As children, we do not have a developed sense of self; an ability to discern our being treated badly from our being bad; interpersonal boundaries that can protect us; a physique that can defend us from harm, or a developed sense of morality. In such a state of genuine vulnerability we are then open to…
Category: psychiatry
Stigma: a patient’s account of toxic parenting
Toxic parenting is the term I use to describe a broad range of poor parenting, childcare, school and community practices that impact upon children in ways that are detrimental to their long-term mental and emotional wellbeing. This is not to suggest that coddling children is a solution either, as per the millennial trend of ‘child…
Authority Part 2: Welfare and Wellbeing
How subservience to toxic authority erodes individual freedom, power and authenticity.
Protected: The Labels We Use on Self and Other
There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.
Psychiatric Diagnosis Part 2: help or hinderance?
Some things to consider before being assessed for a psychiatric diagnosis or treatment
A Poverty of Help: inadequacies of support to vulnerable persons in the UK healthcare system
This is the start of a collection of experiences of mental health service and medical service encounters conveyed to me by patients over the years. I will add more in time. I thought I would start putting some of them together merely as an illustration of some of the bad practices that continue to go…
Psychiatric Diagnosis Part 1: a guide and caution for the weary
This post seeks to give an overview of how upsetting or distressing human experiences can be viewed and categorised as illness, disease, defect, disorder or dysfunction requiring the special expertise of specific treatments, therapies, interventions and pharmaceuticals for effective ‘cure’. It is not my intention to devalue the choices exercised by patients who elect this…
Depression Part 1: Causes, anti-depressants, and two simple steps on your road to recovery
“Above all, do not lose your desire to walk. Everyday, I walk myself into a state of well-being & walk away from every illness. I have walked myself into my best thoughts, and I know of no thought so burdensome that one cannot walk away from it. But by sitting still, & the more one…
Existential Analysis, Integrative Psychotherapy and Other Approaches to Helping
This is a somewhat contentious area for many practitioners because, as with most fields of endeavour, everyone has their own territorial imperatives and personal definitions. The terms counsellor, therapist and psychotherapist are, for example, often used interchangeably but do not necessarily express the same activities. So with that disclaimer, here is my simple outline of…
