Author Archives: Shay Seaborne, CPTSD
The Mental Illness industry: It Ain’t About Health or Care
The mental illness industry does not exist to heal people. It was largely built by Gilded Age industrialists to control the population, keep people functioning as workers, and pathologize suffering caused by systemic conditions. Instead of recognizing distress as a … Continue reading
Resilience Isn’t Solo: The Neurobiology of Support
A recent visit with a new healthcare practitioner had a significantly negative impact. She was so out of sorts that she could not appropriately connect. That meant she could not take in what I said or understand what I needed. … Continue reading
Posted in Neurobiology
Tagged attunement, Medicine, overwhelm, practitioner, resilience, support
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Medical Sabbaticals: Reducing Exposure as Harm Reduction in Healthcare
It’s awful to be disbelieved, unseen, minimized, and dismissed, particularly by the people we turn to for support and help. It’s also really bad for the nervous system. This is part of why I cut way back on seeing healthcare … Continue reading
Posted in Healthcare
Tagged harm reduction, healthcare, medical sabbatical, Medicine, Nervous System, practitioners, sabbatical, stress load
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Rest as a Missing Practice
Last week, I drove from Wilmington, DE to Baltimore, MD, a distance made challenging by multiple chronic pain conditions, including bodywide myalgia and quadrilateral Complex Regional Pain Syndrome. A fellow tall ship sailor, visiting from far away, had suggested we … Continue reading
Posted in Neurobiology
Tagged Alexander Technique, constructive rest, Imogen Ragone, rest, tall ships Sail 250
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The Question Psychiatry Cannot Answer: If Depression Is a Chemical Imbalance, What Threw It Off?
Psychiatry long claimed there’s a “chemical imbalance,” in mental illness, but it never answers the obvious questions: if it’s chemical, what threw it off? Why now? Why not at birth? And why does it so often follow trauma, neglect, chronic … Continue reading
Posted in Psychiatry
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Not Feeling: A Survival Adaptation
Not feeling emotions can be a survival adaptation that develops when your nervous system has been overwhelmed by chronic stress or trauma. It’s a way of protecting yourself from feelings that once felt too intense or unbearable. Reconnecting with your … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged emotional blunting, emotions, feelings, numbness, recovery
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No Justice With the Midwife But What I Create
I keep talking about what happened to me because the lack of justice makes it impossible to “let it go,” as if that is even a thing. The forced FGM surgery didn’t just happen; it continues to resonate in my … Continue reading
Posted in Justice
Tagged abuse, accountability, art, institutional betrayal, justice, paintings, relationships, sharing, truth-telling, watercolors, witnessing
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What if Mental Health Care Actually Cared?
Mental health doesn’t come from a drug or cognitive behavioral therapy. Real mental health is built on what has always made humans whole: safety, connection, dignity, and the right to be felt and seen in the truth of our pain. … Continue reading
The Mental Illness Industry is Delusional
In a medical or psychological context, a delusion is a fixed, false belief that is not based on external reality and persists despite evidence to the contrary. This is often associated with delusional disorder or other mental health conditions. The … Continue reading