by Kate Fitch Sometimes psychiatric disability gets in the way in college. Your anxiety is so high during class that you need to excuse yourself sometimes, you hear voices during your exam that distract you from the task at hand,
“Are you off your meds?”
by Kate Fitch This can be one of the most frustrating things to hear from people in your life when you’re recovering from a mental health condition and you’re experiencing a strong emotion. I get it, I really do. Strong
Did you know we have a support group?
by Kate Fitch Hey! Did you know the Network has a support group every month for people in recovery? And by “in recovery,” we mean “in recovery from ANYTHING.” There are no diagnosis requirements, no admitting you’re a such-and-such, and
Recovery is more than “compliance.”
by Kate Fitch I’ve been called non-compliant and treatment-resistant before. I found it infuriating at the time because I had checked myself into the hospital that called me that. I asked for treatment. I went into a room with a
What is “hope” and how do we foster it?
by Kate Fitch We hear about “hope” a lot in recovery, but it’s something that has a lot of definitions that nobody is really sure are the “right” definitions. Today I’m going to talk about what hope is, and how
Things people say about mental illness in the context of other illnesses.
by Kate Fitch I’ve heard some real gems about mental illness. From family, people in my social circle, and even from treatment providers. I think a great way to highlight how ridiculous these are is to put them in the
Dear Mr. President
by Kate Fitch Okay. This is hard for me to write about because of personal biases in the debate about gun restriction, but this statement released by the White House on January 4 alarms me. First, the statement rolls efforts
Stigma = Discrimination
by Kate Fitch On Twitter today @MHChat is talking about stigma. @ConnConnection pointed out that stigma and discrimination are the same thing, and that we should call it such. I agree, and here’s why. Stigma: a mark of disgrace associated
What do I say???
by Kate Fitch I don’t have much experience with figuring out what to say to someone in recovery, because I’ve been the one in recovery. I read this article today, though, that I think got it spot on. “…your loved
Why I don’t like words like “nutjob”
by Kate Fitch Some people embrace some of the not-so-nice nicknames for people with mental illness, and if that’s you, awesome. If you feel like owning the words, go for it. Totally up to you. But I don’t. “Nutjob,” “crazy,”