I’ve written before about my struggles with mental health. I’m diagnosed with major depressive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, and social phobia. Many are surprised to learn this about me in contrast with my chosen profession of EMS, where I am routinely confronted with high-stress situations and interfacing with the public and unknown groups of people on a regular basis. At baseline, I’m a pretty easy-going guy. Through a combination of a lifetime of therapy and the right medications, I am able to live a happy life, and function well at work, providing professional, courteous care to my patients, and working well with my peers and supervisors. Over the past year and a half or so, I lived and worked through some very difficult changes in my mental health. They affected me, my family, my work life, my home life, everything around me changed as a result. I am writing this (very long) blog post to share my journey into, through, and out of one of the worst times of my life.

Please be forewarned that I share very personal information and thought processes, some medical information, and thoughts pertaining to suicidality/self-harm in this post.

Continue reading “A Mental Health Odyssey” →