I present myself as the "empowered patient" on this blog for a reason. I advocate for many who are being harmed and need to learn how to advocate for themselves. The reason I do it well, however, is because I was a mental health professional for so many years. That means I know how professionals think and I know what and how much it takes to become empowered as a patient. The result of this for me, and it's very sad really, is that I continue to be treated like a patient by far too many of my colleagues. It's really very depressing that there is such a thing..."being treated like a patient," that is. But it's really clear when one is approached with that undeniable sort of sickly sweet condescension or alternately, complete dismissal. … [click on title for the rest of the post]