Living with Schizophrenic Delusions

Dan Hoeweler is the author of the Creative Schizophrenia blog. He knows firsthand what it’s like to live in your own personal psychological thriller and survive to tell the tale. He joined us on the HealthyPlace Mental Health TV Show to describe his schizophrenia symptoms and their impact on his life.

Like some people suffering from Schizophrenia, I have been homeless, I have abused alcohol and have slept on people’s porches and couches for extensive periods of time while suffering the incredible pain and horror behind this mental illness. I am here today to bring hope to those who have none. To say that even a life with great pain can have great meaning, and that even a homeless alcoholic schizophrenic can become a much better person.

Watch the video interview and learn more about Dan’s experiences with schizophrenia and how he found life beyond schizophrenic delusions.

Share Your Experience with Schizophrenic Delusions

Have you been diagnosed with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder? Have you been living with schizophrenic delusions? We invite you to call us and share your thoughts and experiences with us at 1-888-883-8045. (Info about Sharing Your Mental Health Experience here.) You can also leave your comments below.

Gender, Race, and Mental Illness Impact Each Other

Shawn Maxam, however, has given plenty of thought to the relationships between gender, race, and mental illness. Shawn is a writer who blogs about his personal experiences and thoughts as a black man living with bipolar disorder.

The biggest difference I see being a Black man and having Bipolar Disorder is the lack of male social workers, therapists and psychiatrists of color. When you experience something as life-altering and traumatic as being diagnosed with a mental illness it might help to see some of the resource providers who look like you or may have shared your experience.

If I want to talk about masculinity or police brutality many of the women therapists and social workers can empathize but they usually don’t have the ability to relate and advise which is what I desire sometimes.

Men with bipolar disorder may have different obstacles to overcome than women. And black men like Shawn encounter difficulties white men may be less likely to deal with.

Some Statistics on Race and Mental Illness

Being black and bipolar may not be the same as being white and bipolar. Here’s why:

• About 25% of African Americans are uninsured and the stigma of mental illness keeps many from seeking treatment anyway.
• Approximately one African American in three who needs care receives it. And black Americans are more likely than white Americans to terminate treatment early.
• Errors in diagnosis of certain disorders (mood disorders like bipolar disorder, for example) are made more often for black Americans and white Americans.
• African Americans are less likely to receive appropriate care for things like depression and anxiety.

Watch the video interview and learn more about Shawn’s experiences with gender, race, and mental illness.

Share Your Experience with Gender, Race, and Mental Illness

Are you living with bipolar disorder or another mental health condition? Does your gender or race affect your treatment or experience? We invite you to call us and share your thoughts and experiences with us at 1-888-883-8045. (Info about Sharing Your Mental Health Experience here.) You can also leave your comments below.

Living with Psychiatric Comorbidity

Craig is 35 years old and he lives in Australia with his parents. First diagnosed with depression around the age of 18, Craig was additionally diagnosed with bipolar disorder, anxiety, and OCD over the years. Living with all of these conditions is, he says, very challenging.

Suffering from Bipolar Disorder/OCD/Depression and Anxiety does prove to be very exhausting physically and mentally as you are fighting an internal war everyday. As such I haven’t worked or studied in years and have also been single for 10 years. I would like to work again very much as I wish to become part of everyday society rather than being socially reclusive to a degree. Like any illness there are good days and bad but somehow I always manage to find Hope to continue fighting for a better life.

Watch the video interview and learn more about what living with psychiatric comorbidity is like for Craig.

Share Your Experience with Psychiatric Comorbidity

Are you living with more than one mental illness? We invite you to call us and share your thoughts and experiences with us at 1-888-883-8045. (Info about Sharing Your Mental Health Experience here.) You can also leave your comments below.

One Man’s War on Severe Clinical Depression

Jack Smith is a man embroiled in a battle against a brain disease called Major Depressive Disorder. He joined us on the HealthyPlace Mental Health TV Show to discuss the realities of living with major depression.

… I’ve been waging war on this brain disease for a long time. And it is a disease. It is not a character flaw. It is not an excuse for my shortcomings. It is not a spiritual defect. It is not a case of the occasional blues. It is real, and it is painful — physically painful. It is maddening and it can be gut wrenching. It is an illness just as diabetes is an illness. I call it a war because war is hell, and so is clinical depression.

Read more from Jack at the Coping with Depression Blog here at HealthyPlace. You can also find him at his personal blog, aptly titled One Man’s War on Depression.

