A Mental Health Crisis Wrapped in the Middle of a Pandemic While the People Rise Up

Content Note: bipolar disorder, suicide data, coronavirus Since late April, I have been miserably immersed in a mental health crisis – first, hypomania and then, depression. For more than two months, I have been very ill and struggling to slog through it. It has been nasty, wrapping entrails around me to distort my thoughts, trigger […]

Phat Man Dee Releases ‘Masque Up!’ Anthem to Support Trans & Queer Neighbors, Promote Mask Use

From Phat Mandee … Hey friends, I made this song because my friend Sue Kerr told me about the work being done to connect our local trans community and general queer community with masks. I have been blessed with the presence of trans people in my life for a very long time, even before that […]

Depression and leaving me home with the dog

Content Note: depression, bipolar disorder, trauma The past few days have been rough as I struggle through this depression. Very tough, painful and scary tough. The sort of symptoms where other people walk away because my pain and anguish are so big. And I can’t blame them. It is like these intense feelings are pounding […]

Depression renders user unhelpful

Content note: mental health, depression After three weeks of hypomania, I’m now entering my second week of depression. I’m safe and have resources and all that. But I’m miserable. I can’t be helpful to anyone right now. I’m struggling to focus on and understand political nuances that I typically would grasp. I feel quite bad […]

#MasQUeUp to protect your family on this 15th Annual #LGBTQFamiliesDay

June is here and that always means it is time to blog about #LGBTQ families in partnership with Mombian blog and the Family Equality Council. I struggle to find a topic this year, more from having so many options than a surfeit of ideas.So I’m picking this one – our Pittsburgh MasQUe ProjecT.We create opportunities […]

Part Four – Plagued by Worry: An Historical Look at Pandemics in Four Parts

Read Part One and Part Two  Part Three   Part Four Literature It was Edgar Allan Poe’s short story The Masque of the Red Death that probably sparked my early fascination with epidemics.  I remember checking it out of my elementary school’s library over and over.  It both terrified and intrigued me.  Prince Prospero is hiding in his […]

Part Three – Plagued by Worry: An Historical Look at Pandemics in Four Parts

Read Part One and Part Two When a disease is ready to spread to humans, it will find a way, and, like rats, bacteria do not recognize international borders.  It’s natural to want to find something to blame for a disease like this.  But it shouldn’t be at the expense of already vulnerable populations, or […]

Part Two – Plagued by Worry: An Historical Look at Pandemics in Four Parts

Part One can be read here. Part Two The Little Towns that Could (Quarantine) The bubonic plague made a large resurgence in Europe in the mid-1600s.  Venice was one of the first ports of entry.  Knowing their history, however, once it showed up, all boats were quarantined for a time outside of the harbor.  If […]

Plagued by Worry: An Historical Look at Pandemics in Four Parts

I asked historian and chronicler of social justice history Anne E Lynch to help us understand the social justice implications of the COVID-19 pandemic – Sue. Part One Some of you may be seeing memes posted around social media of people in strange bird masks, wearing dark clothes and/or cloaks and carrying canes, and you […]

Pandemic Depression

Content Note: depression, suicide, racial injustice I’m depressed. Yes, in the existential dread of a pandemic sort of way. Duh. But my three week bout of hypomania turned the corner into depression. I am grateful to be moving through my symptoms toward a stable mood, but depression ain’t fun. The transition was bumpy. I bounce […]