Welcome to Lucid Mental Health. This site is dedicated to all things mental health, as well as specifically, the experience of psychosis. Having experienced five episodes since the age of 20 (more than half a lifetime ago), I am interested in sharing ideas, research and letting others know that they too can recover and that they are not alone.
Psychosis can be a frightening experience but by examining it closely we can come to know more about what it is, why it occurs and more importantly, how recovery comes about. According to The Recovery Village, approximately 3% of people in the US will experience psychosis at some point in their lives. That’s 3 in every 100. Each year in the US, 100,000 teenagers and young adults will experience their first psychotic episode (The Recovery Village, 2021).
Whilst the actual content of psychosis experience varies greatly from one person to the next, there are some common themes that can occur including religious or spiritual “delusions”, “hallucinations” (to use medical language) and “ideas of reference” (having a belief or perception that irrelevant, unrelated or innocuous things in the world are referring to them directly or have special personal significance). It is my hope that as a community, we can make sense of such experiences by coming together and talking about them openly without fear of being judged or stigmatised.
Of course, if you or someone you know is having a psychotic experience, I strongly encourage you to seek help through the services of a professional, ie. doctor, psychiatrist and/or psychologist. There are a range of services available to those in crisis, some of which I have listed here.
Thank you for visiting.
The Impact of Psychosis
Image above: a praying mantis that appeared right near the handle of the back door to the mental health facility that I stayed in during part of 2017. It was past midnight and I had just stepped out to have a cigarette alone in the night, or at least I thought. The Carl Jung quote is there because I love his theories and ideas, particularly about synchronicity and the concept of meaningful coincidence. -------------------- What does it mean to be in psychosis? Usually it’s a combination of things that the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) would call “delusions”, “ideas [...]
Random Pieces of Mind
I drew the image above during an art therapy class. The theme was "Me as a Tree". There had been some serious bushfires in Victoria during 2019/2020, and Covid-19 had not quite hit the headlines. This is a post sharing some of the stuff I've created over the years. I really think that having some sort of healthy outlet is a great way of working towards recovery and I guess this is all a part of mine. I'm okay "As the sun comes up for each new day, I remind myself that I'm okay". [...]
Questioning Reality: When ‘Happiness’ Comes with a Warning
I feel good. Not in a James Brown kinda way, just "good". I am content with life at the moment, feeling inspired to be creative in a variety of ways and enjoying my own company. This is the first time in many years -- so many I have lost count -- that I have felt this way. Because I have had the diagnosis of "schizoaffective disorder" offered to me and have experienced five separate episodes of psychosis, as well as long depressive patches too numerous to count, this feels foreign. Here I am, cruising along thinking "things are pretty [...]
Synchronicity & Guides in Action
I was crying. It’s a full moon, my period has decided to synchronise with it, I’m tired and forgot to take my meds. Anyway, so here I am crying and The Smiths are playing on my TV. Even better. I distinctly asked my guides to show me something joyous. Next thing I’m talking to my friend via messenger (did I mention it was 5am?) and she sends me a YouTube link to a short film she has made. It’s called ‘Wind’. So we chatted some more and I continued to listen to my 80’s mix (randomly put together by Apple [...]
Inspiration for Recovery: Eleanor Longden
Eleanor Longden's recovery story is an inspiration. It took many years of challenging interactions with the medical system, much courage and tenacity to get to a point of having overcome her diagnosis of 'schizophrenia'. Her story tells us that we CAN recover and lead meaningful lives, in spite of our diagnoses.
What is it like to be in ‘psychosis’?
As I thought of updating this page after nearly a year has passed, I went to retrieve my laptop and as I stood up, a small feather floated to the ground in front of me. If that isn't synchronicity, then I don't know what is. I can think of a few choice words to describe what is medically known as a “psychotic state”. So I’ll skip those and use one: FRIGHTENING. There are also words like “dreamlike”, “surreal” and “euphoric” that go some way to describe it, however, these alone don’t really cut it. Frightening I thought I was going [...]