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Bedlam – free viewing

Bedlam – Trailer

In an effort to get to the bottom of the current mental health crisis in the U.S., psychiatrist and documentarian Kenneth Paul Rosenberg M.D. chronicles personal, poignant stories of those suffering from mental illness, including his own family, to bring to light this epidemic and possible solutions. Shot over the course of five years, Bedlam takes viewers inside Los Angeles County’s overwhelmed and vastly under-resourced psych ER, a nearby jail warehousing thousands of psychiatric patients, and the homes — and homeless encampments — of people affected by severe mental illness, where silence and shame often worsen the suffering.

Mental health in America since Reagan.

Sonora Behavioral Health Hospital in Tucson is facing more trouble than ever before.

By Wendi Redman, (KOLD News 13), TUCSON, Ariz.

Citations keep piling on; the latest involve a patient who attempted suicide. Now, for the first time, we are hearing from workers who are blowing the whistle on what they call dangerous problems as they push for a change.

“The hospital has become a joke,” one employee mentioned. Read more

Romanticizing Hypomania: Is it Worth it?

Hhypomania temptation

BY Sally Buchanan-Hagen, NOVEMBER 21, 2015

Although the idea of hypomania may be tempting, take care to remember that it’s ultimately not worth the lows that accompany it.

The other day I was going over some past achievements involving my intellect that I’m particularly proud of. However, in hindsight, most of the things I have accomplished and take pride in were done while I was hypomanic.

This made me incredibly sad, and wave after wave of grief washed over me. I grieved for the times before my bipolar diagnosis where everything was done with ease, I grieved for the things bipolar has taken from me and I grieved for my life that only a few years ago was filled with promise for a bright future in emergency nursing. I grieved for the days when hypomania meant productivity and fun that didn’t progress to mania. Most of all I grieved for my intense curiosity, sharp intellect and acute memory, which I valued enormously and where I had placed a lot of my self-worth. Everyone hastens to tell you about the benefits of being treated for bipolar, but no one prepares you to cope with the things you think that you lose. Read more

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