Beyond the diagnosis: Fighting the stigma

I was searching for a new cover photo for my Facebook, and I stumble upon the following quote:  " I am mentally ill . I can say that.  I am  not ashamed of that. I survived that,  I'm  still surviving it, but bring it on. Better me than you." by no other but the Princess Leia herself, Carrie Fisher. And I started re-reading some of her powerful words, and God, what an advocate she was.  I don't recall her movies quite particularly (Sorry, not a Star Wars fan), but I remember that the moment I started reading this kind of empowering-Life goes on beyond the diagnosis quotes, I saw so many of Carrie's words. And she was absolutely honest, she was funny and real and her words were so absolutely raw but real that... She clearly knew what she was talking about, and she clearly knew how to get to people. Because she didn't gave us the "happy shinny people" speech that you usually get when you admit a mental condition or a suicidal ideation. She told you...

So now I have time, since I'm off school for a month, I've recalled certain experiences that I would like to share about this whole journey. I was thinking on how is this road is simply hard to accept. Because you know, that people always want the best for you. And they'll always want to see you happy, and recovered and stable. But that isn't reality, once you get on the recovery roller coaster, you'll see that what you've got is so much harder than what you expected. The funny thing is, in a matter of time, you enter in this dynamic too, and reality gets harder and harder to deal with every day. I'm not talking about the nice days, or the stable periods. I'm talking about the relapses, the moments when you feel your symptoms rising like a thermometer in the summer, the unexpected nights of endless crying after some good moments.  Case in point: I was in a mall and someone exploded a balloon next to where I was standing, but I didn't real...

Y se acabó el semestre. Ser humano al otro lado de la pantalla, si está leyendo esto es porque lo publiqué, y si es así es porque terminé mi práctica en el énfasis de psicología clínica. Escribo esto unos días antes de que realmente se acabe, pues aprovecho una incapacidad médica para reflexionar y poner en palabras todo aquello que siento. Más lo publico sólo al tener la certeza de que lo aprobé satisfactoriamente, sería vergonzoso ponerlo y luego quitarlo. Hay que ser precavidos. Hace una semana, estaba donde mi psiquiatra, me preguntó cuánto me quedaba de práctica y le dije que unas 3 semanas. Él, sonriendo me dijo "¿Te acuerdas de cuándo estabas en este mismo sofá diciendo que no sabía si ibas a entrar, o si ibas a retirar a la semana, o cuánto ibas a durar?". Yo no pude más que reír y mirar al piso. Todo eso parece tan tremendamente lejano en este momento, pues este último año ha sido eterno, aunque esa conversación fue tan solo en Enero. Este semestre ha sido ...