Question: "We all know that using ChatGPT as a therapist is a bad idea. but can you explain in a clinical way why it's bad? I would like something that I can just send my friends when they tell me they're using it this way?" Answer: Well, let us begin by stating...
I am about to get married. Maybe. Probably. And as a part of this whole thing, I find myself spending hours—hours—discussing the particulars of what this marriage is going to look like. What rules are we going to have? How are we going to keep each other safe and make...
Dear Dr. Trainwreck, I have a friend with a few mental health diagnoses confirmed by doctors. She has many symptoms, including “rejection sensitive dysphoria”—meaning (as I understand it) she has a hard time accepting any criticism and overreacts to it. I like my...
In no way am I looking forward to writing this particular piece. Truth? I am a little bit afraid to do it at all. Not that the previous columns have been chock full of levity and good times, but this one might piss some people off. Because it is time. We are here. We...
Remember I had a plan to discuss overused and oversimplified terms in a way that anyone can understand? In an accessible, user-friendly but without being patronizing manner. Well fuck that. I quote NWA: “Fuck crossing over to them; let them cross over to us.” And to...
Dear Dr. Trainwreck, How can I, a layman, tell the difference between someone I have to cut some slack for because of their mental health diagnosis, and someone who is just being a jerk and blaming their diagnosis? Don't some conditions make conversations around this...
Dear Dr. Trainwreck, I've been relatively successful as an artist, but still, I often feel less than. In a world that is becoming more inclusive and understanding of diversity, economic diversity is still somehow frowned upon. I grew up pretty poor in LA. I've had...
I have a notebook from this obnoxious British heritage brand called Smythson, and on the front cover it says, in gold leaf, “Charming in Character and Appearance.” The only thing in this particular notebook is pages upon pages of what I call “unforgivable things”:...
If you are reading this magazine, you might be an artist. Or you have a friend who is, or perhaps you are at a Barnes and Noble flipping through Artillery while you wait to purchase an oversized coffee table book of Rock n Roll photography for some guy’s housewarming...
What is the Purpose of All of This? And by This, I Mean Life Dear Dr. Trainwreck, I have recently gone through a life change (a major breakup and move) and am having a hard time finding my footing. The close friends that I thought would be there for me disappeared...
Trying to Navigate LA Dear Dr. Trainwreck, Can you talk about chasing fame and how that affects friendship? I’m from the Midwest and came out to California for art school. I’m fresh out of school (one year) and was able to get pretty good gallery representation early...
What is to give light must endure burning. —Victor Frankl I had this plan, I was going to spend each issue clarifying an overused, misunderstood and generally obnoxious term or diagnosis. Remember last time when I went on a tirade about ‘triggering’. I planned to do...
Please allow me to introduce myself... In the UK, we are called ‘Agony Aunts’. But here in the states we are known as advice columnists, or ‘Dear Abby’, as a catchall. This one, however, is a bit different than the manners-focused columns that were once mainstays of...
The ‘conversation’ (incidentally the worst possible way to describe anything other than an actual conversation, as in, human beings speaking with one another) around language and words is ongoing and, dare I say, rather boring. That aside, it is vital that we reject...
Given the conflation of mid-century modernist furniture design and improvised experimental music on invented instruments, I’m probably remembering correctly that it was Steve Roden who told me about Harry Bertoia’s “Sonambient” sculptures and self-released LPs, one of...
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