Resources in Alabama

[The Warren]

LOL yeh that's was us. I hardly post here anymore because I'm so busy with other stuff but thought I'd poke in and ask in case I was missing something.

We live in the northeast, and while now it's better and the minimal care I still get (pretty much just for script refills) is excellent, 20 years ago when I was in the same spot, it was just as barbaric, maybe a little less because at the time our forcible commitment was up to 10 days, did not permit forced medication, and even if you were brought in that way you could immediately change your status to "conditional voluntary" which gave you more options. Your state laws are stupid ridiculous. My frickin jaw dropped, and I think 1/2 the words I wrote to your mom started with the letter F. (MM old timers, think of my old Steam posts - it was like that.)

The short story is I was in the same exact spot at the same age experiencing the same things. I did a lot of time in the state hospital and pretty much made the rounds of most of the private ones. I couldn't so much as look at any of these psych people sideways without being tossed into lock-up. There was no internet or networking with people all over to find information and support. My last hospitalization was 1993. I did not find any information or understanding of my experiences until being able to go online in 1997. Before that the only place I might find people who got it was among a few other patients in the hospital which is obviously not where anyone wants to be. If I and other people around me had access to that 10 years prior and I was able to find people who would just freak out and send me away, maybe things would have been less awful for less time. It was just as damaging to not be believed after the first time we ended up in the hospital. That just pushed us into a downward spiral. It's bad enough to go through all of that stuff, but having people invalidate you at every turn is just the nail in the coffin.

I'm old now. Life is good. PM of email if you want.

Lea