll also reply to comments on the most recent posts.

With this haitus my goal is to finish my "Benjamin Fudge" book and pour my attention into my DUIhope.org assignment. By making these goals paramount I hope to bump up against all my ADHD weaknesses that get in the way of achieving goals, which will force me to come up with some life-lasting solutions once and for all. Otherwise, I must resign myself to cyclical failure, and I don't much like the sound of that outcome.

Multi-Irons Syndrome Burns My Mind

In which I discover to my horror that ADHD affects me far more than I realized.

By virtue of writing a regular blog, many ADHD readers over the years have been in awe of my "mastery" over my Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. These readers obviously weren't regular readers. I am anything but a master of my ADHD. In fact, I am not so much a slave of ADHD as much as I am it's water boy and masseuse. That is why I'm interested in looking at ADHD anew this year using the techniques I utilize to manage my Depression.

Cheek? Check.
Humor? Well, at least *I* think I'm funny
Optimism? Ha!
Success? Not as much as I'd like.

There are a few constant areas where ADHD affects me profoundly. Tardiness is one (unless I am being conscientious). Switching tasks is another (unless I am hyperactive that day). Most of all, however, I struggle with Multi-Irons Syndrome. Haven't heard of it? Perhaps that's because I coined the term. Surely you've heard of somebody having too many irons in the fire? That person was downright practical compared to me.

I made a list of all that I try to do with my time as a full-time Dad on disability raising four daughters. I am both amazed and dismayed.

Let's start with the responsibilities. I cook dinners. I supervise homework. I do the laundry. I go shopping for supplies, and I drive my girls to their endless dance, drama, and music lessons during rush hour traffic (I will get my revenge one day).

Next, I have a long list of things I want to succeed at. I work as a booking agent for my oldest daughter when I'm not helping write music with her and producing her podcast. Then I try to manage the budget, help keep my family on target for their goals, and work on my career as a freelance graphic/web designer. Don't forget that I'm also writing children's books, and mastering the pennywhistle, fife, and chromatic harp. And I blog.

Never mind what I do to waste time like read news, write arcane Applescripts, read news, tweet, read news, create nifty avatars, explore socnets, metatag my iTunes library, research a multitude of obscure yet spiffy topics, get thoroughly distracted with my computers, and read news.

Is that a lot? Seems perfectly normal to me. No ADHD there. Nosiree. What is interesting to me is that even after listing all those items, I still feel bad because there are so many other things I feel I should be doing as well.

Honestly, is it any wonder I am frustrated with my lack of personal progress? Is it any wonder I'm depressed? What exactly do I expect myself to have progress with? Multiple Personality Disorder?

I've covered this topic before (priorities, projects, and being busy). I'm constantly filling my life up with projects, then working just as constantly at whittling them down. It's an endless cycle. What makes this particularly salient in regards to Depression is that while I'm being split in simultaneous directions in an effort to keep my mind entertained, I also expect myself to meet goals I've set out for myself. The problem with this is that one, there is only so much time in the day, and two, I can only complete goals when I'm focused - usually when focusing on one goal at a time. Unfortunately, I've got more goals than a box of MSL scorecards. When I don't achieve these goals I get down on myself. This invariably leads to Depression.

Why?

Because I'm only focusing on what I haven't accomplished, and I'm not focusing on what I want to accomplish.

This kind of depression is different from the chemically imbalanced variety I usually experience. This depression I can do something about. I've detailed in this blog many times before how focusing on the negative accelerates Depression. Unawares, I stopped taking my own advice. If I were to give myself advice in this situation today, I would encourage myself to simplify my life drastically.

First, I would recommend writing down what my most important goals are, then I would mercilessly terminate the other goals that took time away from the important ones. Lastly, I would advise sitting down with my family and discussing our insane weekly schedule. The topic of discussion would be the pros and cons of gutting our schedule like a fish at the cannery.


