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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]