Can we mend the Present when the Past still haunts us? — One morning, my boyfriend misses my calls. This is unusual. He tends to be an early riser. I begin to feel myself panic. Minutes later, I’m speeding down the freeway, three towns away, just to make sure he’s okay. I’m hyperventilating. It reminds me of the cat-and-mouse mind games my…

The night of September 20th, 2014, I stared into the void of what was to come, after taking more pills than I ever had at once. I consumed three bottles and fell asleep. I closed my eyes and leaned into the dark. An hour or so later, I woke up-wildly…

Are we ready to remove our inner straitjackets? — From social workers and psychiatrists to patients and activists, Mental Health is going through a major paradigm shift. ISPS [short for: The International Society for Psychological and Social Approaches to Psychosis], held a conference in New Haven, CT, just this past November 2019. Professionals, family members, and people with lived…

Can we talk? — I saw you over at a Wendy’s parking lot this afternoon after picking up a few things at the Target across the plaza. The closest garbage can couldn’t have been more than a few feet away but while you were rummaging through your old, blue Toyota… A plastic cup catapulted…

One Documentary Explores a Different Perspective. — While awareness around Depression, Anxiety and other mental health diagnoses grow, someone who hears voices is still often considered beyond the pale in terms of treatment options. People who experience voice-hearing are usually labeled Schizophrenic, Schizoaffective or Bipolar “with psychotic features”. Most voice-hearers who come to the traditional Psychiatric model…

We, Neurodivergent folks, need to be understood. — According to Business Insider, Elon Musk discussed his excitement over Neuralink, “an AI-enabled chip that could be implanted in a person’s brain to stimulate brain activity.” on a Lex Fridman podcast, which aired this past Tuesday. While I can’t speak directly to how this microchip would work with Alzheimers’s or…

And use one of our greatest tools to heal. — After the initial sour tears and lurching in my belly, I lay in bed, wipe the dampness off my face and take a deep breath. And this is all I do for a few moments. Breathe in. And out. Inhale. Exhale. Through the nose and out of the mouth. It…

On using the ‘Recovery Model’ to question the status quo… — En cada cabesa hay un mundo. ‘In every head, there is a world’. I take this old, Spanish refrain literally and to heart. …

And writing my recovery for a wider community — While quietly honing my craft behind closed doors, I hear or read of other writers who get to that milestone of receiving the recognition I’ve always wanted for myself. And I get green, I won’t lie. It’s always been my dream. …