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Finding My Way Out of Anti-Psychiatry: A Patient Perspective

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- January 27, 2024

I wrote a guest blog post for Psychiatry at the Margins, which is available to read at this link: link to Psychiatry at the Margins

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Lisa + current cat: 40 years in and out of psychiatric treatment and these are my tales

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How I Became, and Unbecame, a Psych Patient

- March 08, 2022

Early on, I was about 13, hormones kicking in, when family issue upon family issue invaded without knocking, slinking around the corners, under the rug, behind furniture in the secrecy of things we all know about, but we don’t talk about. I was on the edge of entering adulthood, desperately needing guidance that was lacking, so I set out to fill my own aching void. It was the 1970’s, with the popularity of Sybil, the drama of a young woman with multiple personalities embraced into integrating by such a caring psychiatrist, and Lisa and David, disturbed young people so attentively observed in some ward, and I Never Promised You a Rose Garden, a tempting tale of a woman grasped from the bizarre world of schizophrenia. These portrayals resonated with me as so much better than my life as a quiet good girl, ignored in the shadows. I desired that attention I’d never get, not in the midst of generational and current family trauma, and I was compelled to read and watch these stories over an

This Psych Unit is My Prison

- September 02, 2021

I have a lot to say in this post, so it will go on a bit longer than my usual posts. Indeed, I did end up in a psych unit again, this time for 3 weeks, same psych unit as July, same psychiatrist in charge of me. Yes, I do mean in charge of me, but before I get started on that, I’ll provide some of the back story. I’ve been in psychiatric treatment on and off, mostly on, since 1980. At times treatment was outright abusive, such as strapping me to a bed, often coercive, and usually a process of psychiatrists prescribing this, then that, then stopping that and trying this and adding this and then these, or even insisting I have ECT. My psych hospitalizations total around 60, with 28 of those from 2016-2019 when the psychiatrist had me on up to 8 psych meds at once. And then in August 2019, she stopped 5 meds cold. After recovering from severe withdrawal, I left psychiatric treatment and stopped the remaining 3 drugs. Due to ongoing withdrawal sickness, I stayed mostly isolated at home

Yes, I’m Seeing a Psychiatrist Again

- March 21, 2023

After over 3 years off psychiatric medications, letting my body clear them, coming to terms with my hurt and anger over that last psychiatric stopping 5 meds without taper, and working on my issues in isolation, free of irritation from others’ interference, I came to realizations. My mind is definitely clearer (7 different meds daily clouded everything) and I’ve learned so much more about my personal issues through writing and art. I’ve also tightened up my finances, providing more of a sense of independence. This is all good, helps me tremendously, but it’s not enough. I still experience too many lows tinged with suicidal thoughts, resistance to stepping out of my apartment (or off my sofa most days), mired in life’s pointlessness and drudgery. And then there’s the flip side. When I do get moving, I’m propelled into some sense of never stopping, sure I have all the answers, and happy like I’m high, flitting from one thing to the next, whirling about until I drop back into exhausti

So Has My Mental Health Actually Improved Off All Psych Meds?

- June 29, 2021

I've been off all meds for about 18 months now, and generally I'm better mentally in many obvious ways. For instance, I no longer self-injure, something I'd felt compelled to do almost monthly when I was on quetiapine, lithium, benztropine, gabapentin, desvenlafaxine, Vivitrol depo, naltrexone, pramipexole, and levothyroxine (yes, the last two were for adverse effects). And my moods can still elevate and then dip, but not in such extreme ways as they did for my years on so many meds. My days aren't always productive and I still feel ill too often and yet I care for my basic needs, and did care also for my cat Iris very well until she died last week. And there I thought I would face insurmountable crisis, a test of how together I really was as I stared into a dark chasm of losing my constant companion, the little being who'd lived with me for 8 years and stayed close by my side through all of the horrid parts of meds withdrawal. I was convinced I only wanted to st

Photos of U.S. State Inpatient Psychiatric Facilities

- January 07, 2021

In this post, I've gathered online photos of psychiatric facilities operated by all fifty U.S. states and the District of Columbia that accept involuntary inpatient admissions, some from criminal courts, some via other means of legal psychiatric detention orders. I've organized these pictures into geographical regions, and then by state, with each facility identified by its name on the photo. This list is not complete. State mental/behavioral health departments also contract with private and corporate health care facilities to obtain beds for involuntary patients. I have not included places which are specific to housing child, adolescent, or geriatric populations. This compilation may not be a perfect accounting; take it for what it is. PACIFIC REGION: Alaska California Hawaii Oregon Washington ROCKY MOUNTAIN: Colorado Idaho Montana Nevada Utah Wyoming SOUTHWEST: Arizona New Mexico Oklahoma Texas MIDWEST: Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Michigan Minnesota Missouri Nebras

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