More Power Than You Know Sarah Bobo During your mental health care, have you often felt hopeless about your chance of getting better? Yes. I thought for years that I would be unable to engage in meaningful work, that I would never be able to have children – at least in part because I was…
Recognizing the Society Tania Jivraj During your mental health care, have you often felt hopeful about your chance of getting better? My social worker who supported me through my post-partum was the first person to say to me that my PPD (Postpartum Depression) was my body trying to tell me something. She taught me how…
Broaden Your World Melody Riefer; Tucket, GA During your mental health care, have you often felt hopeful about your chance of getting better? Yes, due to encouragement of friends, family and [my] therapist. Not [because of] medical staff. During your mental health care, have you often felt hopeless about your chance of getting…
Stuck On the “Med-Go-Round” In what ways have you found psychiatric medication(s) harmful, if any? [The medications] make me feel numb, dysphoric, apathetic, and slow, make it hard to think, feel, concentrate and make decisions. [They cause] weight gain so I feel bad about my body. Some have caused akathisia – like horrible panic, thought…
Let it Go, Today is Precious In what ways have you found psychiatric medication(s) helpful, if any? I found psychiatric medications helpful – but only for a very short time in my late teens, and other brief periods when medications were the only kind of help I could get. In what ways have you found…
Focused on the Present During your mental health care, have you often felt hopeful about your chance of getting better? I have a strong sense of “survival” and belief system of patience and persistence that comes from heritage of immigrant peasants out of eastern Europe. The bad side of that is assuming that one must…
Proud to Be Who I Am In what ways have you found psychiatric medication(s) helpful, if any? I sometimes wonder if I need these medications at all. It started as child when I was diagnosed with ADD. The doctors put me on Ritalin, which I reacted to, so then they experimented with upping the doses…
What I Have Become In what ways have you found psychiatric medication(s) helpful, if any? I never did find them helpful. I guess I bought into the dream that I could only get better if I took medication. I had terrible side effects and finally talked my doctor to allow me to try healing without…
Find Hope Within Yourself In what ways have you found psychiatric medication(s) helpful, if any? Certain medications helped me cope with acute stress, such as medications to manage panic attacks. When supplemented with helpful counseling, these improved my quality of life. In what ways have you found psychiatric medication(s) harmful, if any? Under certain providers,…
Inner Resources By Annette In what ways have you found psychiatric medication(s) harmful, if any? The whole process has been harmful by diverting me from working on core issues. Numbing emotional responses, blunting and making some of the spiritual and psychological growth around emotions difficult, because they are difficult to access. During your mental health…