Wednesday, December 6, 2023

Personal Stories

People with “lived experience” tell of their interactions with psychiatry and how it impacted their lives, and of their own paths to recovery.

Escaping The Shackles of Psychiatry: What I’ve Seen and Survived, as Both Doctor and...

71
"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing,” said Edmund Burke. This is as true on...

Letting Go of Lithium

84
The healing journey is less about being free from medication and psychiatry and more about connecting with myself now. I am grateful for the freedom to feel.

Words from My Heart to ‘My Heart’: What Might Have Helped My Late Friend?

4
More than two and a half years later, I’m still processing my grief, still picturing our happiness and innocence as kids, and still acknowledging our struggles and pain.

My Chronic Illness Was Misdiagnosed as ‘Mental Illness’

46
Physically ill and suffering folks are being misdiagnosed with ‘mental illness’ and sent to psychiatrists instead of doctors who can help them.

The Connection Between ‘Bipolar Disorder’ and Migraine: Unraveling the History of a Family Line

12
Why did I have to go on a personal investigation to finally figure out that I was having migraines?

Recovery of Soul After 22 Years on Antipsychotics

5
After 22 years and many attempts I finally stopped taking antipsychotics. I still feel weak and quite injured by the accumulated doses of numbing drugs, though I feel brighter, and love life more than ever.

On Psychotherapeutic Literacy

2
The counselor, a rather awkward individual, did his best to play the role of an effective psychotherapist. Our sessions continued to be a quiet standoff, a battle of nerves to see who would break the silence first.

What Happens When There Is No Help?

22
My family and my rapists, abusers and psychiatrists all had it in common that they wanted me to “take something” to become more obedient and quiet.

The Strength in Sensitivity: Becoming a “Borderline” Psychotherapist

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I'm a licensed psychotherapist in private practice. I'm also diagnosed with borderline personality disorder.

Pieces of Shattered Memories

14
If the sum of my experience exists only as fractured memories that never happened, who am I? It has led me to a near-constant questioning of every aspect in my life.

Healing My Broken Story: The Power of Compassionate Relationship

12
Richard was more than a therapist; he was a faithful witness to my spiritual transformation. His faith in me is the sturdy banister I hold on to as I move forward.

The Suicide Police: Harm Disguised As Help

26
It’s easy to tell a dead person they mattered. Humans are great at writing eulogies. But we are shit at making people feel like they matter while they are alive.

Harmed by Psychiatric Drugs Prescribed for Acid Reflux

22
I was unaware that metoclopramide is in the same drug class as antipsychotics with the same potential for serious side effects.

“Gravely Disabled” — How I Narrowly Escaped a Conservatorship

11
"What’s going on? Is the idea for me to live in a locked facility forever?” A silent wail of despair wells up inside me. What’s happening to my life?

First Do No Harm: Restraining the Restrainer

8
I was face down on a cold hospital floor. My submissiveness came before the needle made contact. The shock and shame of such a violation silenced me.

Spoilation: What Becomes of the Forcibly Drugged?

41
I have been forcibly drugged for over forty years now. The dose of neuroleptics I am forced to take will probably kill me.

The Key to the Psych Unit

6
I was toeing a very precarious line working in a psychiatric hospital. I knew how tenuous my perceived sanity was.

Giving Caregivers a Platform: Sam, Husband of Ka’ryn Marie

8
For many caregivers who assist their loved ones, the journey involves navigating the medical system and its many challenges. This time, the journey takes...

So Long, Psych Meds: Escaping the Medication Maze

39
There was a time when I could think of nothing else but pills and prescriptions, pain and panic. Psychiatry shrank my world.

The Hidden Harms Within the Psychedelic Renaissance

17
If I would have read a story like this before I entered into psychedelic-assisted therapy, I would have been more careful, which might have prevented a lot of unnecessary hurt.

A Patient Reads His Psychiatrist

74
Dr. W.’s description of me, that I was agitated, insulting, uncooperative, did not match the emotions I was feeling. I felt distraught, hopeless, terrified, and desperate.

Race and Abuse in Inpatient Settings: What Happens Behind Locked Doors

11
The problem of staff brutality towards patients on the psych wards disproportionately affects people of color and continues to happen every day behind locked doors.

Only When It Poured

6
Disposable toothbrushes and sporks. Crayons instead of pens. Little pills in little paper cups. Someone would come. Someone would go. The days turned into nights and back again.

Children Are Vulnerable Cogs in the Psychiatric Machine

14
My guardian decided to seek out “professional” advice about how to diminish my “outbursts.” I was perceived as a problem that needed to be extinguished into a compliant state.

Reclaiming My Yin and Yang

22
Western psychiatry has done a lot of harm to people, especially when it is forced upon people as their “only” option. People’s experiences are wildly diverse, and only a diversity of options can do justice to our differing needs.