Mad in America

JUNE 17, 2024

It all started in 2014, less than a year after my honorable discharge from the Army, and shortly after returning home from Afghanistan, where I’d served as an Apache helicopter mechanic. I was a shell of my former self, unable to think, staring off into space; all while trying my best to care for my family. They didn’t go away.

Trauma and the brain 132

Trauma and the brain Sleep and mental health Aging and mental health Self-awareness 132

Mad in America

MARCH 30, 2024

But the combined intelligence and cognitive awareness of Matt and his mother’s tenacity for answers undoubtedly gave him a second chance on life. Two weeks later, both the NP and Matt’s counselor called me and said they must drop Matt as a patient, recommending an outpatient hospital detox program and a “higher level of care.”

Sleep and mental health 127

Sleep and mental health Bipolar disorder Trauma and the brain Aging and mental health 127

Mad in America

SEPTEMBER 7, 2024

That rate has been increasing rapidly: “From 2006 to 2014, the number of serious ADEs reported to the FDA increased 2-fold… A previously published study… found that from 1998 to 2005, there was a 2.6-fold Like Rosie, I became so distressed that my father had me involuntarily committed to a psychiatric hospital.

Pharmaceuticals 144

Pharmaceuticals Self-awareness Construction Education 144

The Art of Healing Trauma

NOVEMBER 17, 2019

This short story about a train trip shows how the many symptoms of PTSD combine to have a devastating impact to one’s Sense of Self. Losing a large percent of memory of one’s past is the equivalent of losing a large percent of one’s Sense of Self, identity, personality, etc. Childrens Hospital, the hardware store.

Trauma and the brain 52

Trauma and the brain Self-awareness Hospitality 52

Mad in America

AUGUST 5, 2024

We consider the consequences of diagnosis as a form of social identity; of neurodivergence as a form of disability; and of self-diagnosis. Some of them self-identify as disabled, a category which—like neurodivergence itself—is extremely heterogenous. The consequences of ‘diagnosis as identity.’ Both outcomes are problematic.

Trauma and the brain 144

Trauma and the brain Genetics and mental health Self-awareness Personality disorders 144