Category: Disability
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NAMI Week Four
Today was week four of NAMI Peer-to-Peer classes. In week four, we shared our personal stories. I am taking the opportunity to copy and paste my story here: My Story As a freshman at UCLA, I fell into a deep depression, believing that my parents, my sister, the whole world would be better off without…
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Am I Bipolar or Do I Have Bipolar?
Do I have bipolar disorder or am I bipolar? I know many in the mental health community feel strongly about the meaning of this linguistic distinction. Can I honestly claim that I am not defined by my illness? My brain disorder influences my personality and the way I think. Bipolar disorder defines and limits me in ways I wish it didn’t. My…
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Thought Wisps
F*ck what was I thinking? Cannot recall. Had a thought or perhaps even more than one. Something to write for my blog. Now I’m drawing a blank. My mind cannot hold onto thoughts for very long. They slip away. Slip away. Wisps. The thought had to do with removing my MFT license from my description for…
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Motherhood While Depressed and Bipolar
Since I was eighteen-years-old, I suffered from symptoms of moderate to severe chronic depression. Until I was thirty, I coped with chronic depression using psychotherapy. When I suffered a severe breakdown at thirty, I sought medical help for my symptoms and was prescribed antidepressants. Before becoming pregnant in my mid-thirties, I researched antidepressants to determine which was the…
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The Rebel and His Mother
The Rebel When my son was a preschooler in daycare His class had a field trip to the local In ‘N Out As we walked back to the daycare center My son held my hand We walked in pairs down the sidewalk His daycare teacher said Everyone stay on sidewalk Do not step into the…
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Mother and Wife
When my son was young, I juggled working outside the home with mothering and homemaking. By the time he was four, I found it unsustainable and ended up in a psychiatric hospital for two weeks and then months in partial hospitalization spending my days in structured group therapy sessions. Since then I have been a…
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Freaking Out
Both my husband and my mother have expressed concern that I am ramping up (becoming hypomanic and experiencing mixed emotional states) as I’ve started the Ticket to Work process. I have had trouble sleeping, my mind is racing, I’m anxious, and I’ve shed a few tears. I put in a call to my psychiatrist. Both…
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To Blog or Not to Blog
Last week as I started interviewing for part-time positions, I considered taking down my blog, worried that I would be found out and that prospective employers would avoid hiring me, fearing the worse. We hear of nightmares on the news, of mentally ill who did not receive adequate treatment and did unthinkably violent things. My…
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What to do?
Freaking out, ramping up, as I begin my part-time job search. Reminded: “Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.” – Christina Harrington, Human Solutions LLC, Human-Solutions.net