The image above is an excellent summary of psychiatry versus psychology and where they meet. In mathematics, such diagrams are common in set theory and are called Venn diagrams. The light aqua areas pertain to the title of the circle only (psychiatry or psychology, but not both). In contrast, the dark aqua area where the … Read more

Once someone knows you live with a mental illness or brain disorder, that person may put you permanently under their microscope. It happens too often. You may therefore behave in a most rigid and conformist way that doesn’t fit your personality just to avoid making waves. This predicament is especially likely if you have displayed … Read more

In real life, in movies, and TV shows, you often hear people say, “The situation is so schizophrenic. I have several choices, all of which seem good to me.” More darkly, you may hear, from the same sources: “That person has several identities. They are schizophrenic, so beware.” Those phrases have some political incorrectness to … Read more

It can be challenging to motivate yourself to exercise when you struggle with your mental health. On paper, the best thing to do would be to join a group of people practicing some exercise you enjoy with the help of a coach. Examples are Tai Chi, Yoga, Pilates, or more vigorous sports like basketball or … Read more

Some well-known insightful movies have been made about someone living with a mental illness. Examples are: “The Three Faces Of Eve (1957),” “A Beautiful Mind (2001),” and “Silver Linings Playbook (2012).” However, these movies are the exception rather than the rule. Focussing on Hollywood, for example, countless movies have been made which propagate the worst … Read more

What is Anosognosia? It is a Greek term meaning “to not know a disease.” NAMI (National Alliance On Mental Illness) has some information on its website about Anosognosia: click here to see it. From that information, I quote: “When we talk about anosognosia in mental illness, we mean that someone is unaware of their own … Read more

A lot of the stigma surrounding mental illness, particularly paranoid schizophrenia, is founded on a reaction of fear when someone either learns you are a mental health consumer or sees you behaving abnormally when you are in crisis. Many people ignore or are unaware of how terrifying the symptoms of a severe mental illness or … Read more

The use of “people first” language in the context of political correctness when speaking about mental health is not as widespread or even acknowledged as it needs to be. For example, “Rhys is schizophrenic” is not “people first” as it identifies Rhys with schizophrenia. A more courteous term is “Rhys lives with schizophrenia.” This last … Read more

Several Blog posts ago, we talked about Anosognosia. Today, we’ll talk about the LEAP method and schizophrenia, a mainstream, proven approach to helping people overcome anosognosia and accept treatment for their mental illness or brain disorder. I will reproduce here an edited extract from the transcript of Chapter 6 of my podcast “Schizophrenia as I … Read more

In this blog post, we will compare the meaning of “Overlife” in my book “The Overlife, A Tale Of Schizophrenia” and the meaning of the same word among scholars of Ancient Egypt or Egyptologists. We will see that they are pretty different but nonetheless interesting to compare. Egyptologists also use “Underlife,” which doesn’t occur in … Read more