We are privileged to share blog postings from our Ambassador Jessie Close, Adrienne Gurman, Henry Boy Jenkins, and other guest bloggers. Please visit regularly as our content will be updated often.
Finally, a few months ago, I opened up my drawers, armoire and closet and got rid of 90% of my clothes. As soon as I ditched the mentality that I should be fitting into my clothes and embraced the idea that my clothes should fit my body as it is now, and my life as it is now, I immediately felt a sense of relief. By letting go of all the old clothes, I was removing the opportunity to compare or shame myself back into a body that was never truly mine to begin with.
Pop culture had shaped my views on mental illness and psychiatry, so I approached therapy with some trepidation. Would I have to lie on a couch while the therapist sat out of sight, furiously scribbling notes in a journal? Would I be forced to talk about embarrassing things from my past? Would those notes be sent to my insurance company for billing purposes the way my medical records are made available upon request?
I’ve lived through enough pain that I don’t need the drama. My illness is unpredictable, which is why I take medicine to handle the heavy lifting that self-knowledge can’t.
After the three-week stay in the hospital, where they changed up his meds because he had become psychotic, he hasn’t settled yet. I implored them to keep him through the transition. I mean, changing serious, anti-psychotic meds after ten years is no small thing.
Short and long-term memory is challenging for me; the memories in between are where I live, when I can. I perform daily activities based on patterns I have set up. If my routines get disrupted I have a hard time staying on task.
From my life experiences, I’ve come to learn that stigma comes in many forms. When I say I have bipolar I’m not so afraid anymore of what people think. It’s an illness that I was born with and something I have zero control over having. People tend not to judge you so much for having bipolar; they do still judge you for the stereotypes ingrained in the world that come along with it, but that’s why I speak out and work with Bring Change to Mind.
My mind is continually creating an existential puzzle, the solution to which will invariably leave me under yet another layer of loneliness.
Kim Walters has lived with anxiety her whole life. However, she didn’t seek out help until the pressures of being a mom forced her to. With her children in tow, anxiety struck Walters everywhere she went, including the grocery store, library, park, and more. At 32-years old, she decided to…
I realized my passion for a holistic approach and wellness focus in helping others to be the best version of themselves. I wanted to incorporate fitness, nutrition, positive habits, and behavior into helping people understand how they can overcome struggles and mental illness. Psychiatry was a natural fit at this point.
The ability to not just listen well, to hear more than what a patient is telling you with words, but with their actions, with the subtleties in their voices, with their unspoken expressions sets apart good and great physicians in my mind. And when it comes to the field of mental health, an area that is still plagued by unspoken judgement that produces a fear of speaking-out in those with a mental illness, now more than ever we need competent providers that know how to listen beyond what is said.
