Hi All,

I'm a single male near the high end of middle-age living in the midwest. I was working in Palo Alto back in 2002-2003 and took the opportunity to have a series of interviews and SPECT scans done at the Amen clinic in Sacremento.

Dr. Amen gave me the following diagnosis:

Mood Disorder due to Brain Injury
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
Anxiety Disorder
Social Phobia
Depressive Disorder
Bipolar II
Attention Deficit Disorder

This fits me like a glove and finally gave me an understanding of some of the difficulties I've struggled with for a lifetime. I don't have the kinds of physical symptoms I'm reading about in this group, but the mental and emotional issues seem to be the same.

I also differ from most of what I've seen in this group in that I don't have a memory of brain normalcy. I'm not working to get back to anything, I'm working on coping. Many of the strategies I'm reading about here are things I'm well familiar with - I HAVE been dealing with this, more or less successfully, for a lifetime.

I initially tried to write up a brief life story, but it got too weird, and above all, I'd like to be a positive contributor here. Just imagine a PG rated version of the first season of 'Dexter' without all the killing, and that's my life . I'm facing challenges right now that are threatening my delicately balanced house of cards.

My big challenge this year comes from my physical health. Having very limited social skills, all of my human interactions center around involvement in sports activities, and even outside of that I have always used vigorous physical activity to keep the demons at bay. Nothing helps fight depression and anxiety better than exercise, in my experience. Plus, those things are just plain fun.

Back problems are now forcing me to adapt to a sedentary life style. I have no problems with ordinary daily life, but any vigorous activity is out of the question for the forseeable future. I'm even forced to give up Tai Chi.

My heart goes out to all of you who are struggling to get your lives back - in a certain sense I am luckier - I haven't lost anything and whatever I can gain is a win. Hopefully, I can find some way to contribute positively to your struggles and learn from you how to better deal with mine.