A Black Woman's Experience with Mental Health; Jacquese Armstrong | RDID; 211

For decades, Jacquese Armstrong let others write her story. She was labeled, marginalized, medicated, and was essentially given a life sentence by physicians who spent no more time with her than you spend with the clerk at a 7-Eleven. She was told she'd never work. She was told.Now, she tells.And the story she tells is one of boundless creativity, advocacy, a passionate engagement in the expressive arts. She speaks about the system that subjugated her; pigeon-holed her, overdiagnosed and overmedicated her, took away her agency and her hope. Jacquese challenges herself and us to not accept culturally incompetent care, to not lay down and accept whatever is thrown at us by the medical model, a system that routinely fails to see people as complex and nuanced human beings. She holds fast to her faith, her compassion for herself, and her love of creating. Jacquese is an award-winning poet and memoirist who has rebuilt her life following decades of medications that stunted and blunted her. She still struggles, and she is open about that as she is about so much; ageism, misogyny, psychiatric harm, injustice; she pours out her heart in articles, essays, poems, and her forthcoming book. Jacquese has worked ceaselessly to help others, and to build the ladder, rung by rung, she uses to climb out of the pit she found herself in. Her mental health challenges may always be there, but she is learning to live and fight for herself and her dignity and her rights, every day; doing so artfully and gracefully. If you’ve ever felt mislabeled, unseen, or stuck in a system that talks over you, Jacquese Armstrong offers validation, direction, and hope. Her extraordinary and moving book, fabricating a home 'cause you never had one, is available for purchase here.Conversations like the ones on this podcast can sometimes be hard, but they’re always necessary. If you or someone you know is struggling, please consider visiting wannatalkaboutit.com. If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please call, text, or chat 988.https://recoverydiaries.org/