I have dealt with anxiety since I was a teenager. As it is a chronic condition, the severity of it comes and goes. Sometimes I feel fine; the anxiety is quietly humming away in the background and I can carry on as normal. Other times, I feel so unwell that I can’t do much more than get out of bed. It is not unheard of for me to take a day off from work or cancel an … [Read more...]
Trans People, Trauma, and Dissociative Identities
Many, if not most, of the trans people I’ve known have been coping with at least one form of trauma. We take a lot of abuse from society, often at an early age. I am transgender. I do not currently identify as the sex I was assigned at birth (female). I have also taken physical steps to alter my body and live my life perceived by others as male. However, my gender identity … [Read more...]
4 Reasons To Medicate Your Anxiety (or Not)
CW: some profanity; mental illness-related fatalities The first time I went on antidepressants, I was sixteen years old. My school counsellor suspected that I was depressed, and a visit to my GP confirmed her suspicions. I stopped taking them when I finished high school, but after a couple of months it became obvious that antidepressants were still a necessary part of my … [Read more...]
Sociopaths, Borderlines, and Psychotics: 3 Mental Illnesses We Must Stop Hating On
This article was originally published on EverydayFeminsim.com and is republished with permission. (Content warning: discussion of trauma, violence, suicide) When I was nineteen years old, I enrolled in a class called Abnormal Psychology. It was a survey course on mental illness, and it was the first step in my path to becoming a social worker and psychotherapist. At the … [Read more...]
6 Ways Gender Stereotypes Make Mental Illness Invisible in Men
Mental health issues affect everyone, no matter how you identify. This is true regardless of whether you receive a classic psychiatric diagnosis or work to recognize the symptoms of mental illness in your own life or in the lives of those you love. This fact comes as no surprise to many of us, but for some, there is a strong denial that they are affected by mental health … [Read more...]
Living With Multiple Mental Illnesses: 7 Things To Know & How To Be a Better Ally
My step-dad said to me recently, “When it comes to mental illness, comorbidity is the name of the game.” He wasn’t wrong. Comorbidity refers to having more than one chronic illness at once. Of all the people who experience mental disorders in the U.S. (roughly one in five), 45% of them meet the criteria for two or more disorders. That’s almost one in ten people who may be … [Read more...]
