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This is craziness. The smoke blanketing the Bay Area has it dark out and cool, when by all rights we should be well into the daytime and getting hot. What comes to mind for me is--Apocalypse? This weather triggers a lot of past stuff for me. 

I am sure that I am not completely unique in having had delusional systems when fully psychotic, that made me believe it was the end of the world. However, the reader must know: This is a false perception. We are dealing with a lot of fires on the west coast--that's all. 

It is difficult to function under these circumstances. Yet, I am noting that most people are functioning in a business as usual manner. This is reassuring. 

My father once said, "If you are calm and collected when everyone around you is losing their heads, something is wrong with you!" It was one of his Marty-isms. He could be a jokester. 

If the reader feels traumatized by the weird weather, your feelings are valid. It is very strange to witness. You should get extra support from family, treatment professionals, and, where applicable, clergy. 

Ironically, I remember the words of President Obama when he left office, "...The sun will rise tomorrow." 

All of the above is applicable if you are on the west coast of the U.S. and subject to the massive smoke in the air. If you are elsewhere, this week's column could have you confused. 

Readers who have mental illness need to continue with our medication regimen as we have been doing, and we need to continue handling our obligations. If we have difficulty with getting tasks done, we can take a break and get back to it later. 

I had a similar response to the Loma Prieta Earthquake of 1989. It was a contributing factor to me quitting, as a television repair technician at the esteemed Sears Service Center. (The place is long gone.) It was the highest paying job I'd had yet. I was barely if at all handling the workload. The day following the quake, it was too much. 

Armageddon/Apocalypse delusional systems were a common theme for me in all four of the psychotic episodes that I experienced. (The episodes, apart from the first one in 1982, followed going off medication against medical advice.) 

I have no idea why visions of the world's end are so persistent in my delusions. Yet, it does mean that when the sky is dark in the middle of the day, it causes me anxiety. If you feel that way too, find a levelheaded person among friends, family or a practitioner, and do a "check-in" about it. 

When you speak up about a difficult feeling, this can make it lose a lot of its power over you. Yet, you must speak to someone who is ready to hear you, and who you know very well, or who is in the position of mental health caregiver. You can't really talk about this kind of thing to someone you don't know. 

And remember, the sun will rise tomorrow...