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I was diagnosed with bipolar about 16 years ago and it took years for me to find an effective treatment. At the time, I was very suicidal but I wouldn’t go to a hospital. I said, and I really meant, “I would rather die than go to one of those places.” But, much to my surprise, a few years later, when I was again very suicidal, I checked myself into one of those places. I stayed in a mental hospital.
Dear Senator Paul:
I understand that you think I and people like me are "gaming the system" because we're receiving disability benefits for mental illness. I also understand that you claim you were quoted out of context and that some people do deserve disability, but the able-bodied don't. I've seen both videos, and you didn't say anything about mental illness. Logically, that means you think people with severe mental illness should not receive disability. Let me inform you about the realities of mental illness and disability benefits.
The effects of verbal abuse hurt me in both the short-term and long-term. Short-term effects of verbal abuse were the sting of his words or suggestions and the long nights spent crying silently to myself, figuring out what I needed to do to make the relationship better. Long-term effects, for me, are posttraumatic stress disorder and major depressive disorder. Some victims of abuse suffer dissociative identity disorder, too.
How does that happen? Why does a healthy person become a victim suffering from mental disorders?
I used to lie all the time. In my addiction, I lied constantly to cover up my drinking (not that it worked). Even before I started drinking, I lied about my mental health issues because I thought if people knew what was going on inside my head, they would think I was weird (they still did). It wasn't until I got sober that I realized how dishonest I had been on a daily basis and the importance of honesty in addiction recovery.
There is a pill container in my kitchen sitting on the windowsill above the sink that contains psychiatric medication that I give to my child with a mental illness. It contains 14 compartments, labeled the days of the week, AM and PM. The compartments have dosages of antidepressants, antipsychotics, mood stabilizers and acne medicine. My son, Bob, takes a handful of these pills every morning before he goes to school and every night before he goes to bed.
Dissociation is a common phenomenon. Most people will experience dissociation at some point in their lives. It becomes a disorder, like in dissociative identity disorder (DID), when it is so frequent or severe that it interrupts a person's daily life. One common technique used for dissociation is called grounding. It is a technique that helps a person regain connection with his or her physical body. This may often end the dissociation, or will at least make it more bearable.
Criminal Minds, Law and Order, NCIS -- crime shows have become a staple on television for over a decade. These kinds of shows mesh mystery and violence with suspense and romance and when all of those factors collide, of course it’s going to make for an impressive hour of television. Another piece that fits in with the crime show puzzle is violence, blood and mental illness. Unfortunately, many negative characters in these kinds of shows end up with mental illness, which stigmatizes mental illness and those truly struggling with it. You also see a lot of self-harm.
When my COBRA expired, I sought insurance (particularly to pay for mental health services), only to be denied because my mental illness was considered a pre-existing condition. Desperate, I turned to a Christian health pool, and asked if they covered mental illness. I was told that everyone has a bad day and that I should use herbs. I bit my tongue to avoid saying, "On my bad days I hallucinate." Mental illness is not a "bad day."
It's exceptionally hard to celebrate when you have depression. I just turned 30 this week and I'm proud to have survived my birthday because I was so scared up until its arrival. As it turned out, it was easier than ever for me to celebrate my birthday this year because I figured out the secret to surviving my birthday (or any holiday) with depression.
After using drugs or alcohol for a prolonged period of time, your body needs time to adjust when you quit a drug. Your body chemistry changes and that impacts your mental clarity, balance, and even your sleeping patterns. While post acute withdrawal syndrome (PAWS) is not officially recognized as a medical condition, the effects are commonly experienced by men and women in early drug and alcohol recovery.
I believe she will only be able to rid herself of her demons, and hopefully her BPD as well, when she's ready to confront the abuse of her father. If she can put the blame where it belongs, she may stop projecting that victim/perpetrator cycle on the present men in her life. These demons are a metaphor for the purgatory she has created for herself. That reality has consequences in the real world, but it need not be real in the tangible sense. Exorcising her demons will require the expenditure of real physical energy and probably the destruction of aspects of her personality. If this ever happens, and it's possible but not probable, then these demons will evaporate. They are only as real as one's personality is real. In short, reality is not the question, it's what you make of the things you feel to be real.