Mental Health
I Celebrate Disability Pride, But Am I Really Proud of My Mental Illness?
When advertising for this year’s New Orleans Disability Pride Festival I was blown away by the positive responses we received, but there was one outlier expressing their disapproval whose words I just cannot shake. Amid the cries of “This is…
Florida’s New “School Safety” Law Discriminates Against Students With Mental Illnesses
Note: In an effort not to conflate the specific legal meanings of “mental illness” with the intentionally broad umbrella term “neurodivergent,” the following article predominantly uses the terms “mental health” and “mental illness” rather than “neurodivergent.” However, in certain cases…
Navigating the Twists and Turns of Healthcare as a Trans Disabled Person
Statistics on the transgender community are hard to come by — we can’t even agree on how many people in the United States are trans. We do know, however, that trans people experience significant health care disparities, particularly in…
Anti-Stigma Mental Health Campaigns Often Ignore Our Realities
I have to be honest: I am not a fan of anti-stigma campaigns. Or, at least, not the way the campaigns are normally run. Let me explain why: I am forever grateful to live in a time where openness about …
Before You Offer Unsolicited Mental Health Advice on Social Media, Read This.
If you have a mental illness and you talk about it on the internet, someone is bound to respond almost immediately with unsolicited advice. Have you tried medication? Have you tried not taking medication? Meditation? Crystals? Yoga? A fad diet?…Are We Turning a Corner on Discussions of Gun Violence and Mental Health?
Content note: this post discusses gun violence, mental illness, and sexually abusive behavior. Like many of us living in the United States, I’m constantly bracing for the news of yet another mass shooting. As a human, I’m horrified by the…
Don’t Use “Functioning Labels” to Victim-Blame Me
Content note: this post discusses sexual abuse and rape. When people find out that I survived a rape and my assailant was a woman, their tone often immediately shifts from sympathy to disbelief or confusion: “How could a woman rape …
Judi Chamberlin: Mad Pride and the Fight Against Institutionalizing Women
Content note: this post discusses miscarriage, mental illness, and forced institutionalization. It’s Women’s History Month, which makes it an excellent time to talk about the fact that women’s history and disability history overlap significantly; notable women from Harriet Tubman to…