Cutting

Can someone explain to me where the stigma around cutting comes from?
Obviously I am not promoting cutting. It’s not healthy. And if someone’s cutting themselves because they feel like they deserve to be mutilated, well… that’s a different ball game. But I’ve met people who cut as a coping mechanism for stress. Several of them [...]

Just… talk

I am 28 years old.
It took me 28 years to figure something out. Something rather simple.
That simple thing is this: to have a conversation with someone, I just have to open my mouth and say whatever I’m thinking.
Sounds ludicrous that it took me so long to figure out that, doesn’t it? And yet it’s true.
That [...]

Intake appointments

I dislike intake appointments. They make me feel worse when they’re over than I did beforehand.
The last intake appointment I had was with my new psychiatrist. She was very kind, professional, validating, and not at all shaming. She is a lovely psychiatrist.
But she’s not perfect.
And the intake form she used was not perfect, either.
Here’s the [...]

What is mental illness?

Is it a collection of symptoms? Is it environmental? It is biological? Is it cultural? Is it spiritual? All of the above?
Is there actually a specific set of chemicals in someone’s body, a “root cause,” for each mental illness? And if so, how do we know that all the people labeled “bipolar” actually have that [...]

The Survivor Psalm

Survivor Psalm
I have been victimized.
I was in a fight that was
not a fair fight.
I did not ask for the fight.
I lost.
There is no shame in losing
such fights.
I have reached the stage of
survivor and am no longer a
slave of victim status.
I look back with sadness
rather than hate.
I look forward with hope
rather than despair.
I may never forget, [...]

My wellness tools

Every person’s recovery journey is unique, and beyond some basic principles (hope, choices, empowerment, self-determination, respect, and so on), what helps each person recover is unique.
However, I think there is value in people sharing what helps them recover. Sometimes I learn a new technique for staying well that I’d never thought of before when a [...]

Transitions and stress in peer support services

Being a peer specialist is hard work. Before becoming a peer specialist, I was employed in another entry-level mental health position, in a day treatment program.
Although work in the day treatment program was challenging, I have found that my work as a peer specialist is even more so. Perhaps because the peer support program is [...]