Want to lose weight? Kick a bad habit? Well you might want to try hypnosis! ... no longer regarded as mere hocus-pocus, it's been shown as an effective means of helping people quit smoking, shed pounds, reduce stress, and end phobias.

When I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder the year I turned 50, it was certainly a shock. But as a journalist, knowing a little bit about a lot of things, I didn't suffer the misconception that depression was all in my head or a mark of poor character. I knew it was a disease, and, like all diseases, was treatable.

My parents had an experience of life that is as opposite to mine as you can imagine.

I've always been profoundly ambivalent about fame. I think it just eats the reality out of you and it can be intoxicating because I like some of it.

Kids learn more from example than from anything you say; I'm convinced they learn very early not to hear anything you say, but to watch what you do.

I have been fiercely private, in part because I could never understand how a journalist could be otherwise. I was also the mother of small children, and security concerns were paramount.

Most of us in the baby-boom generation were raised by full-time mothers. Even as recently as 14 years ago, 6 out of 10 mothers with babies were staying at home. Today that is totally reversed. Does that mean we love our children less than our mothers loved us? No, but it certainly causes a lot of guilt trips.