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Mental Health

Having to do with my mental health journey, or what I have learned about mental health.

Battery Saver

2026 NOTE: My diagnostic situation has changed since I wrote this. See this post and the series of posts starting here for more information. It was Adam who recognized the state we were in. “We’re living in Low Power Mode.” It’s true. Some pretty basic tasks have been disabled to save power for the things we can’t survive without. But unlike a phone, we can’t just plug ourselves in until we’ve charged enough to leave Low Power or Battery Saver Mode. Humans are more complicated.… Read More »Battery Saver

Slippery Slope

2026 NOTE: My diagnostic situation has changed since I wrote this. See this post and the series of posts starting here for more information. Have you ever run down a steep hill? Maybe it was a sidewalk, maybe it was a sand dune. Maybe it was a grassy knoll. Doesn’t matter, the principle is (more or less) the same. When you’re running down a steep hill, you’re never really totally in control. Maybe your heels are skidding as you try to keep from falling over.… Read More »Slippery Slope

Stickers

We bought stickers from one of those custom branding places where you upload your logo and you can put it on all kinds of merchandise. We just thought, “I wonder if we could get stickers printed,” and then we did. Three sheets of twenty. We had a coupon code and took it out of the EP budget and in the grand scheme of things it wasn’t too bad. Why do we need stickers? Well, officially, we’re going to stick them on all our equipment and… Read More »Stickers

Pills, Pills, Pills: In Defence of a Complicated Medicine Cabinet

2026 NOTE: My diagnostic situation has changed since I wrote this. See this post and the series of posts starting here for more information. This week will be devoted to my decision around medication as it relates to mental health (or rather, mental illness). I know that some people don’t think any people should do that, and I have a problem with that attitude. I’m not talking about someone experiencing depression or anxiety and trying to decide for themselves whether or not it’s in their… Read More »Pills, Pills, Pills: In Defence of a Complicated Medicine Cabinet

Holidays, Nostalgia, and Grief

2026 NOTE: My diagnostic situation has changed since I wrote this. See this post and the series of posts starting here for more information. There’s something about holidays that calls to nostalgia. And among holidays, for me, Christmas is the one that stirs up memories like more or less nothing else. And then those memories set off other memories and… well, I cry a lot around the end of the year. Nostalgia, my quick Google search tells me, is widely considered to be a good… Read More »Holidays, Nostalgia, and Grief

What a Difference a DX Makes

2026 NOTE: My diagnostic situation has changed since I wrote this. See this post and the series of posts starting here for more information. I see a lot of complaints about the DSM1. And honestly, a lot of them are valid. I get it. There are a lot of issues with it. I would not be uninterested in a discussion of alternative systems. But that’s not my topic today. No, today I want to explain why I am happy, for now, to be diagnosed according… Read More »What a Difference a DX Makes

DOWN HERE and UP HERE

2026 NOTE: My diagnostic situation has changed since I wrote this. See this post and the series of posts starting here for more information. There’s a problem I’ve had for as long as I’ve been seeing psychologists. I learn a tool, and it’s very helpful for analysing my problems, but when I’m in the midst of having said problems, I can’t access the tool. I think of it like this: I keep all my tools neatly organized on this level down here, but in the heat of… Read More »DOWN HERE and UP HERE

Trunk Day

2026 NOTE: My diagnostic situation has changed since I wrote this. See this post and the series of posts starting here for more information. The year we first moved out of our parents’ homes and into our first place together, we bought all kinds of new Christmas decorations. And we kept them conveniently stored in the trunk of our car. We kept them there until the joyous day we had decreed that we would take them into the house and decorate. The day we called…… Read More »Trunk Day

Getting in Trouble

2026 NOTE: My diagnostic situation has changed since I wrote this. See this post and the series of posts starting here for more information. I have a longstanding fear of Getting in Trouble. Those words come up a lot in discussion with Adam. As in… Adam: [parks car]Me: Are we allowed to park here?Adam: Yes, it’s a parking lot.Me: But the store doesn’t open for another fifteen minutes.Adam: I think it’s okay.Me: …but what if we get in trouble? That kind of conversation is extremely… Read More »Getting in Trouble

A-DAW-rable: Baby Steps in Logic

2026 NOTE: My diagnostic situation has changed since I wrote this. See this post and the series of posts starting here for more information. I’m in a place right now where I’m wanting to pour a whole lot of information into my head at once. I want to be able to create beautifully finished home recordings, and I’m just not sure if that’s a thing that’s in my future. I’ve written before about The Buzz. Basically, it’s what I call the combination of anxiety and… Read More »A-DAW-rable: Baby Steps in Logic