Stigma & Mental Illness

A collection of essays and other things I’ve written about my own struggles with mental illness and its associated stigma.

[April 2024] Make the Casserole: A short video about the stigma surrounding mental health.

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[March 2022] MY STORY: A consumer speaks out about the challenges of living with a mental illness

For the better part of the last four decades, I have struggled with a wide range of mental health issues, from severe, clinical depression and anxiety to schizophrenia. Between 1982 and 1998, I was hospitalized more than 20 times at institutions all over the country, including the Maine Medical Center, Oregon State Hospital, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Southern Arizona Mental Health Center and the former Jackson Brook Institute (today Spring Harbor Hospital). READ MORE

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[FEB. 2022:] SPEAKING OUT: My efforts to reduce stigma in the public realm

The stigma so often attached to mental illness can only exist so long as we remain silent and allow myths, innuendo and misunderstanding to flourish. One of my goals, and an important part of my healing process, is to step out of the shadows of stigma and to share my story. READ MORE

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SELECTED POSTS & UPDATES:

The Dangerous Type (February 20, 2022)

A Day That Never Ends: discharged, broke, unemployed and homeless (Aug. 10, 2013)

Just Ask Superman (Dec. 17, 2012)

Falling off a ladder offers perspective on stigma (Sept. 8, 2012)

The world beyond your front door (July 23, 2012)

Even better than the first time (Oct. 2. 2011)

Once in a lifetime (Aug. 14, 2011)

Janie’s got a gun (April 26, 2011)

Pocketful of Kryptonite (April 2, 2011)

Testimony in support of LD 364 (March 23, 2011)