Monthly Archives: February 2011

How I Got Diagnosed with Unconscious Paranoid Schizophrenia

Posted on February 24, 2011 by annecwoodlen

On Monday, with a forty-year history of depression, I was admitted to inpatient psychiatry in a suicidal state.  On Wednesday, my psychiatrist went on holiday, leaving me in the care of Dr. Jane Kou.  She had not seen me in … Continue reading →

Posted in doctor, mental illness, patient, physician, psychiatric patient, St. Joseph's Hospital, Suicide, Unit 3-6 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Anna the Embed: How I Got Diagnosed with Narcissism (Part V)

Posted on February 23, 2011 by annecwoodlen

The Embed is moving on to her main diagnosis:  major depressive disorder, severe and recurrent.             But I have bipolar disorder, type II!  I’ve had it for forty-two years, I tell the Embed.             No, she says, I didn’t see … Continue reading →

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Anna the Embed: How I Got Diagnosed with Narcissism (Part IV)

Posted on February 22, 2011 by annecwoodlen

None of these places will investigate your complaint and find in your favor.  Last year seven thousand citizens in this county filed complaints against their doctors; only four hundred were upheld.  Reality is this: you cannot change the world, nor … Continue reading →

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Anna the Embed: How I Got Diagnosed with Narcissism (Part III)

Posted on February 21, 2011 by annecwoodlen

            The Embed doesn’t want to hear it.  If I am alone, it is my fault.  It is not the fault of a parachute that didn’t open, a doctor who didn’t know what she was doing, or wisdom that caused … Continue reading →

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Anna the Embed: How I Got Diagnosed with Narcissism (Part II)

Posted on February 19, 2011 by annecwoodlen

            The only reason for giving someone a diagnosis is in order to treat.  If you’re not going to treat, then it’s just name-calling.  Generally speaking, I refuse the diagnosis of borderline personality disorder but I will accept it if … Continue reading →

Posted in depression, doctor, Hutchings Psychiatric Center, mental health, mental illness, patient, physician, psychiatric patient, psychiatrist, psychiatry, Upstate Medical Center | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Anna the Embed: How I Got Diagnosed with Narcissism (Part I)

Posted on February 18, 2011 by annecwoodlen

            Today I am sitting in the Waiting Room of the Outpatient Clinic in the Department of Psychiatry in the Upstate Medical University Hospital of the State University of New York—they are a self-important clan, these OC/DP/UMUH/SUNY people, and they … Continue reading →

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Saving Your Sanity Yourself

Posted on February 17, 2011 by annecwoodlen

I have been reading Jeannette Bartha’s blog, “Multiple Personalities Don’t Exist,” a cogent, well-informed, well-written collection of thoughts about multiple personality disorder, currently called dissociative identity disorder (DID).  (http://jeanettebartha.wordpress.com/author/jeanettebartha/)  It reminds me of a workshop on recovery that I attended a … Continue reading →

Posted in CPEP, depression, doctor, drugs, mental health, mental illness, Mental Patients Liberation Alliance, patient, physician, psychiatric patient, psychiatrist, psychiatry, Support line | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

An Activist’s Creed

Posted on February 7, 2011 by annecwoodlen

I believe that doing something is better than doing nothing.             When a bus is stuck and blocking traffic, I call 911 and ask for police to direct traffic.  When a spare tire is in the middle of the Rt. 81 … Continue reading →

Posted in Community General Hospital, CPEP, depression, doctor, drugs, Hutchings Psychiatric Center, Inpatient psychiatry, mental health, mental illness, Mental Patients Liberation Alliance, NYS Office of Mental Health, patient, physician, psychiatric patient, psychiatrist, psychiatry, St. Joseph's Hospital, Suicide, Support line, Unit 3-6, Upstate Medical Center | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Today

Posted on February 4, 2011 by annecwoodlen

No post today.  I am suffering from February.

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To Serve the Least

Posted on February 3, 2011 by annecwoodlen

Barack Obama gave an unusually personal speech about his religious faith on Thursday, saying that “it is the biblical injunction to serve the least of these that keeps me going and keeps me from being overwhelmed . . .” “My … Continue reading →

Posted in depression, doctor, drugs, Inpatient psychiatry, mental health, patient, physician, psychiatric patient, psychiatrist, psychiatry, Suicide | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment