Would You Rather See A Cardiologist Or A Psychiatrist?

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How do you know when and whether you need a psychiatrist or a psychologist?

For many people, stigma is still an obstacle to accessing the right mental health care for them, at the right time. Experiencing psychiatric symptoms is challenging enough. We don’t need the judgement of others or self stigma standing in the way of  getting the correct treatment. So we need to change the way we think and speak about accessing mental health care. And we need to understand the different levels of care we can expect from different professionals.

I saw my psychologist and my psychiatrist a couple of weeks ago. These two professionals are the pillars of management for my Bipolar Disorder. Yet they support me in different ways.

Continue reading “Would You Rather See A Cardiologist Or A Psychiatrist?”

#HealtheVoicesAU

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I’ve just spent the weekend in Sydney attending the HealtheVoices conference for empowering online advocates.

I came away much more informed and inspired than I was when I left. It was amazing to be in a room with other passionate advocates and a lovely surprise to catch up with several people I did my SANE Peer Ambassador Training with in June. Advocacy can feel very lonely at times, especially mental health advocacy. So these types of events are important for keeping up morale and confidence. If you’d like to check out a few more snaps from the conference – hop onto my facebook feed:

https://www.facebook.com/anita.link.125

Please note:

Janssen-Cilag Pty Limited (Janssen) paid for my travel and accommodation expenses for me to attend this conference. All thoughts and opinions expressed here are solely my own and do not reflect the thoughts or opinions of Janssen or Johnson & Johnson.

 

Is YouTube Rotting Our Brains?

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I hear voices.

Shouting. Shrill. Pressured. I am in my kitchen, unable to make out words. Just a stream of urgent noise. Where is it coming from? The TV in the spare room? Surely not. TV conversations dip and rise. Even cartoon voices change in cadence and timbre. The noise coming from the spare room is barely human. This could be how I’d sound if I were to record myself when manic. As irritating as a whinging toddler, as grating as fingernails down a chalk board.

So, who is trapped in my spare room generating this awful sound?

Continue reading “Is YouTube Rotting Our Brains?”