STORIES OF PSYCHIATRY
Depression
'You don't watch Bollywood with me anymore' - a story about generational stigma
"We wanted to know if the generation that lives so much online is any more comfortable talking about psychological problems — in real life — than their parents are"
What does depression feel like? Trust me, you don't want to know
Jared Singer: In the wake of suicide
Bipolar Disorder
"I’m still scared of people treating me differently and of my boss feeling like I’m less capable of doing my job. I want to be the person that uses my real name and admits what I’m going through to put a face to the stigma of mental illness in the workplace, but I can’t. It terrifies me."
Day 177. "I was really in a dark place here. I was completely in a depressive phase."
Fed up with keeping her mental health a secret, bipolar disorder sufferer Missy Douglas spent a year creating a painting each day to express her feelings. Controversially, she decided not to take her medication during this time, in the hope that paintings demonstrating her highs and lows would raise awareness of her condition.
See more of Missy's work here
"This contemporary dance film transports the audience into the mind of Karenza, a dance instructor who suffers from bipolar disorder."
Electroconvulsive Therapy
A social worker on her decision to undergo ECT, her fears, her response to treatment, and what was helpful for her during the experience
Anxiety and Panic Disorders
"These two poems helped me come to terms with my anxiety."
“I had a moment where I thought I was going to die,” NBA star Love said. “I had never experienced something like that. I thought I was having a heart attack. Heart racing, and I was running around looking for something I couldn’t find. I just wanted to get air.”
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
Inspired by the phenomenon of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Tiffany Dawn Hasse makes it a mission to prolifically use her words to articulate her experience of having OCD as well as a tic disorder.
UK Model and writer Lily Bailey shares her story with OCD in her new book. Read an interview with Lily about the book here!
Substance Use & Addiction
Demi Lovato sings about her long battle with addiction, the devastation of relapse and her ongoing work to be well
What really causes addiction - to everything from cocaine to smart-phones? And how can we overcome it? Johann Hari has seen our current methods fail firsthand, as he has watched loved ones struggle to manage their addictions. He started to wonder why we treat addicts the way we do - and if there might be a better way.
Autism Spectrum Disorder
"The act of sewing, knitting, what have you, is a very nice stim for me. I will fidget myself bloody if my hands are left idle."
New Yorkers from all over the spectrum were invited to participate in a portrait session with their favourite stim toys, and to talk about how they would like to be perceived.
Jadon wrote this poem so that his classmates and teacher can "understand what it's like to have autism and how noises hurt his ears."
Poet Alyea Pierce’s stunning tribute to her friend Justin
A sister describes her sentiments about her severely autistic brother
Ben's breathtaking poem entitled "I am odd, I am new."
Life in a Psychiatric Facility
"I was a patient on a psych ward and the friends I made got me through it. Our shared madness meant that none of us had to be alone."
Letter to my friends who visited my in the psychiatric ward: You have no idea what it meant to me.
My platonic romance on the psych ward: Jeannie shares
![Kye Plant has 1 hour conversations with a different person every episode about taboo and stigmatized subjects (mental health [OCD, Bipolar, ADHD, BPD, Depression, Anxiety] PTSD, illness, gender, sexuality, etc) in order to make listeners feel LESS WEIRD and less alone .](https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5ab82be7af2096e5fa016e90/t/5b675a0b575d1f9e8ac308a3/1533499965838/feelin+weird.JPG)
Kye Plant has 1 hour conversations with a different person every episode about taboo and stigmatized subjects (mental health [OCD, Bipolar, ADHD, BPD, Depression, Anxiety] PTSD, illness, gender, sexuality, etc) in order to make listeners feel LESS WEIRD and less alone.
Eating Disorders
Linda Carson's novel on bulimia, based on her own experience with eating disorders. Print media source, for purchase see link for additional details.
Body Dysmorphic Disorder
Psychosis
“Psychosis can happen to anyone and it's far more common than you think.”
"Once, I saw liquid, melting rose gold cover trees and cars in an incandescent glow, magnified by the sunset. It was one of the most exquisite things I’ve ever witnessed: this gorgeous, pink metallic sheen on everything around me. I remember thinking to myself, I wish others could see things the way I do.'"
What it's like experiencing hallucinations you enjoy
Schizophrenia
"Inanimate objects will look like a Van Gogh painting: warped and swirly."
Kate is an artist who shares depictions of her hallucinations as a way of coping with schizophrenia
Elyn Saks, Debra Lampshire and Paris Williams are all world experts on mental health. They're using their personal experiences and working in their respective fields to debunk the myths and stigma surrounding schizophrenia.
Rachel opens up the floor for questions and shares her personal experience with schizophrenia
Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
"My transition to adulthtood with ADHD was harder than I thought": Read Catherine's story
Somatic Symptom and Related Disorders
"Uppgivenhetssyndrom, or resignation syndrome, is said to exist only in Sweden, and only among refugees. The patients seem to have lost the will to live. “They are like Snow White,” a doctor said. “They just fall away from the world.”
"Cancer is much less formidable when it’s only a figment of your imagination and not an actual malignancy of the body. But it is formidable, real or imagined.. You see, I have health anxiety, a condition whereby the line between good health and imminent doom—real cancer and fake cancer—is perpetually blurred."
Personality Disorders
Read this story about Borderline personality disorder via "time to change"
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
Sarah experienced postpartum PTSD, a condition often conflated with postpartum depression
Leaving the battlefield: A soldier shares a story of PTSD
“When we go into a lot of First Nations health centres there’s posters on diabetes, cancer, HIV, AIDS, safe sex, quitting smoking — those are a lot of symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder — but we see very little information and awareness about what post-traumatic stress is and what it’s causing to the people,” said Kiesman, a First Nations member who struggles with PTSD. Writing and doing art are key tools for managing his condition.
"Michael was not in New York on September 11, 2001. But for years afterwards, when an elevator opened at work, he would imagine people on fire rushing out, their screams filling the lobby."
A clinical psychologist from Lower Manhattan developed secondary/acquired trauma as he treated hundreds of patients with PTSD in the aftermath of September 11th.
"'What rules do we have in our family?' They dutifully recited: We don’t play hide-and-seek. We don’t scare Mommy. We don’t play war. We don’t talk in the car when Mommy’s driving..."
A veteran wonders: How will my PTSD affect my kids?