I am life. I am psychedelic. I am kaleidoscopic. I am conscious. I am aware. I am silence. I am chaos. The term bipolar *disorder* attempts to diminish. Two poles? In a world of endless spectrums all interlacing into oneness? What nonsense. The term bipolar is attached to people like me. We frighten those "treating" us. We are sensitive, open, people in need of shamanic-like guidance.
An inclusive approach to mental health: Not all in the brain
submitted to Beyond Meds by Oxford University Press - By Michelle Maiese -- For many years, the prevailing view among both cognitive scientists and philosophers has been that the brain is sufficient for cognition, and that once we discover its secrets, we will be able to unravel the mysteries of the mind. Recently however, a growing number of thinkers have begun to challenge this prevailing view that mentality is a purely neural phenomenon. They emphasize, instead, that we are conscious in and through our living bodies. Mentality is not something that happens passively within our brains, but something that we do through dynamic bodily engagement with our surroundings. This shift in perspective has incredibly important implications for the way we treat mental health –
That Awful Dread
By Georgi Y. Johnson - Dread is a fusion of anger and fear, in a cloud of threatening horror, that moves between and through people. In the social field, it is channeled through hidden agendas of entities that have lost connection with a deeper truth and purpose. - Firmly rooted in the belief of either-or, or kill or be killed, the agenda of dread is mostly occupied with possession: the possession of another human; the possession of things; the possession of truth; or the possession of status.
Easter: death and rebirth as archetype
We usually face a deeply felt experience of death before encountering the archetype of rebirth. Neither the death nor the rebirth or resurrection are things that happen quickly. There may be dreams, waking subjective experiences or a short period in ones life when death or rebirth are felt very strongly – but the process as a whole is a psychological one which may take years to unfold and stabilise.
The aftermath: polypharmacology — protracted psychiatric drug withdrawal syndrome
This was first published on David Healy's site, RxIsk: Making Medicine's Safer for All of Us, about 4 years ago. I've never published it on this site and thought I'd do so now so that it will be part of the archives here as well. It's a memoir of sorts up to that point 4 years ago.
Bridging the Benzo Divide: Iatrogenic Dependence and/or Addiction?
By Richard Lewis -- As the benzodiazepine crisis spreads throughout the United States and other parts of the world so does the debate within the benzo victim/survivor community about important definitions of key medical terms and about safe and successful paths to healing and recovery. Does “iatrogenic benzo dependence” and “addiction” represent completely separate medical and social phenomena? If they are to have distinctly different scientific definitions, can they also (at the same time) intersect in multiple ways in people’s actual real life experience? And what is the medical and social significance of exploring these concepts and seeking unity of understanding and purpose? Before delving into the content of this debate let’s briefly review the social context from which this “Benzo Divide” has emerged.
Returning to Dialogue – The Core of Healing Madness
When people are “mad,” they are often insisting that certain things are so, and frequently seem unwilling or incapable of appreciating or learning from other perspectives. Yet when the supposedly “sane” mental health system approaches those who are mad, it typically does the same thing ...
Healing isn’t a choice for me — it’s an imperative; my body is in charge
Healing is not always curing. People need to understand that. In the end these bodies die. So don't misunderstand when I say they know how to heal everything. Healing is not the same as curing. What is nice about profound healing, however, is that transformation of body/mind and spirit is possible in ways that most western modern human beings aren't even aware is possible. ...
Food and diet for profound healing
I didn't choose it in any conscious manner...the path chose me by necessity. Healing this particular heinously injured body required this particular sort of consciousness...I love Paul Pitchford's work...he articulates everything my body/mind has been learning over the years and supplies answers to numerous outstanding questions. This is a little excerpt from his brilliant, seminal, encyclopedic book. - This is where mindfulness with food leads to eventually...with consciousness and practice.
Facing Life Unarmed
By MATTHEW PURINTON, LCSW -- When I was born, everyone was expecting me to have arms. My father was perched outside the delivery room in front of a circular window framed in 70s seafoam green, and his view was blocked as I was brought into the world. The doctor's mind raced: how am I going to tell this mother and father that their son has hands but not arms? ...
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