Mental health from both sides
The cushion of my desire is plump, and beckons boldly, waiting for my back to sink back softly into sleep, caressing gently. Reality is different. My feet press hardly on the lumpy seat, my bottom strains, against compressing pants that have and hold. My nerves fire pain from back to foot and back again that…
The last couple of weeks have been trying for all of us, wherever we live. Fear of covid-19, fear of illness, fear for loved ones, fear for livelihood, fear of isolation. All of these are massive stressors in their own right, so thrown all together their impact is grim. But it is the usual lot…
I have been a psychiatric in-patient on quite a few occasions. I am also the psychiatrist on an in-patient ward. There are differences: I work with people with addictions, whereas my times as a patient have been on general psychiatric wards with severe depression. But there are also similarities, and most of my admissions were…
What would I think if I met my online persona? Would I like them, or would I sneer slightly, embarrassed by my own proximity? I’ve tried not to hide behind that persona too much – I use my own name (more or less), and a picture that’s only a year old. But I have to…
When we drink alcohol, or use other recreational drugs, there is usually a rapid effect. Scarcely has the glass been placed back down, than a feeling of well-being – or whatever your drug of choice promotes – radiates through the limbs and settles happily in the cranial control unit. Obviously, more may be taken, and…
Continue reading ➞ Psychiatric drugs – mainly antidepressants
I’m never too sure what I think about stigma. If you asked me now, my immediate response would be that it has had no adverse effect on my life, and of course that has to be rubbish. Things affect us insidiously, such that we discount them, or don’t even notice them. Sometimes it’s only when…
My teeth have been bothering me quite a lot recently. This isn’t unusual, and I’m never sure whether it falls within the realms of the neurotic, the slightly disconnected from reality or (most likely) the sadly realistic. I can hardly believe I’m eating chocolate buttons as I write this – rather than creating dissonance, it…