Peter Stastny,* MD, writes about an upcoming conference (Nov 23): "Alternative responses to first psychotic breaks: Rethinking psychiatric crisis." After several years, there is a renewed focus on treatment for first psychotic episodes. An emphasis on early intervention and prevention of psychosis, with the goal of shortening the "duration of untreated psychosis" has obscured the... Continue Reading →
Desiderata
Go placidly amid the noise and the haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story. Avoid loud and... Continue Reading →
Interview on Madness Radio
Will Hall interviewed me for Madness Radio in early December 2008. It's available right here: The interview deals with my experience being a psychiatric survivor and takes a look at the work I've been doing with this blog. Since December a few things have happened. I am indeed, now, completely housebound. I can no longer... Continue Reading →
Dharma not pharma
By Leah Harris "And did you get what you wanted from this life, even so? I did. And what did you want? To call myself beloved, to feel myself beloved on the earth." - Raymond Carver, "Last Fragment," *All of Us: The Collected Poems* Having spent my entire adolescence either medicated on psychotropic drugs or... Continue Reading →
Synesthesia
Fascinating video about the phenomena of synesthesia. A way of experiencing reality in a different way than what is considered "normal." Yet none of these people are considered sick either. It's simply an alternate way of being. The movie suggests that there are many many ways in which this might be true among humans but... Continue Reading →
Healing the gut for good mental health — probiotics
Probiotics are catching on in the mainstream as seen here in the Los Angeles Times. Why am I mentioning it here? What does it have to do with withdrawal and mental health. Everything. The first thing I did when I started researching natural care for mental health was come upon anecdotal evidence again and again... Continue Reading →
Mania as spiritual awakening
This is a video series of a man telling his story of a "mania" that he interpreted as a spiritual emergency--treated it as such and recovered completely with no meds whatsoever. I had a very similar story at the onset, but got sucked into psychiatry which he avoided. That made for radically different lives. I'm... Continue Reading →
Gossip
From an article in Tricycle Magazine. This is a nice little list of thoughts to meditate on. Read the whole article for more inspiration. Seven Tips for Giving Up Gossip 1. Recognize that gossip doesn’t undo the situation you’re talking about. It only puts in motion another situation based on negative feelings. 2. Know that... Continue Reading →
Thoughts on the drugging of children
Alison Bass was a speaker and in attendance at the ICSPP conference on the travesty of drugging our kids last week. Today she posts a few thoughts that came out of the conference. Below is the opening of her piece. Click through to her blog to read the rest. When my son was in kindergarten,... Continue Reading →