One Of These Things Is Not Like The Others

 This post contains discussion of chronic suicidal thinking. There are no actual suicides described or images.  Please read at your discretion.

 

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I was sitting in the office of my Pain Management Specialist.  Also in the office was a medical student.  I know most people don’t like medical students sitting in on appointments, but I don’t mind.  They have to learn about the patient’s perspective somehow, and because in New Zealand their exposure to mental health, as part of their training, is so small, I think it’s vital that they get all the exposure they can get.

The Birds And The Bees And The Risks That We Take

Almost six months ago, I made a choice to go off of my hormonal birth control (HBC).  I wasn’t delighted about ditching this drug; I had been on one form or another of HBC pretty much all of my adult life.  But I was in a spot.  I was five nights sleepless, floridly manic, and the only medication I could take for sleep could not be taken while I was on HBC.  I discovered an interaction between my sleep med (tizanidine) and any form of hormonal birth control that, once my doctor did some research, we found out really should have killed me while I had been taking it.  No exaggeration.  The blackouts I experienced while on the combo were the scariest evidence to back this claim up.

Be Your Own Advocate

A Note From Ruby:  This post was written by Always and originally published 22 September 2011.  She has given me leave to post it again, now that our family (authors and readers both) has grown in size.  I think it’s a wonderful piece that absolutely everyone can learn from.

The title of this post doesn’t refer to joining groups whose purpose is to reduce the stigma of a mental health diagnosis, although that’s certainly a wonderful thing to do.

Be Your Own Advocate

The title of this post doesn’t refer to joining groups whose purpose is to reduce the stigma of a mental health diagnosis, although that’s certainly a wonderful thing to do.  I’m also not referring to shouting about your mental health diagnoses from the rooftops, although God knows I all but will (I think if I literally did it, they would lock me up and I would further ingrain the stereotypes associated with manic-depression).  I’m talking about educating yourself, really learning about all things related to whatever your particular malady happens to be, psychiatric or even physical.