The Betrayal of Professionals with Lived Experience
I know that being “out” at work could help challenge stereotypes and reduce stigma but I hide. I have that luxury.
The Wound That Speaks
In my case, writing was the beginning of healing. It pulled me out of the abyss and gave me structure, voice, and purpose. It gave me a sense of authorship over a life hijacked by memory.
Something Broken: My Mother’s Story
The use of psychiatry against women who have experienced male violence is a form of control. It silences women and maintains the status quo.
Death in a Bottle: My 24-Year Battle with Benzodiazepines
I’m not even taking Klonopin because it helps me. I’m taking Klonopin so I don’t go through withdrawal from Klonopin. That’s the trap.
The Garden of the Mind: Fictions Weeded Out by Psychiatry
Delusions are more than fleeting mental turmoil; they reveal the unconscious mind’s storytelling power.
Unmedicated Clarity: How I Reclaimed My Voice After Psychiatry Silenced It
My healing didn’t begin with that pill. It began the moment I stopped handing over my truth for someone else to interpret.
Akathisia After a Five-Year Taper: Chained to an Antidepressant Forever
I have been on Cymbalta for 17 years now and am gutted that my five-year taper did not free me of the drug.
The “Sick Enough” Paradox in Eating Disorder Treatment
I had internalized that not only would I be socially rewarded for starving myself, but also that I could only earn care by proving that I was sick enough to meet their criteria.
A Love Letter to the Mad
My madness forged me. Madness led me to deeper truths. Madness discarded beliefs which no longer served me.
Tortured by the Mental Health System Due to Misdiagnosis of Schizophrenia
The police think my non-existent "schizophrenia" makes me a danger to the community. If I don't show up for my injections I'm subject to police arrest and kidnapping from my home.
Dear Psychiatrist: I Almost Died Under Your Care
Dear Psychiatrist: What were you thinking when you prescribed me nearly 800 pills of Xanax in under seven months?
Elizabeth Loftus, False Memories and the Search for My True Self
A cautionary tale about the largely unconscious need for power and dominance that mental health clinicians have over patients’ narratives, especially for children and adolescents.
Psychiatric Butchery: What I’ve Seen at a Homeless Shelter for Women with Children
Children are being given psychiatric drugs, “treated” for the abuse they receive in the harsh world of the homeless.
A Victim Re-Victimised
I had just been physically abused, deprived of my liberty and had my property stolen. Yet, I was the one who was being arrested.
Grief and Burnout: The Challenge of Staying Out of Psychiatry
No matter how many times I scatter, I gather my pieces every time and get down to my garden where souls dwell, waiting to be tended.
The Note
I’ve helped dozens of my students through tough times and suicidal thoughts. But my own child? How do I handle THIS?
I Am Looking for People I Miss
It’s a community of like-minded people; we should stick together. Maybe, hopefully, I will find my hospital friends.
A Psycho-Spiritual Journey
The Wellness approach, despite years of deliberate suppression, has survived and proven itself to be highly effective.
Burnout: How Mental Health Systems Fail Neurodivergent Professionals
Many neurodivergent professionals are burning out quietly in a field that prides itself on empathy while treating its providers like machines.
My Involuntary Metamorphosis
After day treatment, I went once a week to a “continuing care” group. What was “continued” was the lesson that you had a fault that was shameful, volatile and dangerous.
Therapy Can Harm Too
I’d like to open up a conversation about the role psychologists and social workers play in getting people on psychiatric drugs and ensuring treatment compliance.
Dear Psychiatrist – I Survived
It took me over 20 years to believe in myself enough to walk away from psychiatry and psych drugs and regain my life. I not only survived, but I am also thriving.
Overprescribed and Overlooked: A Preventable Tragedy
My friend’s death was entirely preventable. We need more regulation of psychiatric medication in America.
How Creativity and Flexibility in Therapy Changed My Healing Journey
This is not meant to be an indictment of DBT, but an example of how important it is to make changes when a treatment doesn’t work.
Medical Health Treatment vs. Mental Health Treatment
Every person seeking help should be treated with respect, informed of their options, and have a strong sense that their concerns are being addressed.
