The Skinny Woodpecker

This blog is about my mental health journey and my intention is to share both my personal experiences and the treatments that have helped, hindered and harnessed the wild frontier of my psyche. I hope to share what I’ve learned so that others can learn from my experiences - the neuroscience behind each modality that I have experienced and how I responded to the treatments.

My mental health journey has been a long and winding road that has lead me through valleys and over hills; I’ve climbed mountains and sloshed through the swamps into the marshes; wandering along sandy beaches and beside muddy river banks. I’ve maneuvered my way into dark forests and along the way there has been this constant sound. The sound is a rapid thud or constant pecking - similar to a woodpecker.

I have tried nearly all known modalities, or forms of treatment for mental health “issues” - I have over 57 years of lived experience, 4 years of experience in mental health and addiction as a secretary in a mental health and addiction outpatient clinic, completed a master’s degree in psychology, and earned a 7-month certification in trauma from the Trauma Research Foundation.

A very caring and wise doctor who was preparing me for trans cranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) for the treatment of major depressive disorder told me that the sensation that I might feel from the magnetic pulse could resemble either a canary or a woodpecker. After 36 treatments I decided it was a “Skinny” Woodpecker. (More about TMS in another post.)

The Skinny Woodpecker

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