goodtogo Posted August 6, 2009 Share Posted August 6, 2009 Hi everyone. I am new to this magical land of crazy boards. I don't really know how much I will be using this board to talk about diagnoses/things like that--In my senior year of high school I clearly had ED-NOS for six months. I have been getting treatment for an episode I had two years ago in which I was diagnosed with Pure-Obessional OCD because of some horrifying intrusive thoughts I was having. Have been on 20MG of prozac ever since, but I don't know how much I identify with that diagnosis anymore and have only recently started therapy again, though just in the interest of managing some feelings I have (anxiety, depression, fear, and hell, having just graduated in this economy!!!) I believe that I have probably qualified for many DSM categories throughout my life and may continue to qualify, but that is less my angle--I am into empathy and mutual support and believe in the right to self-determine how to identify (but am NOT, I repeat, NOT a scientologist or someone who is against therapy/meds/etc--the point of SELF-DETERMINATION is the ability to CHOOSE therapy if you WANT). I spent most of my unversity career doing radical mental health organizing and radical disability organizing, questioning the way that society deals with stigmatized and diagnosed people, forming discussion groups and networks of mutual support, working on a social marketing campaign, collaborating on mental-health related zines and planning a 3-day conference on disability studies. I was always on the go, but once I graduated I realized that I had spent a lot of time planning and working on this issue but had built a big wall around myself, was not close to too many people, and had spent more time caring for abstract others than caring for myself. Ironically, I was one of the biggest advocates for stigma-busting and talking about issues but was petrified of revealing too much about myself. So part of my post-graduation journey is figuring out what I need to be happy and fulfilled and learning how to take care of MYSELF first. I was always the kind of person that let people walk all over me and was afraid of confrontation. My self-esteem was at zero regardless of my talents and accomplishments, etc. My parents want me to be happy and feel good about myself, but they also have a tendency to want to control various aspects of my life as if they do't believe I will be happy without their help. Sometimes they put a lot of pressure on me. It's safe to say that they have no idea how to deal with my mental health issues, and I want to lean on them for support, but lately, every time I do, I get an unsatisfactory response. Maybe this will change soon. MI has carried over into a lot of areas of my life, including jobs, where I often get fired or perform poorly because my anxiety makes me easily distracted and triggered. However, this summer, I had an awesome job accompanying a boy with autism in a day camp setting and integrating him into the group. I was able to establish a strong bond with him, partially because my little brother is an aspie so I have some experience with the spectrum and partially because of my empathy and out-of-the-box way of communicating. I'm a little eccentric and have wondered in the past if I am on the autistic spectrum, but maybe it matters less WHAT I am and WHAT to call it--maybe all of us crazies share a bit of a special bond. I got superb performance reviews (didn't hurt that I was working for an anti-oppressive day camp run by a radical community organization--it helps to work with like-minded people). I have a degree in education and am thinking of doing more work with autistic children and am applying for various jobs doing ABA therapy. In a few years I hope to go to graduate school to study social work or counselling--my dream job is to be a mental health counsellor. I have a girlfriend who uses this site a lot. She's the one who told me about it. It has been great learning how to trust people and how to open myself up these past several months. I love her a lot and don't know what I would do without her. Her name is tryp--if you are reading this, hi ducky!!! Love you! It might be weird for both of us to be on this site if we are posting intimate details about MI--we'll see how this goes and whether we need to block each other... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MistyGypsy Posted August 6, 2009 Share Posted August 6, 2009 Welcome goodtogo! I'm a little eccentric and have wondered in the past if I am on the autistic spectrum, but maybe it matters less WHAT I am and WHAT to call it--maybe all of us crazies share a bit of a special bond I can definitely relate to this - in the past I've wondered about some brand of autism myself, but in my case other issues come first. I'm so glad to have found the wonderful crazies here on CB - makes the rest of society look positively dull! Look forward to catching up around the boards, Misty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goodtogo Posted August 6, 2009 Author Share Posted August 6, 2009 Thank you for the kind welcome! I will certainly be hanging around here, and yes, crazies definetely DO make the rest of society look dull--90% of my friends have some sort of MI issue--this is the case whether I met them in a mental health context or not. We are drawn to each other like magnets and we all help each other gain strength and acceptance. Peace and see you around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Emperor Posted August 6, 2009 Share Posted August 6, 2009 Welcome to the boards! Hopefully you like it here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goodtogo Posted August 6, 2009 Author Share Posted August 6, 2009 Welcome to the boards! Hopefully you like it here. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Choosing_the_blue_pills Posted August 6, 2009 Share Posted August 6, 2009 Welcome to crazyboards! Great you have been working against stigma, there sure are some things left to be done about that. And that summer job sounds truly awesome, good luck with your future career. A lot of the people I know also have MI. Hope you like it here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~nestling~ Posted August 6, 2009 Share Posted August 6, 2009 Welcome! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LunaRufina Posted August 8, 2009 Share Posted August 8, 2009 Hi! Welcome to CB! Be sure to check out chat and the blogs if you're into that sort of thing. Both are great ways to meet other members and different ways to offer and receive support. A blog is a great way to keep track of therapy, life events, medications, etc. I have been getting treatment for an episode I had two years ago in which I was diagnosed with Pure-Obessional OCD because of some horrifying intrusive thoughts I was having. Have been on 20MG of prozac ever since, but I don't know how much I identify with that diagnosis anymore and have only recently started therapy again, though just in the interest of managing some feelings I have (anxiety, depression, fear, and hell, having just graduated in this economy!!!) It's hard when you are taking medication for something and it's been "dormant" or you've not had any symptoms for a long period of time. Questions start to enter our mind about whether or not we really need it. I don't know how old you are, but onset of OCD can be as late as late twenties. One thing you might want to discuss with your therapist is whether or not you fit the diagnosis and how to go about figuring that out. I only say that because figuring that out would partially indicate the necessity for the medication. Your summer job sounds great and it sounds like it helped you focus a little more on what you want to do. Anyway, you should check out the rules when you get a chance. PM one of the mods if you need anything or have any questions. Glad to have ya! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluelikejazz Posted August 8, 2009 Share Posted August 8, 2009 hi, welcome! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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