Must Watch Video!

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This is a great presentation/speech. I hope you can watch and share it! It really needs to go viral! Hopefully the correct video will play. It is a TED talk about mental illness and community.

Genetic Testing! Yay!

Abilify, Anti-anxiety meds, Anti-depressants, Anti-psychotics, Anxiety, benadryl, Biology, Bipolar, Body, BPD, Buspar, Depakote, Depression, dna, drugs, Effexor, genetic testing, Genetics, Haldol, Haldol DEC, Haldol Decanoate, Kristin Bell, Lithium, Mania, Manic, Manic-Depressive, MAO Inhibitors, Medicine, Mental Health, Mental Illness, metabolic pathways, metabolize, Mood Stabilizers, Navane, neuroscience, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, ocd, Paranoid Schizophrenia, Paxil, plavix, Prescription Meds, Prozac, Psych Meds, Psychiatrist, Psychiatry, Psychoactive Substances, Psychology, Psychosis, Risperdal, schizoaffective disorder, Schizophrenia, Science, Seroquel, Technology, testing, Trazadone, Trilifon, warfarin, Wellbutrin, Zoloft, Zyprexa

http://www.genemedrx.com/

Hey Everybody! I wanted to share with you this cool genetics testing that is available to people. I just got it done, because my nurse practitioner ordered it and Medicare pays for it. (Medicare pays for this testing, because it saves a LOT of money and can save lives!) It is really cool, because it tells you how medications will interact with your specific genetic makeup! It is extremely important if you are taking really any kind of medication. For example, had I known about my results before I took Wellbutrin years ago, it would have saved me from basically having a manic reaction to the medication. It turns out that I metabolize differently than normal on some of the metabolic pathways. This means that I will metabolize the meds on those pathways different than people without this issue. If you have Medicare, I strongly urge you to get this testing done. It could save your life from a bad genetic-medication mistake. I think many other insurance carriers might also pay for it. It also explains why I can take a lower dose of many medications and still get the desired effect from the medication. I would say that anyone who is trying to figure out their psych meds should really get this testing done too. It doesn’t just tell about psych meds though, it tells about stuff involving all other sorts of meds. Seriously, this is pretty awesome! Again, here is the link: http://www.genemedrx.com/

Review: Loud In the House of Myself by Stacy Pershall

Acceptance, Anorexia, Anti-anxiety meds, Anti-depressants, Anti-psychotics, Anxiety, Ativan, Autobiography, Binge Eating, Bipolar, Black & White, Body, Body Image, Books, Borderline Personality, Bulimia, Compulsive Eating, Compulsive Exercising, Depakote, Depression, Eating Disorders, EDNOS, insanity, Internet, Kristin Bell, Lithium, Loud In the House of Myself, Mania, Manic, Manic-Depressive, MAO Inhibitors, memoir, Mental Health, Mental Illness, Mood Stabilizers, Navane, Prozac, Psych Meds, Psychiatrist, Psychiatry, Psychoactive Substances, Psychology, Reading, Review, Self-Harm, Self-Injury, Stacy Pershall, Stories, strange girl, Suicide, Surviving, Thin, Weightloss

Loud In the House of Myself: Memoir of a Strange Girl is a new book by Stacy Pershall. Of course, I was immediately drawn to this memoir, because it is a) a memoir b) about a “strange girl” and c) deals with mental illness. Yay! Since I’m undoubtably a strange mentally ill girl, I knew I had to read this. Pershall writes about her life growing up in Arkansas and her morphing from an über-sensitive child into a teenager and young adult with Borderline and Bipolar issues. Anyone familiar with the mental illness memoir genre will certainly have heard of Elizabeth Wurtzel, and I just bring her up, because UNLIKE Wurtzel, Pershall is not whiny in her writing! Pershall is matter-of-fact about her trials and symptoms, even though the reader can imagine the actual playing out of illness to be much more harsh and unbearable.

Pershall describes her unrelenting eating disorder, mood swings and suicide attempts with a steady and precise hand. This book seems really accessible to me, because Pershall speaks not only to those of us who have been through the mental health care system, but also to people who might not really understand this special weirdness. The only thing I would like to see more of in this book is more OF this book! haha. Seriously though, I enjoyed reading this memoir and would love to read more from Pershall. I would especially recommend this book to people struggling with Borderline Personality Disorder. There is a special misery only known by Borderlines that is never really represented in the books that ostensibly deal with Borderline Personality Disorder. I really wish there were more accounts like this that show the uncrazy through the crazy of Borderline Personality Disorder.

Tips And Tricks For Surviving A Mental Illness #10

Acceptance, Amblify, Anti-anxiety meds, Anti-depressants, Anti-psychotics, Anxiety, Anxiety Attacks, Ativan, benadryl, Bipolar, Body, Buspar, Delayed Sleep Phase Disorder, Depakote, Depression, Effexor, Geodon, Haldol, Kristin Bell, Lithium, Maintenance, MAO Inhibitors, Medicine, melatonin, Mental Health, Mental Illness, Mood Stabilizers, Panic Attacks, Paxil, Pot, Prescription Meds, Problems, Prozac, Psych Meds, Psychiatrist, Psychiatry, Psychiatry Denial, Psycho, Psychosis, Relaxation, Risperdal, Schizophrenia, Seroquel, Sleep, Sleep Disorders, Surviving, Tips & Tricks, Trazadone, Trilifon, Wellbutrin, Xanex, Zoloft, Zyprexa

sleep

<Sleeping graphic from HowStuffWorks.com>

I don’t know why I didn’t think of this tip before. Probably because I haven’t mastered this and should really follow my own advice about it. Plus my dad likes to harp on me about my problem with this a lot…which just irritates me. On with tip 10.

