This blog post talks about one of many aspects of trauma that is often forgotten: the context of our lives and how that impacts our experience of trauma. Trauma is at the heart of much of what we think of as ‘mental illness’ I write a lot about trauma on this blog. That’s because one of the most important things I learned during my healing was that none of the psychiatric labels, medications or ECT I was given dealt with the fundamental issue at the heart of my distress: trauma. Yes, I heard voices, I had unusual beliefs. Yes, I self-harmed and attempted suicide. But while psychiatry sees those experiences as signs of illness, for me they were something much more human. They were a normal response to some very extreme, traumatic experiences. In my early childhood I experienced neglect and physical violence from my primary caregiver. And at the […]
Read more →In this article I explore how the seeds of my recovery began to take hold after I went to a community-managed mental health service.
For the first time, I found control, hope, meaningful connections, and eventually, life dreams.
Read more →A first admission to a psychiatric ward is a startling experience. I am not sure that anyone ever expects to end up in the ‘looney bin’. Certainly I didn’t. This is a place reserved for other people, for properly crazy people.
…As it turned out, most of my fellow patients were far removed from stereotypical nutters themselves. We crazy folks have many experiences and talents, but none of them sufficient to keep us out of the ward. I was to meet mathematicians, artists, musicians, an admiral, and several versions of Jesus.
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