After class today I stopped in at the treatment center near my home and solicited an interview with a counselor for a class assignment. I got to see a old friend of mine working there. I was glad to see him but I was disappointed that I couldn't remember his name at first. Nevertheless I was very lucky that a counselor was willing to make an appointment with me there on the spot.

In my class today the professor went over the long list of medications to treat mental illness. I was astonished at how many of my classmates are on medication. I thought back to the difficulties that I had with these types of medications. I thought about the condition of anhedonia and how the reduction of self-centered thinking changed that for me. I thought about how the process of personal inventory helped me to find the ability to adjust and replace mi thinking. I thought about how eventually my pleasure and reward mechanism shifted and began to work again.

The professor said something that really stuck with me. He said that people who have abused substances have fried their neurons and have grave mood disorders. But, he said that after 2-3 years the brain heals. I think that it is not just biological but is cultivated by surrender of the will.

This afternoon my wife was working and I had the kids by myself. It was a busy afternoon but I got them out to the park after dinner and got them in bed at a reasonable time.

Thanks be to God.