Common Fallacies of Psychiatry Deniers

Acceptance, Amblify, Anti-depressants, Anti-psychotics, Bipolar, Buspar, Denial, Depakote, Depression, drugs, Education, Geodon, Haldol, Haldol DEC, Health, Kristin Bell, Lithium, Lunatic, MAO Inhibitors, Medicine, Mental Health, Mental Illness, Mood Stabilizers, Paxil, Prescription Meds, Psych Meds, Psychiatrist, Psychiatry, Psychiatry Denial, Psycho, Psychosis, Schizophrenia, Scientology, Seroquel, Shame, Support System, Surviving, Trazadone, Trilifon, Video, Wellbutrin, Zoloft, Zyprexa

rob

The following videos are by Rob aka deidzoeb, a person from YouTube. His wife, Melinda, aka melsbasketcase, is also a YouTuber and Melinda has schizophrenia. She does well when she is properly medicated, but a lot of people go on her channel and try to convince her that her drugs are poison and that she should stop taking them. I hope you will watch all three of Rob’s great videos about Psychiatry Denial. He does a great job of showing how psychiatry deniers are simply wrong and how they try to take choice away from people with serious mental illnesses. I have included all three videos here. Please click to find them.

Tips And Tricks For Surviving A Mental Illness #9

Acceptance, Anti-depressants, Anti-psychotics, Bipolar, Books, Depression, Eating Disorders, Education, Haldol, Health, Kristin Bell, Lithium, Lunatic, MAO Inhibitors, Medicine, Mental Health, Mental Illness, Mood Stabilizers, Prescription Meds, Problems, Psych Meds, Psychiatrist, Psychiatry, Psycho, Psychosis, Reading, Schizophrenia, Scientology, Surviving, Therapist, Tips & Tricks, Zoloft, Zyprexa

neuron

Well, I think I have covered most of the basics regarding mental illness, or at least the ideas I had right off the top of my head. But, I haven’t covered this next topic yet, so here we go with number nine:

Tips And Tricks For Surviving A Mental Illness #8

Amblify, Anti-depressants, Anti-psychotics, Bipolar, Buspar, Cat Stories, Cute, Depakote, Depression, Family, Friends, Fun, Haldol, Kristin Bell, Lunatic, MAO Inhibitors, Mental Health, Mental Illness, Mood Stabilizers, Paxil, Pet Care, Pets, Psychiatry, Psycho, Psychosis, Relaxation, Schizophrenia, Seroquel, Tips & Tricks, Wellbutrin, Working Animals, Zoloft, Zyprexa

catbrain

Ah, it has been awhile since my last tip. This tip may not work for everyone, but it is a personal favorite of mine. On with the tip.

Tips And Tricks For Surviving A Mental Illness #7

Acceptance, Amblify, Anti-depressants, Anti-psychotics, Bipolar, Buspar, Counselor, Denial, Depakote, Depression, Discrimination, drugs, Effexor, Geodon, Haldol, Health, Kristin Bell, Lithium, Lunatic, MAO Inhibitors, Medicine, Mental Health, Mental Illness, Mood Stabilizers, Navane, Paxil, Prescription Meds, Problems, Psych Meds, Psychiatrist, Psychiatry, Psycho, Psychosis, Risperdal, Schizophrenia, Scientology, Seroquel, Surviving, Thrive, Tips & Tricks, Trazadone, Trilifon, Wellbutrin, Zoloft, Zyprexa

limbic

I don’t know if I am just stating the obvious with all of these Tips & Tricks, but sometimes it is the most obvious things that we forget when illness hits. This next tip is something that I have personally struggled with for years and sometimes a glimmer of it still pops up every now and then.

Tips And Tricks For Surviving A Mental Illness #5

AA, Acid, Alcohol, Alcoholics, Amblify, Anonymous, Anti-depressants, Anti-psychotics, Bipolar, Bong, Booze, Buspar, Cocaine, Coke, Counselor, Depakote, Depression, Downers, drugs, Ecstacy, Family, Friends, Geodon, Haldol, Haldol DEC, Haldol Decanoate, Health, Heroin, Kristin Bell, Life, Lithium, LSD, MAO Inhibitors, Marijuana, Mary Jane, Mental Health, Mental Illness, Mood Stabilizers, NA, Narcotics, Navane, Paxil, Pot, Prescription Meds, Problems, Prozac, Psych Meds, Psychiatrist, Psychiatry, Psycho, Psychosis, Risperdal, Schizophrenia, Seroquel, Smack, Social Worker, Teetotaller, Therapist, Tips & Tricks, Trazadone, Trilifon, Uppers, Weed, Wellbutrin, Zoloft, Zyprexa

brainscan

Okay, I know I’m in trouble with this tip. I know there are some of you out there who are NOT going to like this one at all! Still I have to say it, because it is an issue.

Tips And Tricks For Surviving A Mental Illness #4

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braindiagram

I guess I sort of tipped you off to what I was going to be talking about in tip number three. Well, this next tip cannot be underestimated. It is really important no matter who you are, but for people with mental illness it is extremely important.