Greetings! My name is Kimberly Minor. As the inaugural guest feature for the ‘PIPC Patients’ blog, I must give my highest thanks to Tony Coelho, Chairman of the Partnership to Improve Patient Care (PIPC) for this excitingly new addition to PIPC – the PIPC Patients blog.
My story…
My story…
From chemical imbalance to The Carter Center, I have been blessed and able to turn my “mess into a message,” as my Aunt, Jacquee Minor once described my new found advocacy in the mental health field. At the tender and exploratory age of 18, I did what most high school graduates do. I started college. From that point, I did what most juniors and seniors in college do. I started an internship. The unique component here is that I began interning at Morehouse School of Medicine (MSM) in Atlanta, Ga. while I was a freshman. Following the journalistic lead of my Aunt, who owns her own business writing enterprise, I was overjoyed and ready to get to work as the first-ever freshman intern in MSM’s Institutional Advancement and Marketing & Communications department. Almost a year later, closing out my freshman year with a full-load of studies now in my rearview, and a wealth of experience and information learned at Morehouse School of Medicine—there came a day, on the job actually, that I burned out! I was experiencing a mental break down, from over exertion and no one knew—not even me.
Fortunately enough, I have parents and a very strong support system who nurtured me back to full recovery. This year, in February 2013, I heard the words, “full remission” from my doctors. We’re talking 5 years; from 2008-2013 of seeing a psychiatrist and therapist regularly. We’re talking trial and error with 4-5 medications to treat psychosis; when 1-2 of these medications caused adverse effects. We’re talking reclusion from school, work…from society, for about 1 year, until I could muster the psychical and mental strength to face the reality of my diagnosis and the reality of stigma. I owe my parents the world. Early detection is what saved me. One evening, I drove to my family home in Lithonia Ga., after work and that night my Father heard me speak with a “demonic” or “manly” voice. The next morning, on a Friday, I was seated in a physicians’ office receiving treatment. All in a nights work. My mother made the appointment.
This is the type of support that everyone and anyone dealing with mental health conditions or issues or inquiries need. Not everyone will have a mother and father, an aunt or best friend to be their nurturers and/or caretakers. Had it not been for my Parents, I would have been institutionalized. The innovative and solution-driven comparative effectiveness research conducted by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) should indeed put patients first. It’s the patients that rely on treatment options. It is the patients that rely on flexibility when it comes to coverage of their medications. It is the patients who deserve treatment tailored to their individual needs and not the needs of the market. I am a patient turned mental health advocate. Without proper treatment, I would not be here today sharing my story with you. Just last month, on April 18, 2013 I had the honor of dining with Former First Lady Mrs. Rosalynn and former Congressman Tony Coelho at a pre-event luncheon just beforeThe Carter Center Executive Briefing Launch Event for the American Journal of Public Health Special Theme Issue on Stigma. Back in February on the same day that I received the great news of my full remission, I was also invited as a “National Mental Health Advocate” guest panelist for Conversations at The Carter Center: ‘Beyond Stigma: Bringing the Conversation about Mental Illness Forward.’ As we close out the last week of May, National Mental Health Awareness Month, as proclaimed by President Barack Obama on April 30, 2013 in his Presidential Proclamation…
I humbly and proactively suggest that we as a complete people and community band together and continue to raise awareness and take action to further propel patients into their highest potential!
Fortunately enough, I have parents and a very strong support system who nurtured me back to full recovery. This year, in February 2013, I heard the words, “full remission” from my doctors. We’re talking 5 years; from 2008-2013 of seeing a psychiatrist and therapist regularly. We’re talking trial and error with 4-5 medications to treat psychosis; when 1-2 of these medications caused adverse effects. We’re talking reclusion from school, work…from society, for about 1 year, until I could muster the psychical and mental strength to face the reality of my diagnosis and the reality of stigma. I owe my parents the world. Early detection is what saved me. One evening, I drove to my family home in Lithonia Ga., after work and that night my Father heard me speak with a “demonic” or “manly” voice. The next morning, on a Friday, I was seated in a physicians’ office receiving treatment. All in a nights work. My mother made the appointment.
This is the type of support that everyone and anyone dealing with mental health conditions or issues or inquiries need. Not everyone will have a mother and father, an aunt or best friend to be their nurturers and/or caretakers. Had it not been for my Parents, I would have been institutionalized. The innovative and solution-driven comparative effectiveness research conducted by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) should indeed put patients first. It’s the patients that rely on treatment options. It is the patients that rely on flexibility when it comes to coverage of their medications. It is the patients who deserve treatment tailored to their individual needs and not the needs of the market. I am a patient turned mental health advocate. Without proper treatment, I would not be here today sharing my story with you. Just last month, on April 18, 2013 I had the honor of dining with Former First Lady Mrs. Rosalynn and former Congressman Tony Coelho at a pre-event luncheon just beforeThe Carter Center Executive Briefing Launch Event for the American Journal of Public Health Special Theme Issue on Stigma. Back in February on the same day that I received the great news of my full remission, I was also invited as a “National Mental Health Advocate” guest panelist for Conversations at The Carter Center: ‘Beyond Stigma: Bringing the Conversation about Mental Illness Forward.’ As we close out the last week of May, National Mental Health Awareness Month, as proclaimed by President Barack Obama on April 30, 2013 in his Presidential Proclamation…
I humbly and proactively suggest that we as a complete people and community band together and continue to raise awareness and take action to further propel patients into their highest potential!
