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2 Weeks in Cartagena: What I Learned About Myself
Two weeks in Cartagena taught me just how much my mental illness limits me. So boom, I did my almost annual international birthday trip and decided to really challenge myself this time. After multiple covid infections plus a concussion, I have been worried about cognitive decline and struggling with anything involving memorization and concentration. So instead of my four days to one week of birthday travel, I decided to spend two weeks in Cartagena, Colombia for leisure and to attend immersive Spanish classes. This ended up being the worst international trip that I’ve taken thus far. All of the negative parts about this trip had nothing to do with the…
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Committable: A Podcast You Need To Listen To
I am back to let you all (all 2 of you lol) know about a podcast I stumbled upon called Committable. A lot of feelings came up for me while listening to it and I needed to share them and also give this podcast its flowers. The host, Jesse Mangan, started the podcast to try and figure out what happened twenty years ago when he was involuntarily committed by something called a “Section 12.” He and the show’s producers interview lawyers, Jesse’s family members, and other professionals to gain clarity on what happened as well as the whys and hows. I think what really got me about this podcast is…
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Nobody Cares About the “Crazy” People
The idea of being not just hospitalized, but forced into a long term psychiatric institution brings shivers of fear down my spine and overwhelming anxiety that I can't shake.
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Nobody Was Asking for All That
We are once again in the time of year where mental health issues are exacerbated by the changing seasons and holidays that can trigger negative emotions. That means people will be discussing their down times more often, especially on social media. This is where I start to see hypocrisy spill out. Whenever someone famous succumbs to a mental illness you see endless threads about “reach out to loved ones”, “don’t feel ashamed”, “ask for help if you need it”, etc. But once the initial shock wheres off, so does the general public’s empathy. Lately, I’ve been seeing more and more posts stating that “your significant other/ friends aren’t your therapist…
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Black and Mentally Ill in the New Age of White Supremacy
Something we don’t delve into often is how mental health, especially mental illness, intersects with race. I don’t mean the excuses made for violent racists who’s actual or perceived mental state is used as a scapegoat for their affinity for white supremacy. I mean how being a person of color impacts the lives of those with a mental illness. Much like mental illnesses, white supremacy and racism is nothing new. What has changed is its presentation. Long gone are the days of celebrations held around the lynching of a Black person and overt and “lawful” segregation. However, it has morphed into something new, covert, and insidious; but with all the…
