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Everything About Us Without Us

Mad in America

T his historical record of Oregons first state hospital, the Oregon State Insane Asylum, from its opening in 1883 until the mid-1950s, will focus on the experiences of patients there. The guiding principle for the hospital during these seven decades, whether recognized or not, was Everything About Us Was Without Us.

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The Trauma of Psychosis: My “Bipolar” Journey

Mad in America

I tell this story through the lens of akathisia (and a similar condition known as restless leg syndrome or RLS) since it was an early indicator for me that while I was being treated for the typical symptoms of bipolar, I was actually dealing with trauma. Once I was discharged from the hospital, I actually felt great.

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The Birth of The “Just Stop It” Movement: A Family’s Journey Through Mental Health Crisis

Mad in America

T his is the story of Will, a young man who plunged into an extreme state following exposure to a synthetic street drug, which led to repeat psychiatric hospitalizations—and the effect on family members who supported him along the way. On ce a healthy young man preparing for college, he seemed to be escaping his own body.

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What I Wish I’d Asked Dr. Gabor Maté When I Had the Chance

Mad in America

A few months ago, I attended a live Zoom event on Guidely with Dr. Gabor Maté, author of The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness & Healing in a Toxic Culture. He was talking about being abandoned for a month at the age of one because his mother was protecting his life during the Nazi occupation of Hungary. Is that even possible?

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Human

Mad in America

Perhaps if I took a different prescription or combination of prescriptions, my brain would magically adjust and rid me of my alleged ‘chemical imbalance’. My brain sat in my skull like a dead goldfish. I had been diagnosed with numerous ‘disorders’ because I had a traumatic childhood. I was severely unwell. I was disgusted.

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Letting Go of Lithium

Mad in America

I had headaches, brain fog, and fatigue. Being a brain doctor, he focused on the headaches. I felt like I had taken a magical pill to cure whatever might have been wrong with me… until I crashed, became paranoid and landed in the hospital. “Maybe the journey isn’t so much about becoming anything.

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How I Developed a Critical Perspective on Psychiatry

Mad in America

I can think of many examples throughout my early career where I saw many people admitted to psychiatric wards having suffered an adverse life event, recent or past trauma, only to leave with prescriptions for multiple drugs to treat their new presumed diagnoses.