Jolyn's Friends

View All

Jolyn's Groups

Conditions & Diseases

38 members
ADHD

29 members

Thyroid

24 members
Diabetes - Type 1

12 members

Pregnancy

21 members

Jolyn's Page

Latest Activity

Profile Information

More about me (my health interests and reasons for joining WEGO Health): I was employed in mental health, including teaching, for 24 years. I've written six published non-fiction books; health articles for magazines, newspapers and other venues; and policies and other materials for health care and colleges since 1990. I have a Ph.D. in Health and Human Services, a Master's in Social Work, a Bachelor's in Psychology, another degree in English and have taken writing extra writing and health courses and workshops.

Jolyn's Blog

Proud to be mad, as in crazy?

Well, why not? It has worked for the self-esteem and public regard of many groups to flaunt pride in their own circumstances or achievements -- especially when the group has been stigmatized. Some folks are proud to be women, some to be black, some to be gay and some to be seniors. It's not as though most people involved in the mad pride movement are saying they're proud of how they feel or what they experience or do when they're in episodes of mental disorder. It seems to be more often about pr… Continue

Posted on May 12, 2008 at 5:00pm — 1 Comment

Self-help with a little help

I'm a strong proponent of self-help, as well as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and medications for people with depression and anxiety disorders. In my last blog and some I wrote a couple of weeks ago, I discussed psychiatric rehabilitation too, but that's really for people with recurrent and severe forms of these and other mental health disorders. The key to self-help is setting goals and following them. Sounds easy, right? Wrong, but you might do best with some help with your self-help.

La… Continue

Posted on April 27, 2008 at 12:00am —

Psychiatric rehabilitation as a parallel universe

The world of psychiatric, or psychosocial, rehabilitation is very different than the one most of us know. It's a place where people with recurring and serious depression, anxiety and other mental health disorders -- usually referred to as people with psychiatric disabilities -- are encouraged and supported to develop their dreams and follow them. There's very little, if any, stigma in this universe. The emphasis is on personal strengths, not illness.

It's where people with these conditions cour… Continue

Posted on April 26, 2008 at 7:00pm —

Don't settle for a quick diagnosis

There are more than 50 causes of panic, more than 100 causes of depression and 284 causes of anxiety listed on the Wrong Diagnosis web site. These numbers don't even include potential medication side effects and drug interactions that may be causing one of these cond… Continue

Posted on April 25, 2008 at 10:30pm —

What's really best for depression?

Mental health practitioners tend to believe that cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), or other psychotherapies, together with antidepressants make up the best treatment combination for people with moderate to major depression. Some practitioners prefer to provide information and encourage patient/client/consumer choice of what therapy, or therapies, they want. But wait -- here's information on a… Continue

Posted on April 25, 2008 at 12:44am —

Comment Wall (5 comments)

You need to be a member of WEGO Health to add comments!

Join this social network

At 11:36am on April 11, 2008, Ellen S said…: Hi Jolyn!

I'm finally finding a few moments to find some of the WEGO Health members I've enjoyed working with and reading these past few months.

I didn't know you were such an artist! I am learning to paint with oils and only hope I can finish the piece I'm working on at present and not be embarrassed with the end result. what a challenge! I used to be a glass artist, but one doesn't so easily translate to the other as most people would think!

I'm particularly interested in the Stigma of mental illness and hope you will write more about it in the future. Those with chronic pain, and with Dystonia often are misunderstood and treated as if they are mentally ill (as if this means that the standard of care should be different), and this was a real awakening to me. I now have a much deeper appreciation for those fears than I had before.

At 7:49pm on April 6, 2008, Barbara Steinberg said…: Yes, I think it's an excellent idea to keep up with each other's blog. I will read yours now. :-)

At 12:50am on March 28, 2008, Jolyn said…: I've been heartened in my research work for WEGO Health to see the breadth of what I think of as a higher level of wholistic understanding of health care issues on many Internet sites than what existed a few short years ago. I found the pre-web years especially frustrating in this regard. Still, I believe that many health care practitioners, the media and health care educators continue to talk about diseases, disabilities and disorders without enough consideration of: the psychological effects of these problems; the importance of identifying strengths and using them to overcome or cope with the issues; the individual's circumstances; social forces; and what promotes individual and population change. I see that changing, though, and think it has to do with demystifying the medical world, primarily through the Internet, and self-advocacy by better informed health care consumers. Is this hopeless optimism on my part or do you see this too?

At 11:54pm on March 27, 2008, Jolyn said…: I just completed several pages of links for WEGO Health on diabetes and started wondering just how far we've really come in understanding how to prevent diabetes. I found a research project recruiting for this on TrialNet and several great publications from the National Diabetes Education Program on preventing it. This raises another question in my mind. Have we been making any progress since the publicity about the dangers of obesity surfaced a couple of years ago or is it too soon to tell? Anyone know or know where to look?