Health Expert Robin Cunningham shares health management news and commentary at HealthCentral.com. HealthCentral.com is one of the top health destinations on the Web, with more than 35 condition-specific, wellness and general health Web properties. http://www.healthcentral.com/profiles/c/100/index http://www.healthcentral.com/profiles/c/100/rss self application/xml en-us 15 120 19 http://www.healthcentral.com/images/hc_logo_sm.gif http://www.healthcentral.com/profiles/c/100/index http://www.healthcentral.com/schizophrenia/c/100/56986/choices-easy Sun, 25 Jan 2009 23:41:35 -0500 Robin Cunningham   In books, movies and TV shows we've all heard the phrase - "We can do this the easy way or the hard way, the choice is yours."  In any context this line offers a clear choice.  The consequences of that choice are implicit, but nonetheless quite clear.   In this series, CHOICES II (Choices in Recovery), we are talking about the kinds of choices that those of us with schizophrenia must make in our lives.  Some of... http://www.healthcentral.com/schizophrenia/c/100/56986/choices-easy http://www.healthcentral.com/schizophrenia/c/100/56985/choices-easy Sun, 25 Jan 2009 23:41:28 -0500 Robin Cunningham   In books, movies and TV shows we've all heard the phrase - "We can do this the easy way or the hard way, the choice is yours."  In any context this line offers a clear choice.  The consequences of that choice are implicit, but nonetheless quite clear.   In this series, CHOICES II (Choices in Recovery), we are talking about the kinds of choices that those of us with schizophrenia must make in our lives.  Some of... http://www.healthcentral.com/schizophrenia/c/100/56985/choices-easy http://www.healthcentral.com/schizophrenia/c/100/56162/ii-acceptance Mon, 19 Jan 2009 10:38:24 -0500 Robin Cunningham   It took me about three years to accept what many others recognized from the outset, that I had a serious mental illness.  It was my first psychiatrist, Dr. Sol Levy, who concluded very early on that I was suffering from schizophrenia.  Unbeknownst to me, he began immediately to treat me for this illness using what is today commonly referred to as "best practice treatment."  However, he never said anything to me about... http://www.healthcentral.com/schizophrenia/c/100/56162/ii-acceptance http://www.healthcentral.com/schizophrenia/c/100/55186/schizophrenia Sun, 11 Jan 2009 03:48:51 -0500 Robin Cunningham   At the conclusion of my last SharePost, submitted on 4 January, 2009, I cited a quotation by Morag Coate and asked that visitors read the quote and give us their reaction to it in the form of a comment to the SharePost.   The quotation reads as follows -   " To one who is mad, the world is still real, but it has a new meaning; people are real too, close and powerful and perhaps dangerous, but among them all, the individual... http://www.healthcentral.com/schizophrenia/c/100/55186/schizophrenia http://www.healthcentral.com/schizophrenia/c/100/54372/stigmatization Sun, 04 Jan 2009 13:31:00 -0500 Robin Cunningham   For my last SharePost, submitted on 28 December, 2008, (www.healthcentral.com/schizophrenia/c/100/53657/ii-13-consumer ), I submitted a poem entitled "WARD 7N," which I believe touches on self-stigmatization and forgiveness in consumers and asked that visitors read and tell us what this poem says to them in the form of a comment to the SharePost.   Don Fraser wrote two comments and Carolyn [DCROY9633] wrote another.  The... http://www.healthcentral.com/schizophrenia/c/100/54372/stigmatization http://www.healthcentral.com/schizophrenia/c/100/54371/stigmatization Sun, 04 Jan 2009 13:30:57 -0500 Robin Cunningham   For my last SharePost, submitted on 28 December, 2008, (www.healthcentral.com/schizophrenia/c/100/53657/ii-13-consumer ), I submitted a poem entitled "WARD 7N," which I believe touches on self-stigmatization and forgiveness in consumers and asked that visitors read and tell us what this poem says to them in the form of a comment to the SharePost.   Don Fraser wrote two comments and Carolyn [DCROY9633] wrote another.  The... http://www.healthcentral.com/schizophrenia/c/100/54371/stigmatization http://www.healthcentral.com/schizophrenia/c/100/53657/ii-13-consumer Sun, 28 Dec 2008 19:21:57 -0500 Robin Cunningham   I indicated a few blogs ago that I still wanted to discuss family, provider, and consumer stigma before we moved on with our CHOICES II Series.  We have since explored stigma involving members of a larger family, such as uncles and aunts, in my SharePost CHOICES II-10 submitted on 7 December 2008 and immediate family, such as parents and siblings, in my SharePost CHOICES II-12 dated 21 December 2008.  For good measure,... http://www.healthcentral.com/schizophrenia/c/100/53657/ii-13-consumer http://www.healthcentral.com/schizophrenia/c/100/53069/ii-reactions Sun, 21 Dec 2008 21:52:07 -0500 Robin Cunningham   In my last blog, I drew upon my own experience and presented an abridged excerpt from my memoir that illustrates the kind of reaction one often receives from family members at large.  In this blog, I will again present an abridged portion from my memoir that recreates the reactions of my parents.   In reading this, please keep in mind that I am recreating a bitter argument between my parents that I was not supposed to have... http://www.healthcentral.com/schizophrenia/c/100/53069/ii-reactions http://www.healthcentral.com/schizophrenia/c/100/52296/schizophrenia Sun, 14 Dec 2008 14:55:00 -0500 Robin Cunningham   In recent blogs we have discussed impediments arising from a variety of sources that can discourage consumers from accepting the fact that they have a serious mental illness, thereby resulting in dangerous delays in their receipt of effective treatment.  In these discussions we've found that many of the impediments originate with well-meaning others and are the products of stigma born of fear and ignorance concerning mental... http://www.healthcentral.com/schizophrenia/c/100/52296/schizophrenia http://www.healthcentral.com/schizophrenia/c/100/51427/10-impediments Sun, 07 Dec 2008 13:41:03 -0500 Robin Cunningham   In my last blog posted 29/30 November 2008 at  http://www.healthcentral.com/schizophrenia/c/100/50595/ii-impediments I indicated that there were three types or sources of stigma that, although touched upon in previous SharePosts, I wanted to consider individually and in more detail.  These are family, provider and consumer stigma.  This blog will address family stigma.   The response of core family members... http://www.healthcentral.com/schizophrenia/c/100/51427/10-impediments