Author: Overcoming Adversity | Buteau’s Odyssey

An extraordinary thing happened recently, when I flew across the country. Or, more accurately, one extraordinary thing started to happen, then didn’t, and another extraordinary thing did. At the time I was doing talks and answering questions about psychiatric diagnosis, including the way mental health practitioners once considered conditions like depression, anxiety, and even psychosis likely to be temporary. A shift to long-term thinking happened toward the end of the last century. In the late 1960s, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) used to diagnose psychiatric distress in this country went from using the label “reaction” to the label “disorder.”…

A freed Israeli hostage has revealed how he was sexually abused at gunpoint by a Hamas terrorist who suggested they make a porn film together — then threatened to kill him if he ever spoke about it. Guy Dalal-Gilboa, 23, detailed the horrors of his two years in captivity at the hands of the sick terrorists before he was among the hostages released from Gaza last month as part of the cease-fire deal. In an interview with Israel’s Channel 12 on Sunday, Dalal-Gilboa described how one of his sadistic tormentors had led him blindfolded to a room and mockingly asked:…

WASHINGTON — A bipartisan Senate duo is aiming to reduce the influx of political mail to households by cutting off a key federal subsidy that boosts Republican and Democratic party committees. Currently, national and state committees for the major political parties can get the same 40-60% discount rate nonprofits enjoy for mailers sent through the US Postal Service. Third parties don’t get the perk. New legislation, dubbed the Ending Subsidies for Political Junk Mail Act, which was proposed by Sens. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), would force the GOP and Democratic party committees to pay the normal…

Coffee’s for closers! Alec Baldwin — the actor who uttered perhaps the most iconic movie line ever about java, and also once publicly railed against a Starbucks worker as an “Uptight Queen barrista [sic]” with an “attitude problem” — is now a contributing producer on a film backing the coffee chain’s workers. Baldwin appeared last week at a fundraiser and screening for “Baristas vs Billionaires” at Lincoln Center’s Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center. The movie by Mark Mori about Starbucks Workers United says it follows a “generational uprising of working-class Millennials and Gen Z as they battle Starbucks Coffee for their…

Until now, the story of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s murder was simple: Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was solely responsible for the October 2018 killing and dismemberment in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. But the true story is far more complicated. It involves the machinations of a corrupt senator who received a cache of gold bars to cover up the Egyptian government’s role in the murder. The fresh revelations are highlighted in “Gold Bar Bob: The Downfall of the Most Corrupt U.S. Senator,” the new book I wrote with New York Post reporter Isabel Vincent. We show how Democrat…

The nationwide manhunt for Morgan Geyser, the Wisconsin woman convicted in the 2014 “Slender Man” stabbing, has come to an end, authorities announced Sunday night. The Madison Police Department confirmed Geyser was taken into custody in Illinois at approximately 10:34 p.m., ending the intense search. Geyser escaped after she cut off her Department of Corrections monitoring bracelet and fled a Madison group home Saturday night, police said. Madison police announced her escape in a social media post on Sunday. “Morgan Geyser was last seen in the area of Kroncke Dr. around 8 p.m. with an adult acquaintance. Her whereabouts are unknown as…

Jessica Alba shared bikini photos on her Instagram page while reminiscing about her time in Australia. The actress wore a brown and white patterned string bikini in the images, paired with vintage-inspired sunglasses. The mom of three lounged in the sand for one selfie, and another posing with pals while standing in the ocean. Alba captioned the photo dump: “Missing this beautiful place — heart full, grateful, memories locked.” In addition, the star shared a clip of herself sitting by the beach post-hike, wearing a sports bra and leggings. Alba included a selfie while in the car, with her long brunette hair…

Heroes, zeros and the full blitz from the Jets’ 23-10 road loss to the Ravens on Sunday: Hero Derrick Henry. He overcame a sluggish first half with a pair of touchdown runs and finished with two receptions for 24 yards, as well. Zero Breece Hall. He had just juked and zigged and zagged his way for a 40-yard reception when he was stripped and fumbled en route to the end zone for a score that would have cut the Jets deficit to 20-17 in the fourth quarter. Ravens running back Derrick Henry (22) celebrates with Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Zay Flowers (4)…

Landry Shamet was officially listed as out for Monday’s game against the Nets with a sprained right shoulder, although it’s safe to assume that further testing will paint a more complete picture of the severity of his injury — or, more importantly, the answer to whether he’ll need surgery. Shamet appeared to dislocate his shoulder after absorbing a hard screen from Wendell Carter Jr. in the first quarter of Saturday’s loss to the Magic. Afterward, Knicks coach Mike Brown said Shamet would undergo a full evaluation in the “coming days.” And for the 28-year-old guard, there’s a lot riding on…

Gambling-ish stock trading fascinates addiction neuroscientists and other researchers, as there are striking similarities between day trading, online stock options, and cryptocurrency trading on one side, and gambling and fantasy sports betting on the other. Comparing stock trading to sports gambling (which I recently reviewed here), we see some speculative stock trading and fantasy league betting sharing core behavioral similarities. In each, participants frequently stake money on uncertain, competitive outcomes and receive unpredictable, variable rewards—the same pattern driving gambling disorder. For example, a key component underlying gambling addiction is the illusion of skill. In speculative stock betting or trading, users…