Category: advocacy
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What I Would Change About the Mental Healthcare System
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I want to bring attention to the most broken part of the mental healthcare system in the US. I know there are many broken pieces, but I’m basing my comment on my personal experience, as someone who was fortunate enough to get care inside of a psychiatric hospital setting. You…
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Winners of the 2022 BipolarBrave Awards Announced
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In honor of #worldbipolarday, March 30th, congratulations to the 2022 BipolarBrave Awards Winners! Winners were judged based on how closely they fulfilled the criteria of: — Been active on blog, site, or social media for at minimum the last 6 months — Have a Christian, faith-based mission/vision to include reconciling…
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The Case for Reclassification: Serious Mental Illness to Serious Brain Disorder
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What’s in a Name? Recently, the term Serious Brain Disorder (SBD) has been circulating in my Facebook mental health advocacy groups more and more. At first, it seemed as if these circles of advocates wanted the insurance companies to code Serious Mental Illnesses (SMIs) differently so they would issue better…
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The Elephant in the Sanctuary
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I facilitated a panel discussion at my home church in Kingsville, MO last month between pastors and mental health professionals. The insights shared and answers we learned were AMAZING. I would encourage you to check out the YouTube videos of the recordings of the sections of the discussion.
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Books to Read to Understand Mental Illness
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Memoirs I recommend that were excellent for understanding mental illness from first-person perspective. All descriptions are taken from Amazon: Running with Scissors Running with Scissors is the true story of a boy whose mother (a poet with delusions of Anne Sexton) gave him away to be raised by her unorthodox psychiatrist…
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Why Psych Treatment Should Be Community Based
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The Hospital Setting Psychiatric hospitals are notorious for lack of funding and quality treatment of the patients. I spent time at both a juvenile and adult ward, and they aren’t any fun, especially when you’re in the frame of mind you’re in. Just in the nature of their structure, putting…
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Breakdown: An Interview with Author and L.I.C.S.W. Lynn Nanos
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Lynn Nanos recently debuted her book Breakdown: A Clinician’s Experience in a Broken System of Emergency Psychiatry. From her site, “Breakdown opens a dialogue with anyone interested in improving the system of care for the seriously mentally ill population. Using vignettes based on real interactions with patients, their families, police officers,…
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Brandon Appelhans Guest Posts: “Identity & Mental Health”
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Brandon reached out to me recently and is a mutual friend of Pastor Brad Hoefs. After researching his website, MyQuietCave.org, I invited Brandon to guest post for us here at BipolarBrave.com. I hope his story is encouraging to you and reminds you where your true identity comes from. Yesterday I…
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The GAMEPLAN Has Arrived – sign up for yours now
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This tool and multipurpose document that contains resources for preparation in case of a mental health emergency includes: -Emergency contacts (professional and personal) -Hotlines, websites and apps to go to for mood management and more mental health resources -Medication and mental health history form -Triggers and pro-actions for situations -Safety…
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14 Things Psych Hospitals Could Improve Upon
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The chill of the hospital air and my electric state of paranoia disposed me to shiver uncontrollably. Ashamed of the behaviors I exhibited after the scolding of the receptionist, I worried. I was in the lion’s den, again. I wanted to claim victory in Jesus — in fact — my…