Category Archives: Mental Health
Losing a Point of Safety: Why I Cried at the DMV
When I cried at the Delaware Division of Motor Vehicles last week, it wasn’t because the line was so long and the agency was staffed with sloths, but a far deeper reason. I even cried when I had to make … Continue reading
Posted in Gardening, Mental Health
Tagged death, Delaware DMV, Delaware State Police, DMV, grief, loss, Matthew Snook, memorial, police, solidarity
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Brutal Work: Trauma, Mushrooms, and Integration
Four years ago I bought “magic” mushrooms from a company in Canada. The box arrived wrapped in holiday paper. Inside was a quality t-shirt and a pair of cheap footies. At first I was alarmed that I might have been … Continue reading
The DSM Misses the Mark: IPNB Offers a Humane and Scientific Understanding of Mental Health
Some trauma experts have said that if the psychiatric Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) acknowledged trauma, it would be a very thin volume because virtually everything else would fall beneath it. But from an Interpersonal Neurobiology (IPNB) … Continue reading
Posted in Mental Health, Psychiatry
Tagged Behavioral Health, DSM, illness, IPNB, Mental Health, mental illness industry, Nervous System, pathologizing, psychiatry, Psychology, recovery, Trauma, wellbeing
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Why I Am Skeptical of EMDR For Trauma Recovery
From an Interpersonal Neurobiology perspective, EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) isn’t about eye movements or “reprogramming.” It’s a relational, neurophysiological process that uses bilateral stimulation as a way to engage both hemispheres of the brain while the person accesses … Continue reading
Trauma and the Anti-Human System: Why Psychiatric ‘Care’ Fails
A pain specialist referred me to the Johns Hopkins Hospital Pain Treatment Program (PTP) because it is supposed to be one of the top hospitals in the country for pain. When you’re living inside a body that’s been pushed past … Continue reading
Posted in Abuse, Psychiatry
Tagged abuse, Hopkins, Johns Hopkins, lions, medications, pain, pain treatment, psych medications, psychiatric hospital, psychiatry
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The Gilded Age Values of the Modern Mental Illness Industry
The dominant culture continues to enforce many of the values of the Gilded Age, especially those related to economic inequality, individual responsibility, and the criminalization of marginalized groups. While there have been some advances in social justice, the structures of … Continue reading
Posted in IPNB of Hierarchy, Mental Health
Tagged Behavioral Health, Guilded Age, hirarchy, industrialists, Mental Health, mental illness, status quo
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From Trauma to Truth: How I Became Anti-Psychiatry
I became anti-psychiatry because of what psychiatry did to me and what I saw it do to others. I walked in with severe Complex PTSD. They put me on Lexapro. The suicidal ideations started about 3 weeks after. When I … Continue reading
Posted in Psychiatry
Tagged abuse, anti-psychiatry, Behavioral Health, chemical imbalance, control, hierarchy, IPNB, Mental Health, psychiatry, Trauma
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Dependency is Okay When it’s a Prescription
The mental illness industry is obsessed with telling people not to become dependent on anything: don’t rely on substances, don’t lean on coping tools too much, don’t build habits that might create “addiction.” But then, the very same industry hands … Continue reading
Posted in Mental Health
Tagged anti-depressants, anxiety, Behavioral Health, Cymbalta, dependency, discontinuation syndrome, interpersonal neurobiology, IPNB, Lexapro, medical marijuana, Mental Health, MMJ, polypharmacy, psych meds, psychiatry, Psychology, psychotropic medications, withdrawal
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Clinical Harm: An IPNB Perspective on the Therapist’s Agenda
When a therapist repeatedly interrupts, dismisses a client’s distressing experiences, or imposes their own agenda, it can have significant negative effects on the client’s nervous system, often triggering a state of dysregulation. Here’s what happens from an Interpersonal Neurobiology (IPNB) … Continue reading
Posted in Mental Health
Tagged agenda, dysregulation, Efforting, fight, flight, freeze, relationships, shame, therapist, therapy, Trauma, trust
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The DSM is Bunk: IPNB Offers a Humane and Scientific Understanding of Mental Health
Some trauma experts have said that if the psychiatric Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) acknowledged trauma, it would be a very thin volume because virtually everything else would fall beneath it. But from an Interpersonal Neurobiology (IPNB) … Continue reading