Share Your Experience with Severe Clinical Depression

Have you been diagnosed with major depressive disorder or struggled with depression? We invite you to call us and share your thoughts and experiences with us at 1-888-883-8045. (Info about Sharing Your Mental Health Experience here.) You can also leave your comments below.

The Balanced Mind Foundation

The Balanced Mind Foundation is a resource for families raising children with mood disorders: childhood bipolar disorder, depression and a proposed new DSM-V diagnosis for children who are currently diagnosed with bipolar disorder, but do not meet full criteria. Executive Director Susan Resko joined us on the HealthyPlace Mental Health TV Show to discuss the struggles these families face and how The Balanced Mind Foundation strives to help.

We envision a world where children living with mood disorders thrive because their families have the resources, community and support they need.

Susan is a national leader in children’s mental health advocacy and is passionate about her work. usan is a ’94 graduate of Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. She also holds a B.S. in Business Administration from Miami University of Ohio. Susan and her husband Mike live in Kenilworth and they have three children, one of whom has been living with a variety of mental health challenges for the past decade.

Share Your Experience Raising Children with Mood Disorders

Does your child have childhood bipolar disorder or depression? We invite you to call us and share your thoughts and experiences with us at 1-888-883-8045. (Info about Sharing Your Mental Health Experience here.) You can also leave your comments below.

What Is the Health at Every Size Approach?

After watching the HealthyPlace Mental Health TV Show interview with Kerry Beake, a Health at Every Size coach, I know the attitude I’m hoping to cultivate resembles the basic tenets of the HAES approach:

• Self-acceptance - When I was a teenager I wanted to weigh as little as possible without getting sickly thin. As an adult my priorities are different. I want to feel comfortable and healthy, no matter my size.
• Physical Exercise – I don’t want to run marathons. I’d rather focus on low intensity physical activities that I genuinely enjoy.
• Normalized Eating – I have this awful habit of consuming almost nothing but coffee during the day and then overeating in the evening. I’m not looking to completely change my diet, but I’d like to eat more regularly.

In other words, HAES is essentially an approach to wellness that focuses on health, not weight or size. It’s about making decisions that honor our bodies and minds. It’s about choosing health.

Meet Kerry, a Health at Every Size Coach

As a Health at Every Size coach, Kerry’s goal is to support clients as they discover their own intuitive ability to take care of, nurture, and love their bodies. She offers coaching and consultation using a Health at Every Size framework for private and corporate clients who are looking for a way of creating lifelong wellness. Kerry earned a Bachelor of Science in Human Biology from Edith Cowan University with a minor in Biomedical Science. She also received a Post graduate diploma in Counseling and is currently completing a Masters in Nutrition and Dietetics.

Share Your Health at Every Size Experience

Do you have experience with HAES? We invite you to call us and share your thoughts and experiences with us at 1-888-883-8045. (Info about Sharing Your Mental Health Experience here.) You can also leave your comments below.

It Started with Postpartum Depression

Looking at the picture of Lee Horbachewski on the right, you wouldn’t guess she had a care in the world. Her website and twitter name, @SimpLee_Serene mocks the illness that led to a 2004 suicide attempt. It started as postpartum depression (PPD). At the time, she summarily dismissed it as a minor case of the baby blues – even as the symptoms of major depression mushroomed and began to consume her being. Months later, lying in bed in a psychiatric unit, she realized what she was up against. It would take time, years, for the author of “A Quiet Strong Voice” to claw her way back.

Share Your Experience of Recovering From Depression

Recovering from depression can be a very individual experience. We invite you to call us and share your thoughts and experience with us at 1-888-883-8045. (Info about Sharing Your Mental Health Experience here.) You can also leave your comments below.

What happens to those girls with ADHD when they become adults with ADHD if much of the focus is on men with ADHD? That is the concern of Terry Matlen, ACSW who is a psychotherapist, consultant, writer and coach, specializing in adult attention deficit disorders.

From Mothers to Female Professionals with ADHD

Terry has a special interest in women and moms with ADHD, as well as parenting the ADHD child when one or both parents also has ADHD. She is the author of the book, “Survival Tips for Women with ADHD” and is founder/director of two popular websites: www.ADDconsults.com and www.MomsWithADD.com

Terry’s experience learning about her daughter’s ADHD led her to discover her own untreated ADHD. Soon she turned her professional talents towards leading in her field, serving as vice-president of ADDA (Attention Deficit Disorders Association), involving herself with the the organization of the Eastern Oakland County CHADD (Children and Adults with ADHD) Chapter in Michigan, as well as lending expert insight to national magazines such as The Wall Street Journal, Time Magazine, The New York Times, US News and World Report, Newsday, The Today Show, CBS Morning News, The Today Show, The Jane Pauley Show, Ladies Home Journal, Glamour, and more.

