Tell Your Story

by Michael Coughlin I survived the tragic and sudden death of my 12-year-old brother, the near-death of my second brother, and the horrific suicide of my uncle, all with barely any medication. I became an extremely happy and high-functioning adult through holistic and spiritual growth. I loved life itself. Then a freak occurrence happened. I got a pinched nerve in my neck that caused anxiety, and my doctor prescribed Paxil, a dangerous antidepressant, without any screening, a formal diagnosis, or any fair warning of the risks or explanation of how long I would need to take the drug for. I was always against antidepressants because I studied them in college and I knew they were often overprescribed, and I let my guard down for just one day. After just two days of the drug, I couldn’t fall asleep naturally for weeks, something that never occurred in my entire life before. I developed hypomanic symptoms, sleeping only a few hours a night for three weeks, and my doctor was nowhere to be found to help. He remained in denial. The BU Center for Anxiety & Related Disorders discharged me when I was in need of help. The McLean Mental Hospital didn’t return my phone calls. I would later learn that I was suffering from Antidepressant-Associated Hypomania and no one could get me the care that I needed. ...

by Philip A. Kumin Author's Note: The following article was originally written in 1991. Since then, Judi Chamberlin has died of cancer, and both national patients' organizations have fallen into disarray due to constant infighting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Perhaps concurrent with the gathering momentum of deinstitutionalization, the psychiatric inmates’ liberation movement began in the early-to-mid 1970’s with sporadic protests by former inmates against human rights violations in institutions. Each summer, the founding matriarchs and patriarchs of this Movement gathered together in what came to be known as the International Conferences for Human Rights and Against Psychiatric Oppression. ...

 by Philip A. Kumin Author's Note: The following article was originally written in 1987. Immediately before the start of the Alternatives '87 Conference, a Constitutional Convention was held for the National Mental Health Consumers' Association. Persons whose names I used are in the public domain regarding their status as patients. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...

by Philip A. Kumin For anyone privy to the dynamics of the discussion surrounding the manifest destiny of the mental patients’ movement one thing is clear; those founding activists who survive are aggrieved at the loss of their native movement. In almost any venue in which these activists air their grievances, there is an aggregate atmosphere of nostalgia and bitterness. The perceived loss of vitality of this movement of the 1970’s is mourned. For sure, that decade was a landscape fertile for the launching of social movements, including one of deinstitutionalized and disgruntled mental patients. What then comes next? ...

 by Philip A. Kumin I’m a self-taught author, and a good one at that. I tried for years to get my well written vignettes published in almost every publication imaginable including the great, the wonderful Rolling Stone Magazine. I sought merely to partake of the joy of creative writing while simultaneously publicizing the existence and history of an unheard of, but thoroughly libertarian, movement of former mental patients. I soon came to see that since I was revealing myself to be one of those activist patients in each piece I’d written, I was being censored accordingly. For years afterwards, I couldn’t conceive of any rational, substantial reason why this was being done to me or any of the other patient authors, whom I had heard we’re also being censored. ...

After suffering from severe mental illness for over 30 years, which started in 1989 when I was 19 years old, I am now experiencing true happiness and peace. I never thought I would ever feel this way. The following is my story, which I am telling with the hope that it might help others who are dealing with mental illness and/or addiction. ...

 Everyone has their own story, some fortunate, some less so. Mine is a story of abuse, neglect and mental illness, and the long road back. I offer it for whatever hope and guidance it may provide for others currently suffering. Me, A Victim In 1956 when I was thirteen and starting in middle school, my mother had the first of her several operations for intestinal cancer. She told me that she had “tumors,” but that meant one thing to me— cancer. Around the same time, I, too, began having stomach pains along with constipation like hers. I always had problems getting along with other kids, being teased and harassed, and being nervous, and now I was in great distress. ...

I am in recovery from “mental illness”. I’ve always felt that the typical professional services were unable to provide the relief I needed. When I re-entered the workforce I focused my energy on these limitations. I became a peer specialist-a person in recovery trained in supportive counseling and advocacy. I also began earning my master’s degree in psychiatric rehabilitation, a field dedicated to the idea of recovery, and which takes a more holistic approach. I’ve become a constructive critic of the mental health field and found that these ideas already existed on the fringes. They continue to gain momentum and I’m excited to advocate for them. ...

Hi All, Phil, I agree with you on the dismal and almost criminal state of psychiatry, today. I have mixed feelings about Benzos, however, because of the almost unbearable chronic anxiety attacks I was having. Take a pill and anxiety gone. It helped keep me alive at the time. But now, 3 years later I take a small dose of Benzos daily and I am an addict. ...

My neice living in a townhouse complex - has reached the following stage:- 1-complete isolation from anybody even her sisters. 2-will not acknowledge her illness and will not accept any medication whatsoever. 3-will not allow anybody into her home. 4-all the symptons of Schizoid Personality Disorder 5-threatening to all and considers everyone responsible for her divorce that she went through several years ago. ...