Blog - Page 4 of 5 - KARTAR DIAMOND

How Does a Mentally Ill Person Get Diagnosed? by Kartar Diamond

In the span of six weeks, back in the summer of 2007, my son received several different diagnoses, with each of four separate hospitalizations. The varying diagnoses ranged from schizoaffective disorder, to bipolar disorder with psychotic features, to schizophrenia paranoid type. Only six months prior, the first diagnosis was schizophrenia and a month later downgraded to Social Anxiety by the same doctor. For many people, it is difficult to get an accurate diagnosis. First of all, it may take a long time before [...]

By Kartar Diamond|2020-12-06T03:25:24+00:00December 6, 2020|Mental Illness, Treatment|0 Comments

Can People With Schizophrenia Lead Normal Lives? by Kartar Diamond

The functional recovery, aptitudes or limitations of people with schizophrenia is complicated. Different parts of the brain are affected under the same diagnosis and some people can maintain superior intellectual and creative capabilities, even when other areas of functionality are lacking. There are many variables which come into play and I learned a lot from reading Dr. E. Fuller Torrey’s book, Surviving Schizophrenia. The operative words in this article are “functional recovery” because there is no cure for the disease, but it can [...]

By Kartar Diamond|2020-11-13T17:29:53+00:00November 13, 2020|Advocacy, Family, Mental Illness|0 Comments

Natural Approaches to Mental Health Issues by Kartar Diamond

The subject of using natural approaches for mental health issues is complicated. First and foremost, we may not have a willing participant when referring to someone with SMI (serious mental illness). An unfortunate component of SMI is that many people, especially those with schizophrenia, lack insight into their illness. When you have a segment of the mentally ill population who does not believe they are ill, taking any kind of supplementation or natural approach could be rebuffed as swiftly as taking prescribed medication. [...]

By Kartar Diamond|2020-10-23T23:40:45+00:00October 23, 2020|Mental Illness|0 Comments

He Came In With It-A Book Review by Kartar Diamond

He Came In With It: A Portrait of Motherhood and Madness by Miriam Feldman A Book Review Before sitting down to review of this memoir, I read over some of the praises by others. The author’s writing style is so engrossing that she deserves a very unique review from me and I’ll strive not to be redundant. I approached He Came In With It from the perspective of also being a mother with a son who has schizophrenia, and also as an author [...]

By Kartar Diamond|2020-10-13T20:45:37+00:00October 13, 2020|Book Reviews, Family|0 Comments

We Understand What You Are Going Through by Kartar Diamond

Many caretakers and family members come to a support group feeling isolated, frustrated and embarrassed about their situations with their mentally ill loved one. What you are going through is unique, but we also share some nearly universal circumstances: Most of us took a while to fully comprehend that our MIL (Mentally ill Loved One) has a serious mental illness which transcends ordinary emotions, personality or behavioral dysfunctions. Most of us have endured the fear of not knowing what to do and a [...]

By Kartar Diamond|2020-09-29T23:51:31+00:00September 29, 2020|Advocacy, Family, Mental Illness|0 Comments

Why Do the Mentally Ill Stop Taking Their Medication? by Kartar Diamond

The purpose of this article is to highlight the reasons why some individuals stop taking anti-psychotic medication, against the advice of family, friends and doctors. My purpose here is not to rally sympathy for a mass shooter who has stopped taking his medication. My purpose is not to discuss the merits or the risks of taking anti-psychotics to begin with. In fact we have, generally speaking, two large camps when it comes to public opinion. There are those who are strongly opposed to [...]

By Kartar Diamond|2020-09-22T18:14:06+00:00September 22, 2020|Advocacy, Mental Illness, Policy|0 Comments

Breakdown: A Clinician’s Experience In A Broken System of Emergency Psychiatry

I had a very personal interest in reading Breakdown, by Lynn Nanos, L.I.C.S.W., because I have a family member with schizophrenia. Along with many others, I have felt intensely frustrated with every aspect of the mental health care system, including hospitals and their staff. I needed to find out what she had to report from her own professional experiences as a mobile emergency psychiatric clinician, with the special skills and ability to orchestrate involuntary hospital admissions. The book is well written, heart-wrenching in [...]

By Kartar Diamond|2020-09-21T03:58:08+00:00September 21, 2020|Advocacy, Book Reviews, Policy|0 Comments

Schizophrenia and Cigarettes by Kartar Diamond

Did you know that we all have nicotine receptors in our brain? When activated, the receptors release dopamine. 92% of all men with schizophrenia smoke cigarettes. This is one reason why Dr. E. Fuller Torrey devoted a whole chapter to nicotine and caffeine in his book, Surviving Schizophrenia. Parents have very different experiences with their son or daughter who has schizophrenia, depending on whether they smoke or not. Those who smoke appear to be living just for the next opportunity to light up. [...]

By Kartar Diamond|2021-04-18T20:36:00+00:00September 20, 2020|Family, Mental Illness|0 Comments

What Is an LPS Conservatorship? (Part 1)

A conservatorship is a legal instrument which grants a person the responsibility of being the legal guardian for another adult. The person who is conserved is called the “conservatee.” There are different types of conservatorships and one which some people are familiar with is the kind of conservatorship put in place for an aging adult who has lost their ability to handle their own affairs. This can happen with dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease. Some conservatorships are long term or permanent. In the case [...]

By Kartar Diamond|2020-09-15T03:19:00+00:00September 15, 2020|Advocacy, Mental Illness, Policy|0 Comments

Review of Hidden Valley Road

Book Review Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family Robert Kolker’s book, Hidden Valley Road, is a distinct work in the midst of an upsurge in books about serious mental illness. He chronicles the events and transformation of a 1960’s family with twelve children, producing six boys with schizophrenia. To be clear: The mother had no idea some of her children had mental illness until after they were all born. Decades later, the family members’ contribution to medical research through [...]

By Kartar Diamond|2020-09-11T23:28:55+00:00September 11, 2020|Book Reviews, Mental Illness|0 Comments