Project creep affects us all simply because it is easy and free to think of new things to do. Life also contributes as responsibilities tend to come at us like oncoming trucks. In the end, though, we need to ask ourselves "Are we busy doing the things we want to be doing? Or are we just busy?" Then we have to have the courage to drop the goals and projects that get in the way of what we really want to accomplish while on this Earth.

As I look over my list, I am faced with an uncomfortable truth. I am living with a functional dysfunction. If any one thing makes me miserable it is my Multi-Irons Syndrome. It isn't enough to simply prune my life this time as I have done countless times before. I must break the cycle. I can manage the tardiness by employing proven techniques and do better. I can switch tasks with proven techniques as well, but Multi-Irons Syndrome is derailing all my plans.

No worries, though. I can fix this.

The Splintered Chat #10

It's that time of the week again...





Hopefully, your weekend is going to be chock full of what you need, whether that be rest and relaxation, or time to catch up on projects. For me, I just want more time. I need it because I waste it finding delightful gems like these:



Yep, this one is very useful in everyday English situations. In fact, I just used this expression the other day when I had AT&T explain my first phone bill.

If your weird doesn't lay in that direction, then you may like this. The New York Times recently did a feature on Al Jaffee's fold-ins for Mad magazine, something he has done since the 1960s. If you aren't familiar with the term, "fold-ins" are those nifty sight gags on the inside back cover of Mad magazines where you have to fold the art up to reveal the secret picture. Sometimes obvious, but most times insidiously clever. This is an excellent usage of Flash technology. I hope you enjoy it.

Have a good weekend. Good luck with your personal goals and remember to keep your spirits up. A positive attitude will help you see options a negative attitude won't notice.

This begins my open forum for the weekend. Comments will close when I remember to do it, possibly Monday, but I'm not guaranteeing anything.

ADHD: If My Head Wasn't Attached, I Probably Would Never Find It Again

If you find your ADDled mind misplaces important items or forgets where they are completely, then these tips are for you.

Terry Matlen, over on the ADDConsults.com, recently wrote about her tendency to misplace items. Considering that in the past I used to lose my keys, wallet, and eye glasses all the time, I know exactly what she is going through. ADHD seems to cause us to place things down in silly, absentminded locations which elude our memory later because we weren't really thinking about our actions. Lately, I seem to misplace my USB thumbdrive all the time, and I wonder if I spend more time looking for my pennywhistle than playing it.

Terry recommends using what she calls "the ADD Mantra" to help impress upon your memory where you place things so that you can remember their location later. Here's a sample of her article. You can find the rest of it here:

"I'm walking into the kitchen (following a shopping excursion). The bag is in my hand. The bag is in my hand. If I put it THERE, I will forget where I put it. So I will instead put it on the stairs so that I can carry it up to my office after dinner. The bag is on the stairs. The bag is on the stairs. The bag is on the stairs."

I also place items where I won't miss them, and although I don't chant, I do talk to myself. I find if I speak out loud and tell myself "OK, you've put the referral in your bag," I'm more likely to recall the details later.

What I find most useful in preventing the misplacing of important items is to have designated areas. For instance, my wallet will only reside on my bureau or the top left shelf of the hallway bookshelf. When I was tempted to toss my wallet next to my computer today, years of placing it in a designated area helped me catch myself. My eye glasses reside only on my bureau, the top shelf in the hallway bookshelf, or right next to my LCD monitor in my studio. Always. I don't dare break from the routine. My car keys have designated places as well. They can only be found on the top left shelf of the hallway bookshelf, my right jacket pocket, or in the side flap of my satchel.

Training myself to do this was not easy. I had a lot of failures and it took many months of practice, but eventually I managed to train myself to be more conscientious - just as Terry's mantra trains her. If I were to apply these techniques to my USB thumbdrive or pennywhistle, I might find I stress out about their location a lot less.

If you don't have any techniques of your own to keep your important items from wandering off, try Terry's or mine and let me know how well they worked out for you.