Category: Mental Health
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Course of Treatment: Treatment Options – Medication
Gah! Late again! Sorry folks, what was supposed to be a 2-hour out-patient deal yesterday turned into a full day at the hospital thanks to a mild reaction to anesthesia. Disclaimer: I have some very strong feelings about the use of psychiatric medication. I’m going to be as even handed as I can here,…
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Course of Treatment: Getting a Diagnosis
Once you’ve made the decision to get help, the first step is usually setting up an appointment with a doctor or counselor. Some people will go to a family doctor or general practitioner first, others will go straight to a psychiatrist. Some set up counselling through their employer, school, or religious organization. In the US,…
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The Course of Treatment: Recognizing You Need Help
For many people, one of the hardest parts of getting treated for mental illness is recognizing and accepting that they need help in the first place. Several cultures have a strong stigma against mental illness. In the US this stigma comes in two forms: first the denigration of anyone with mental illness as crazy, unstable,…
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Mental Illness: The Course of Treatment
As I mentioned at the start of this series, getting treatment for mental illness can be a difficult process. So we’re going to take a few days to look at what you can expect treatment to look like, and how your poly partners can help the process (or at least avoid harming it). This discussion…
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Anxiety Disorders and Polyamory
This post and others discussing specific mental disorders will reference the Diagnostic and Statistical Manuel of Psychiatry and Psychology, Edition Five (DSM-V). Apologies to my international readers, I’m just not familiar enough with the ICD to use it as a reference. Please note: everyone’s experience of anxiety is different. This is general information meant to…
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Living with Anxiety
(This is a completely unedited stream-of-conscious recording of a few minutes in a day with anxiety. Everyone’s experience of anxiety will be different, but I hope this gives you some idea of what living with anxiety can be like.) The anxiety is moderate today. I can do what has to be done, but it’s hard.…
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Polyamory Boundaries and Mental Illness
There’s a bit of a debate in poly circles about rules/agreements vs boundaries. Short version: Boundaries are personal–I will not date anyone who is anti-thiest. (I’m perfectly happy dating athiests, but if you are going to attack/belittle/look down on religions and religious people I am so fucking out of there.) Rules or agreements are relational–Michael…
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Hard Boundaries and Soft Boundaries
Hey folks, sorry for the much delayed post. My family moved on Friday to a new apartment, the first time we’ve had our own apartment in several years, and we finally got internet in today. I had planned on posting from the library during the move, but unfortunately due to the holiday here in the…
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Poly Advice for the Mentally Ill: “Communicate, Communicate, Communicate”
Standard Poly advice: Communicate, Communicate, Communicate Nothing is more important to a healthy relationship than communication. If we aren’t keeping our SOs in the loop about how we feel and what is going on with us, then small problems will become big problems until someone comes home from work to find their stuff sitting on…