Tony Branco

Politics and depression

Election day has finally arrived. The point of this article is not to persuade anyone of my political views. Everyone is entitled to their views. What I will say is that who you vote for says a lot about you. I wanted to write this is to highlight something I

Halloween: Stay off my lawn!

It has become a tradition that my lovely partner, Erin, hands out candy on Halloween and I, being the loving, supportive partner, sit in the adjoining room and keep a count on how many kids come. I even invested in a tally counter clicker thing last year so I wouldn’

It's ok, it's ok, it's ok

I’ve been meaning to write about this person for a long time. Thinking back, she was one of the first people I wanted to write about when I started this site in March, 2023. I know this person was an inspiration for me then, and is now. This person

Knowing when to hold 'em and knowing when to fold 'em

I have recently rediscovered my passion for playing poker. Poker and I have had a love/hate relationship for over 20 years now. As with many poker players my age, I really discovered the game while watching the 2003 World Series of Poker (WSOP) on ESPN. The WSOP is held

Can you believe there is a nationwide shortage on Adderall? For almost two years now?

I am here to pick up my prescriptions. My name is Branco. Antonio. OK, thank you, Mr. Branco. Let me go get those for you. Ok, thanks for waiting. You have two prescriptions ready. Um, excuse me, I should have three. Oh, I’m sorry. One of your meds is

Is there such a thing as a "safe space"?

Certainly, you feel safe in this room, don’t you? No – I, most certainly, do not. This was the conversation I had with my therapist a couple of months ago. I forget the context of the exact conversation. I may have been telling her how I was anxious and nervous

The worst kind of betrayal

My therapist, Suzy, and I were discussing alternative treatments to deal with depression besides medication. Specifically, we were discussing the possibility of me trying a treatment called transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), The way my therapist described it to me was like when you go to the dentist and they have

Crawling in my skin

My Administrative Law Judge (I refer to her as"Judge Laura") during my Social Security Disability Hearing had one, and only one, question for me during the 40-minute hearing. “Do you have panic attacks?” “No,” I quickly responded. Ever since that day, and especially after getting denied my

Yet another loss

As one of my relatives in Canada texted me today, “So sorry, Tony, for yet another loss.” Yet another loss.  My favorite aunt on my father’s side passed away this week. She was (is?) my father’s sister. She was 87. I am not sure what, specifically, she died

How do people survive while waiting on their disability case?

Spoiler: I don't know. I have been hesitant to write on this site while my disability case is ongoing. There is so much I would like to say. I figured my case would have been decided by now. I mean, I have been out of work since October,

The judicial system has let me down

I have been hesitant to write about the process I have had to endure for the last two and a half years to try to obtain Social Security Disability benefits. It has been ongoing, so I didn’t want to do anything, however innocuous, to jeopardize my case. Little did

Daddy issues

I was a huge Burt Reynolds fan growing up. For many years, Smokey and the Bandit was my favorite movie. He was the epitome of cool. I thought he was the definition of a man. It was an extremely sad day for me when Burt Reynolds died in 2018. Of

Partial hospitalization: There is no shame in seeking help

The fact that I can write about this with the awareness that there is even a 0.0001% chance someone I know will read it is telling. Ten years ago, maybe even ten weeks ago, there is no way I would ever go public with what I am about to

Nature vs. Nurture

Maybe you’ve heard the saying, “A zebra can’t change its stripes.”  I use it all the time. It means – to me, anyway – that no matter how much you may think someone has changed their behavior, there will be an occasion where that individual will revert back to their

The modern day Brady Bunch

I kid you not when I say I believe Wayne Brady is the most talented multidimensional performer of my lifetime. When I say multidimensional, I mean all the usual things like acting on film and stage, singing, and dancing, but also being witty and funny enough to do improv comedy

All work and no play

I constantly hear people talk about working long hours and not taking any vacations for so-and-so years. They wear it like a badge of honor. I was one of those people, too. But now it has got me thinking – is that something to be proud of? I worked my ass

Happy Birthday??

Do you remember what age you were when you started dreading birthdays? Maybe for some of you it has never happened. Maybe you still look forward to your birthdays. I'm happy for you. Maybe for some people they enjoyed birthdays when they were younger, dreaded them in mid-life,

Savior complex: You cannot save everyone, save yourself first

I think I heard the term savior complex for the first time over ten years ago. I shrugged it off as that is not me and haven’t thought about it once in the years since. My thought process was that I heard the word “savior” and thought the overall

Reaction to Wynonna Judd's performance at the CMAs

I’ve never been a big fan of country music. Growing up in the 1980’s, I remember hearing about country stars like Alabama, Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, Reba McEntire, Glen Campbell, and Kris Kristofferson.I did like Kenny Rogers, probably because “Lady” was my brother’s wedding dance song.

Dealing with celebrity deaths

Some people mock and ridicule people for getting so upset over celebrity deaths. They’ll say something like, “You act like you know the guy. You never met them. What’s the big deal?” The fact is that we feel like we know them. They become family. We may see

Imposter syndrome

My battle with mental illness has taught me that there is a term for basically everything. Tired and sore all over? You have fibromyalgia. Do you have too much energy or are too hyper? You have ADHD. Do you wonder why you are so moody? You are probably bipolar. Are

Storm chaser couldn't escape the storms in his head

So I’ve been binge watching “Storm Chasers” for a couple of weeks now. My girlfriend is sick of it. It is bad enough I’ve been watching the series non-stop for the last two weeks. I’ve also been watching pretty much any YouTube video that has to do

The dangers of inertia

in·er·tia 1. a tendency to do nothing or to remain unchanged. 2.PHYSICS a property of matter by which it continues in its existing state of rest or uniform motion in a straight line, unless that state is changed by an external force."the power required to

Dealing with death

It has been a difficult weekend for Boston sports fans. The Patriots got drubbed by the Cowboys, 38-3, and the Red Sox disappointing season came to a merciful end. But that is just sports. In the grand scheme of things, who cares? Life is all about perspective. Last week, the

Dates which live in infamy

This month marked the 22nd anniversary of the horrific events of 9/11/01. Where does the time go? Ask any teenager what they thought of 9/11 and you will be ill prepared to hear them say they were not even born. Because, for most of us who were