Inspired by work people have done on madness maps and mental health first aid kits, I decided to make a checklist/flowchart to use when I am having a particularly hard time or am in crisis. It was a good process for me to make because it helped me to really think about what has helped me or caused me trouble in the past. I really like that we can make these sorts of tools for ourselves instead of relying on more general (often judgmental) dos and don’ts or advice from people who never know us as well as we know ourselves.
medication Archive
03 Aug 2012
Fuck. Schizoaffective?
The last few weeks have been chaotic for me. I’ve been in a mixed episode, and starting last week, I’ve been hearing voices. Whispers, chatter, and someone calling my name. All either alone, or only with my partner nearby, and she’s confirmed that they aren’t things that she’s heard. I’ve also been feeling like the crows that wake me up in the morning are mocking me. I’ve known for months that something like this was inevitable, but it’s still jarring to experience a psychotic episode for your first time.
17 Jul 2012
From Teargas to Twitter: How I Disengaged from Activism
At nineteen I traveled from Portland to Seattle with friends for the World Trade Organization protests that became known as the WTO Riots or the Battle of Seattle. I was tear-gassed and ran from rubber bullets, fleeing the police across barricaded city streets. I enjoyed the sense of danger, thinking little of the fact that I was narrowly escaping arrest every time I left an intersection at “one” when the National Guard announced they were moving in on a count of three. I was a teenager, my friends were anarchists, and my perspective was different then.
27 Jun 2012
Ambien Quick Facts
Ambien is a powerful prescription sleep medication, in addition to being classified as a controlled substance in the United States. It is used to treat insomnia and poor sleep quality, usually prescribed by a psychiatrist as opposed to a primary care or family physician. It falls under the drug category of sedative-hypnotics and functions as a CNS depressant, working by slowing activity in the brain.
08 Jun 2012
Partners and Bipolar
I would like to welcome the newest member of our writing team, Kale Likover. In their first post with us, they discuss the issues that come with trying to maintain a relationship with a partner when one has bipolar disorder. Thanks for sharing with us, Kale!
It’s happened to me twice, getting serious with a partner like “forever” serious, and then we move in together and I have a breakdown. Is it possible for me, a two-spirited person with bipolar and depression to maintain a serious intimate relationship? If I attribute my downfalls to my mania or depression am I not taking responsibility for them.
13 Feb 2012
On Chemical Imbalances and Drug Culture
I have been thinking a lot about drug culture lately and how many medical communities’ and societal groups’ abuse of the “quick fix” solution for everything creates fear and sickness in so many people. I think of how it fits in with the fast paced, competitive capitalist culture many of us live in, resulting in more time for working to get more or to survive and little time to heal oneself. As many readers know, one of the first solutions to many health issues we are offered is medication. We are bombarded with medication ads on television, in waiting rooms of doctors offices, and often from the doctors themselves (at least in the U.S. where I live). However, it is not simply the advertising that factors in. It is the fear. A culture of fear that teaches us if we stray from the mainstream medical solutions for all illnesses- drugs and expensive procedures- at best it will not work and at worst we will get far worse and die. This is not reality.
09 Nov 2011
Working with Hypersexuality
Living with bipolar disorder, when I get hypomanic, usually the first cue for me is wanting sex all. the. time. At times it gets so bad, it’s all I can think about, or I’ll spend the day masturbating rather than get any work done. Or I’ll spend my time searching for random sex partners to […]
19 Sep 2011
Lamictal Quick Facts
Lamictal is an anticonvulsant, typically used in psychiatric medicine as a mood stabilizer, particularly for bipolar disorder. Other Brand Names: none Generic Name: Lamotrigine Primary Uses: Partial seizures Lennox-Gastaut syndrome Bipolar I Disorder Other Uses: Bipolar II Disorder Treatment-resistant depression Schizoaffective Disorder BPD PTSD Depersonalization Disorder Availability: 25mg, 50mg, 100mg, 200mg tablets Contraindications: Any known hypersensitivity to lamotrigine […]
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