Category Archives: Mental Health

Sometimes, medication works very, very well. I spent several years on a wonder drug called Risperdal. It’s just an atypical anti-psychotic but as far as I’m concerned it’s heaven. For someone who frequently goes through periods where they live moment in and moment out in a state of emotional turmoil, the calm that Risperdal bringsContinueContinue reading “XII: Two Years Riding the Middle”

I’ve had well-meaning people tell me that my therapy should be short-term and have SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-bound) objectives. Let me assure you, all therapy is closely reviewed by insurance companies and every session is carefully monitored for just that type of progress. But seriously? It’s not that simple. I’ve now beenContinueContinue reading “X. SMART Therapy”

At about the one year mark of living with my mom I decided to move out, get a full-time job, and rent a room. I think it lasted one night. I lay shaking with anxiety and fear in my rented bed and the next day called my mom and said I wanted to come home.ContinueContinue reading “IX. Miserable moment”

I was still covered under my mother’s insurance plan but she was paying for my therapy out of pocket and my medications weren’t covered at all. They literally ran into the thousands each month. I came back to my mother’s home with a serious debt load from my manic shopping spree and my mother wasContinueContinue reading “VII. Two years at the bottom of the barrel”

I spent a week in the hospital. The lithium worked its magic and by the time I was released I was feeling quite a bit better, and also, as a result of the medication, thirsty all of the time. Lithium has never been a favorite of mine. The social workers at the hospital set meContinueContinue reading “VI. What’s the prize for running out on two roommates in two months?”

So this was the deal: before the days of Google Maps and MapQuest, Snakelady had to get herself to an in-patient psychiatric unit in a town I’d never been to. As anyone who knows me can attest, I am not good with directions. Under duress it is a lost cause. I went to two goodContinueContinue reading “V. Third Times the Charm”

I was feeling so profoundly dreadful that when the one thing I didn’t think could possibly happen, happened I was not only disheartened, it started eating away at my  belief that my situation was temporary. It started destroying my hope. A few weeks after I started the Prozac, I began to feel profoundly worse. IContinueContinue reading “III. The Dean’s List and Hospitalization”