Interview: My First Mental Health Crisis

Interview: My First Mental Health Crisis - Let's Talk

This interview dives into the beginning of my recovery dealing with my breakdown and legal intervention which is more common than not. Watch and share, thank you!

I appreciate the opportunity to be a part of this project... The Let's Talk Project is funded by a grant from the Association for Psychological Science Fund for Teaching and Public Understanding of Psychological Science. The goal of Let's Talk is to share the expertise and experiences of BIPOC mental health researchers and providers, as well as clients living and thriving with mental health challenges.

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Religious Preoccupation

After a talk, a woman asked me if my faith contributed to my recovery because she noticed that I mentioned it throughout my speech. In addition to that, she told me that she observed people with faith as having a better outcome in their mental health recovery. First, I came from a family with Christian values. My faith in God started to get intense during the latter years of high school, which in my opinion, is when I started having symptoms. In my experience religion plays a major role in my mental health- its delusions, its coping skills, and in my recovery. In medical terms they call my religious rituals and delusions "religious preoccupation." Before I was diagnosed I was highly religious. In fact, I wanted to be an evangelist and to go to a Christian college. I would read my Bible for several hours a day throughout the day, listen to hymns, and meditate. Sometimes I would ignore people if they wanted my attention while I was meditating I was in such deep thought. Also, I...

The Path that God Chose for Me

I am not upset that I have schizophrenia, this is the life God chose for me. The other day I was telling my mother I am glad I took a break from school, but I wish I had taken it sooner so that I could have recognized my illness sooner. She reminded me that everything happens for a reason, and that had I took a break sooner I would not have been able to know my full potential in college and in life. I went to college and got really involved in it through sports, internships, and mentoring peers. I was involved in so many things, school, church, home, friends, family, you name it! She was right, I am glad I took the path I took. I did not always have schizophrenia, but now that I have it I will work hard to overcome it. I try not to use the word schizophrenic because that identifies the person by their illness and that isn't fair. I am Ashley and I have schizophrenia. I will not let it limit my potential or define who I am. I can and will overcome these symptoms with medication, the...

Learning more about my Symptoms and Diagnosis

A few weeks ago I asked the question: "Mania or Something Else?" ... Well, I got an answer to my question, plus some! I visited my doctor a couple of weeks ago and he confirmed I was experiencing "hypo-mania," which is what fellow blogger assumed I was experiencing. To my understanding hypo-mania is similar to mania however not as extreme where incidents lead to harsh consequences like arrests. When I was in this state of mind I was obsessed with working on my laptop, I blogged more frequently than usual, and I felt like I was on an upward swing, which was a little unusual, this lasted for about a week and then quickly spiraled down into irritability. After sharing how I was feeling with my doctor we tweaked my medication... I am glad I have a better understanding of myself, now I know how to identify my hypo-mania moments! However, my discussion with my doctor lead to another indept discussion- I shared previous moments of hypo-mania which as a result m...

Overcoming Schizophrenia

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