Dr. Stanley Goldstein - Author and Psychologist

1. It is a time of great intensity when feelings are heightened and life takes on new meaning.
2. During wartime, sports terminology such as “winning” and “losing” are used, battle thus being experienced as a game.
3. War allows soldiers great freedom to behave without fear of punishment, even to engage in acts which are ordinarily  Read More 

A month ago I traveled via Amtrak to a city with possibly the highest murder rate in America. I'm not sure if it's Number One. Back when I was in graduate school, Cleveland strove for that dubious distinction. My destination was ten miles outside the city. Upon arriving at the train station, I had  Read More 

1. Watch over me.
2. Monitor me for safety.
3. Help me when I need help but don’t be intrusive or bossy.
4. Sometimes, just be my playmate.

I was at a Valentine's Day event yesterday. It was voluntarily catered by a gifted chef who had refused numerous suggestions that use her talent for profit. Another attendee told me that she was born in Spain, spoke with a heavy accent, and had difficulty being understood over the phone. This caused her to  Read More 

"It is a salutary discipline to consider the vast number of books that are written, the fair hopes with which their authors see them published, and the fate which awaits them. What chance is there that any book will make its way among the multitude?

"And the successful books are but the successes of  Read More 

“Narcissistic” is often used pejoratively to describe an immature person though it, and the denial of truth, are normal ego defenses against anxiety. While these mental mechanisms, if broadly used, are pathological for adults, they have valuable benefits.

When confronting knowledge of an exceptionally painful situation such as a serious illness or severe  Read More 

Today’s New York Times (December 27, 2015) has an article bemoaning the human cost of technology. I itemize a few benefits from my experiences.

My first book was written on an IBM Selectric typewriter that broke down on Thanksgiving day, causing my frantic search for an open store to buy another. Making changes to and  Read More 

If you love Dick’s novel (as I do), you’ll be initially taken aback by this series. After watching the dark, gloomy, nearly incomprehensible first episode depicting Nazis battling unknown good guys for the possession of something, I decided to ignore the rest of the series but didn’t.

This film series reflects,  Read More 

There’s an interesting article in the Autumn 2015 issue of Scandinavian Review about Scandinavian Nobel laureate writers. Authors tend to have uncommon lives but Iceland writer, Halldór Laxness, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1955, may top the cake. His life went from Luxembourg monk to American screenwriter to best-selling novelist. He was  Read More 

I just read an interesting story about a surgeon whose life became so consumed by anxiety that, for a period of time, she stopped working. While not unusual since anxiety and particularly panic attacks can be disabling, what is revealing is the doctor's resistance to seeking mental health treatment. She rejected the thought of  Read More