Whilst ’schizophrenia’ and ‘bipolar’ are words that are relatively well-known to those with any clue about mental illness, however, the term ‘schizoaffective disorder‘ is not as well known. Increasingly, as I understand it, schizophrenia and bipolar disorders are being thought of as on a spectrum with different clusters of symptoms at various points across the [...]

The Life You Were Born to Live, by Dan Millman is a numerological book with a difference. The approach is somewhat similar to traditional numerology in that in order to obtain a life path number, one adds together the numbers in a birth date (eg. 5+2+1+9+7+4 = 2+8 = 1), however instead of simply [...]

I had been smoking again and pottering about the house when I thought to myself, “That’s right, I have to return that scanner to my friend”. A second later I heard my phone beep with an sms. It was my friend asking when I was going to return the scanner.
I can also remember a time [...]

I am currently working on a new website, called ‘Mind-Out!’ – a mental health and illness directory. The aim is to provide a list of various sites that deal with, discuss and target an audience with an interest in mental health. As it is human-edited (by me), there is still a lot to be done [...]

Further to my last post, I wanted to share something of my experience flying back from Hobart to Melbourne during my psychosis in Tasmania. Apparently this is fairly common in people suffering delusions, that they have ideas about being the next ’saviour’ or something along those lines. I had decided I was Jesus Christ reincarnated [...]

During my second psychosis in Tasmania, 2007, I was living in a divided house with a small bungalow out the back in which a friend lived. About a year following the episode, I interviewed her to find out what my psychosis appeared like to an outside observer. Following is the transcript.
Me: You saw a lot [...]

A friend asked me, “Who are you thanking?” (ie. in the title of this blog). My response was that I was thanking society, for labelling me as mentally ill. I thank society for the psychiatric diagnosis. That nebulous, intangible beast we call “society” is responsible for my psychosis. So, thank you society.
It’s also a bit [...]

I think I need to clarify something to anyone out there who happens to be reading this blog. I do not advocate going off medication or getting stoned when one has a tendency toward mental illness. I remember a lecturer once saying to the class, if ever you smoke marijuana and you get even slightly [...]

I’m properly hungover. Went to a friend’s Halloween/Birthday bash last night, drank too much and now I feel like crap. I will probably be affected by this for days in subtle ways, but mostly in depression.
I guess the worst thing I feel when I’m in this state is a heightened sense of aloneness. So alone… [...]