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There's a lot of overlap in terms used in psychiatry/psychology-speak, and sometimes that can lead mistaken association of words that contain some of the same parts but actually mean very different things (like psychosis and psychopathy). This post will break down some of those words and word roots to hopefully add some clarity. Word roots… Continue reading Psychosis, Psychopathy & Other Psych Terms
The International Hearing Voices Movement (InterVoice) seeks to normalize, depathologize, and destigmatize the experience voice-hearing, and also provide support to people who hear voices, see visions, etc. InterVoice is based in the UK. There are also 28 national networks, including the Hearing Voices Network in the UK and Hearing Voices Network USA. The movement believes… Continue reading A Look at the Hearing Voices Movement
In this series, I dig a little deeper into the meaning of psychology-related terms. This week's term is delusional disorder. Delusional disorder falls within the DSM-5 group of psychotic disorders, which also includes schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder. However, it's different, in that its effects are much more compartmentalized. In delusional disorder, the delusional beliefs are… Continue reading What Is… Delusional Disorder
I first heard of the Open Dialogue approach in the book My Beautiful Psychosis by Emma Goude. It's an alternative way of managing psychosis, and I wanted to explore it further. What it is Open Dialogue was first conceived in the Western Lapland province of Finland in the early 1980s. It emphasizes listening with the… Continue reading The Open Dialogue Approach to Psychosis
One of the most common and damaging stereotypes about mental illness is that mentally ill people are chronically dangerous and violence-prone (Corrigan and Watson, 2002). This stereotype is especially strongly linked to people with psychosis. Like many stereotypes, it's not true in the vast majority of cases, but the general public may not realize that.… Continue reading Psychotic Does Not Mean Violent
But Deliver Me From Crazy by Katie R. Dale is a memoir of living with bipolar disorder. You may know Katie from her blog, and she also contributed a story about bipolar I to my book Making Sense of Psychiatric Diagnosis. The book begins when Katie was in high school, when her illness first appears.… Continue reading Book Review: But Deliver Me From Crazy
My Beautiful Psychosis by Emma Goude is a gripping, up close and personal look at what it's actually like to experience psychosis. The author's honesty and complete openness quickly shatter any stereotypes of psychosis being frightening and dangerous. The book begins with the events leading up to the author's first episode of psychosis. When she… Continue reading Book Review: My Beautiful Psychosis
My Colour-Coded Life tells Megan Jackson Hall's story of living with schizoaffective disorder. She writes that she hopes the book will help to destigmatize mental illness. The book is made up of diary-style entries from 2008 to 2018. It offers a fascinating insight into living with active psychosis on a day to day basis, written… Continue reading Book Review: My Colour-Coded Life
The Collected Schizophrenias: Essays by Esmé Weijun Wang gives insights into her life with schizoaffective disorder and some of the major issues she's faced as a result. Want uses the term schizophrenias to refer to primary psychotic illnesses like schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder. Her initial diagnosis was bipolar disorder, and it took 9 years to… Continue reading Book Review: The Collected Schizophrenias
Raising the Alarm is an autobiography by Arron Whittaker. He lives with schizoaffective disorder and borderline personality. He also has a trauma history, and is sure that he's on the autism spectrum, although he hasn't been diagnosed. The author uses a pen name for this book, and explains the steps that he's taken to conceal… Continue reading Book Review: Raising the Alarm