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Alphabet Soup | Empowered Grace
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Learning to Swim in The Alphabet Soup of the DSM. If you’ve been identified as anything. According to the DSM-IV (and soon to be DSM-V), then you might have had the experience of being reduced to a series of letters and possibly numbers in your exchanges with your insurance company and mental healthcare providers– alphabet soup. Attention Deficit Disorder, Inattentive Type. Learning Disorder, not specified. Anxiety Disorder, not specified. This diagnosis seems to hang around regardless of who is assessin...
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The State of Grace | Empowered Grace
https://empoweredgrace.wordpress.com/2015/07/24/the-state-of-grace-2
Learning to Swim in The Alphabet Soup of the DSM. The State of Grace. I wonder if any of you are wondering how Grace is doing? Or Eadaoin, Doireann, or Milly for that matter. Even me. I disappeared for a bit. From. Life is never short of roller coaster-like. At this point, I have chosen the front car, and I’m determined to ride with my hands up while screaming the entire time. I’m going to be. Girl One may as well truly commit to “the ride” so to speak. 4 Biologically based mental health disorders are br...
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The Lingo | Empowered Grace
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Learning to Swim in The Alphabet Soup of the DSM. Members of the mental health community speak their own language, and it’s important to understand it. It’s even more important to speak it, too. Why? Well, it makes communicating with clinicians and other mental health care professionals easier, and it makes reading articles, documentation, research papers, abstracts, medical records, and books a helluva lot more enjoyable if you understand the relevant vocabulary.*. Diagnosis. Note: The DSM-V. For more i...
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Dramatis personæ | Empowered Grace
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Learning to Swim in The Alphabet Soup of the DSM. If only Dr. Foxy were as foxy as…oh, never mind. We have an ever-increasing cast of characters in our journey towards stabilization and, hopefully, establishment of wellness. They seem to enter and exit the stage willy-nilly, ignoring all direction. It’s important to know who they are even if I’m the only one trying to keep it straight. Pronounced DOR-yn): Doireann is my eldest daughter. She is completely neurotypical. She has the same Myers-Brigg...That ...
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The Labs | Empowered Grace
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Learning to Swim in The Alphabet Soup of the DSM. These check for syphilis, high levels of lead and copper, thyroid function, folate, B12, kidney function, blood alcohol, and a chemistry panel. This blood work is important because there might be another reason for psychosis other than schizophrenia like poor kidney function, syphilis, or high copper levels in the blood. It’s a good way to rule out schizophrenia or diagnose it properly. A chromosomal study looking for the 22q11.2 deletion. Executive plann...
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MJ | Empowered Grace
https://empoweredgrace.wordpress.com/author/jolieswedoise
Learning to Swim in The Alphabet Soup of the DSM. Making David Sedaris Proud. It’s been a year since the girls and I have lived together sans their father here. He moved out a year ago. Last year was a year in transition to say the least, but everyone is emerging in very good shape. In better shape. On the night he died, I recall talking to him before I showered. As soon as I opened the bathroom door wearing nothing but a towel, Milly approached me and whispered, “Mom, look at Q.” I i...8221; I shouted.
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Cool Info | Empowered Grace
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Learning to Swim in The Alphabet Soup of the DSM. Below you will find a slew of scientific articles, some of which are drier than my mother’s Thanksgiving turkey! 8220;White Matter Matters in Schizophrenia”. April 24, 2007. 8220;Visualizing Schizophrenia”. June 13, 2008. 8220;Progressive Brain Change in Schizophrenia: A Prospective Longitudinal Study of First-Episode Schizophrenia”. Andreasen et al,. October 1, 2011. 8220;Depakote, Lithium Shown Effective in Treating Childhood Bipolar Disorder. 8220; Ant...
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Taking Mental Healthcare Seriously | Empowered Grace
https://empoweredgrace.wordpress.com/2015/07/23/taking-mental-healthcare-seriously
Learning to Swim in The Alphabet Soup of the DSM. Taking Mental Healthcare Seriously. It’s no secret that there is a crisis in the healthcare system in America. This is old news. In fact, it’s not even news anymore. It’s starting to become just “the way it is”. Behavioral healthcare, as health insurance providers like to call it, is an even greater problem. What is behavioral healthcare? Does it really matter? What perpetuates this stigma within the medical community itself? A person receiving treatment ...
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The Meds | Empowered Grace
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Learning to Swim in The Alphabet Soup of the DSM. I have a feeling this is going to be a page where the list grows over time because schizophrenia spectrum disorders are managed and brought into “remission” largely through pharmaceutical interventions. I thought it would be interesting to keep track of the medications that Grace is prescribed and their effect on her brain and disorder. They are listed in order of use. Reduced to 300 mg, increased to 600 mg, increased again to 900 mg. I used it after she ...
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