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15 Dec

Things I’ve Learned

I’m packing up my DSM 5-TR, lap top, notepad, perennial mug of tea and leaving community mental health in West Virginia. Working in the Appalachian mental health has been equal parts enlightening, startling, weird, and frustrating. Oh—and lest I forget—endlessly amusing. I was not raised in West Virginia and moved to work in community mental […]

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01 Dec

Where do Psychosis and Borderline Personality Disorder intersect?

We’ve talked about Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) before on this blog (What is Borderline Personality Disorder? – Quiet Minds, but did you know that it has a complex relationship to Psychosis? According to Dr. Daniel Fox, a licensed psychologist and author who hosts a video series on BPD, the term “borderline” was given to BPD […]

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15 Nov

Schizophrenia vs. Schizoaffective Disorder

So as a supervisor to psychology/counseling interns and early career mental health professionals, I am often asked to review the differences between schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder. I think people, who potentially have these disorders, and the loved ones who support them, should also know what symptoms to look for. Here is a mini-primer on both […]

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01 Nov

Can music therapy help with Psychosis symptoms?

We all know that music can change the way we feel. Think of a bar full of strangers all stopping to sing along to Bon Jovi’s ‘Livin’ on a Prayer’ or a church full of congregants raising their voices to ‘Amazing Grace’. As humans, we’re wired to respond, and it naturally follows then that symptoms […]

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15 Oct

Schizophrenia and IQ

Recent, while talking to a young client, who is diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder, they reported noticeable changes in their memory and ability to read/fill out necessary paperwork (e.g. legal, housing, doctor’s forms).  This particular client observed a decline in their memory and reading comprehension over the past several years, shortly after receiving their schizoaffective diagnosis.  […]

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01 Oct

This is your brain on Psychosis: New findings show how it spreads throughout the Brain

Did you know that science can tell us more about outer space than it can about the deepest parts of our world’s oceans? In much the same way, we may think we know everything about the human brain, but it seems there’s even more to be learned, especially when it comesto psychosis. Scientists at Monash […]

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31 Aug

“They looked at me like I was crazy”: How one woman’s journey with Psychosis led to a ground-breaking Student Organization

“I really will not rest until anyone who has schizophrenia, anywhere, worldwide, is not afraid to say the words ‘I have schizophrenia’.” – Ceclilia McGough In early 2014, Cecilia McGough was a Freshman at Penn State University when she began struggling with psychosis. Though her PSU career would include such achievements as helping discover a […]

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01 Aug

Could your Depression really be Dysthymia?

Think back to a time when you felt really great and really happy. If you have episodes of Depression, the answer might be a few months or years ago. If you have a condition called Dysthymia, the answer might sound more like “I’m not sure I’ve ever felt really happy”. For those with Dysthymia, “it’s […]

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09 Jul

Do some people just “get over” Psychosis?

Part of the difficulty that comes with facing psychosis is not knowing when life will feel “normal” again. You might wonder if you’ll always having moments where your reality shifts and if your voices will stay with you or fade over time. Psychology Today wondered the same thing this month, asking “Who Recovers from Psychosis? […]

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01 Jul

Viewers making connections between Stranger Things and Mental Health

This summer has seen a resurgence for 80’s music sensation Kate Bush. It’s thanks in no small part to her song, “Running up that Hill (A Deal with God)” which features prominently in the Netflix show, Stranger Things. In the show’s fourth season, high school freshman Max is dealing with grief and post-traumatic stress from […]

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