In this series, I dig a little deeper into the meaning of psychological terms. This week's term: paranoia Kind of like anxiety and depression, the word paranoia often gets tossed around fairly loosely in common parlance, but in a psychological/psychiatric sense it's far more significance. Google Dictionary defines paranoia as: "a mental condition characterized by delusions … Continue reading What is… paranoia
People tend to fear the unknown. Psychosis is arguably the group of symptoms that the average person finds the most frightening when it comes to mental health problems. There is stigma associated with many/most/all mental health conditions, but psychosis kicks it up a notch. As a quick explanation, psychosis refers to a cluster of symptoms … Continue reading Why psychosis scares people
In this series, I dig a little deeper into the meaning of psychological terms. This week's term: reality This week's term may seem a bit silly at first glance, but bear with me. Some of us may experience psychosis at times due to mental illness. In the simplest terms, psychosis involves a disconnect from reality. … Continue reading What is… reality?
Alien Boy: The Life and Death of James Chasse is a documentary, available on Amazon Prime, about a man with schizophrenia who was killed by police in Portland, Oregon. This film was funded by The Mental Health Association of Portland and over 1500 individual supporters, which I thought was pretty impressive. It's an extremely disturbing example … Continue reading Alienation and brutality
This disturbing documentary tells the story of Linda Bishop, and her death after being released from a state psychiatric hospital. The film includes readings from Linda's journal, and commentary from people who knew her, including her sister and her daughter. Their words powerfully captured the pain and frustration of a family seeing their loved one … Continue reading God Knows Where I Am: Death by mental illness
Here are a few great TED Talks I've found on a variety of topics related to mental illness. Eleanor Longden: The Voices in My Head https://embed.ted.com/talks/eleanor_longden_the_voices_in_my_head A psychiatrist once told Eleanor Longden that she would be better off having cancer than a psychotic illness, because it would be more curable. Having the voice … Continue reading TED Talks: A Mental Health Hodgepodge
We work so hard on our mental health, but sometimes we can get knocked down by an unexpected source: prescription medication. Sure, we all know that some street drugs can adversely affect mental health, but there are also a number of prescription medications for conditions totally unrelated to mental health that can trigger symptoms of … Continue reading Meds that can make you crazy (literally)
I have always been a big fan of the documentary program The Passionate Eye on CBC, Canada's public broadcaster. Until now. On January 6, 2018, they aired "A Prescription for Murder?", which was originally shown on the BBC. The program focused on James Holmes, the young man who shot and killed 12 people and injured … Continue reading A Prescription For Murder?
