Are you about to drive a nail into your head? Have the kiddies made you so crazy that you’ve asked your partner to smack you right between the eyes with a baseball bat? Hey, with seven children of my own, I have been there! Before you loose what’s left of your sanity, let me offer a few suggestions.

Our understanding of mental illness has evolved over the centuries. We’ve gone from merely stashing the afflicted away somewhere, to treating them. However, treatments haven’t always been successful. This is the story that those in the mental health treatment community do not want told.

Growing up in the suburbs of New York City in the 1960s was a pleasurable experience. Venturing into New York City, especially Manhattan, was not. The smell of car, truck and bus exhaust combined with a number of other foul vapors to produce a pollution mix that almost seemed toxic. If you were used to it, the city air was probably something that you were able to tolerate. However, to those who spent more time out of the city then in it, the air was filthy and made you sick.

If you listen to any of the self-styled gurus who have failed in their own marriages, but plan on saving yours, you will find some pretty insane ideas being tossed about. They talk about starter marriages, people outgrowing each other and they’re always willing to provide you with fifty ways to leave your lover for what they consider to be the right reasons. But before you pack your stuff and drive by your local divorce store, you might want to consider their motives for giving out that kind of counsel....