Tune in with us as we discuss Terry’s work with ADHD women and learn how her own ADHD affected her professionally and as a parent.

Share Your Experience and Thoughts on Women with ADHD

Are you a woman with ADHD? Do you deal with ADHD in your as a mother or professional? We invite you to call us and share your thoughts and experience with us at 1-888-883-8045. (Learn more about Sharing Your Mental Health Experience here.) We also encourage you to leave comments below.

Afraid of Quitting Antidepressants

Some mothers find their prescription antidepressants so beneficial to their life that they begin to fear going off of them, then they fear they have become dependent. It is a dilemma common to many people who use medication to alleviate their depression.

Misty Matthews is one mother who struggles with this issue. Misty blogs regularly at www.thefamilymath.com, where she talks about life, parenting and coping with post-partum depression. One of her goals is to help other women understand that PPD is nothing to be ashamed of.

Misty joins us to discuss her experiences with postpartum depression and her struggle with the question: “Am I dependent on antidepressants for my happiness?”

Share Your Experiences with Post-Partum Depression

Have you experienced Post-Partum Depression after childbirth? We invite you to call us and share your thoughts and experience with us at 1-888-883-8045. (Info about Sharing Your Mental Health Experience here.) You can also leave comments below.

Today’s guest is Casey Bazarewski. Casey has been dealing with OCD since she was six. Read about her life in her own words:

I had OCD symptoms for as long as I can remember, but I specifically remember it getting bad when I was in first grade, so I was 6.  I was terrified of dying and I started checking locks and my window in my room.  I never told anyone about it because I was embarrassed.  I thought I was crazy and I didn’t want other people to think that too.  Over the years I went through lots of different forms of OCD…for a while I was obsessed with the fear of being kidnapped so I would spend hours at night checking my window lock and inspecting every corner of my room to make sure there was nowhere that someone could break into.  In middle school I became obsessed with the fear of contamination.  I remember I used a whole bottle of soap every time I washed my hands and the sink would be full of suds afterwards…that drove my parents crazy.  My hands were raw and they would bleed every day.

Finally in my junior year of high school it got to the worst it’s ever been.  I couldn’t function anymore.  Everything in my life had a ritual to go with it.  I checked everything, I had to do things in multiples of four times.  I would open and close doors, sit down, walk through doorways, and wash my hands over and over.  I had to say little things to myself over and over to assure myself that I didn’t want my obsessions to come true.  It was awful.  It got so bad that I finally had to tell my mom what was going on and I started seeing a therapist in January 2009.  The therapy alone helped a little bit, but in April it got even worse than it was and I was hospitalized for three days.  That was when I finally got diagnosed with OCD and was put on medication.  I tried I think 3 different medicines before I finally found one that works for me.  I continued seeing my therapist and the combination of therapy and meds has been amazing.  Now, my OCD is pretty manageable.  It still affects me in little ways every day, but it doesn’t take up more than a couple minutes each day.

Now I’m a sophomore in college and I’m majoring in psychology and sociology.  My dream is to be a child psychologist so that I can help other kids with OCD like my therapist has helped me.  I still see my therapist when I’m home from school, and I go to the counseling center at my school to make sure I’m keeping up on the skills I learned from my therapist.  I am very open about my OCD and I all of my friends and family members know about it.  My sorority sisters have even sat with me while I’m stuck in a doorway doing my rituals so that I don’t have to be alone.  As a result of me sharing my story, I have helped two people get help for their own problems.  For me, that makes it all worth it.  I also am raising money for OCD Chicago by selling rubber bracelets that say “Just Thoughts” on them.  I just want to try to prevent people, especially kids, from suffering from OCD for as long as I did before getting help.

Join us today as Casey discusses her experience with OCD from grade school to college and how it affected relationships with her peers.

Share Your Experiences with OCD

Have you grown up with OCD? We invite you to call us and share your thoughts and experience with us at 1-888-883-8045. (Info about Sharing Your Mental Health Experience here.) You can also leave comments below.