As an adult with mental illness and progressive values, my primary focus is not on national politics or getting Trump out of office. My main concern is about the treatment of people who live with mental illness and our lack of opportunities to better our conditions.

When we see our fellow human beings wither away and die on the streets, when we see encampments in the news that appear not much better than living under a pile of trash, when we see human beings who have names...the cure is not worse than the disease. Something must be done.

The current pandemic makes it seem as though the world has gone insane. This time, I'm not crazy, but neither are other people. Reality has taken a surreal turn.

I’m prefacing this essay with a personal statement: I’m in favor of money and I’m in favor of me having

Many people with disabilities are dependent on government benefits in order to survive. However, the process of acquiring these benefits is nowhere near easy. It can be deeply intimidating, making it feel inaccessible for those who already struggle with disabilities.

It is well known to almost anyone exposed to Buddhism that its originator, Gautama Buddha, left behind rule of a

If you are unable to work competitively due to a disability and you receive benefits because of this, it isn’t free money—it comes with certain costs. Disability benefits and SSI are set up to impose limitations in what you can and can’t do.

Creating multiple inconveniences was one of many strategies for interfering with James Michaelson’s inconvenient, daily activities. He was opening a can of tomatoes, and my prompt instructed me to speak into the microphone.

The California Legislature is currently considering Assembly Bill 5, could make it much more difficult to work as an independent

Recap of part II: “As if to punctuate what it had said, the car abruptly accelerated and passed a cluster

When basic necessities aren’t present, or when one’s living conditions are otherwise compromised, (such as if you live in a

Recap of part I: The force put out by the book, the evil force, was stronger. It was involuntary: I

In a car, on my way to work, I saw the ever-present, giant, illuminated billboards along my flight path, displaying

I am constantly astounded at the level of sophistication reached by modern day swindlers. If ordinary folks fail to be

When a person is born disabled or becomes disabled as an adult, they are in for a life of hardship

We face a spectrum of cruelty, from bullying in the schools to the inhumanity of poverty and the catastrophic cruelty of war and nuclear bombs. Inhumanity leads to senseless shootings at the local level and senseless wars on the global level. People must learn to be kinder and more humane.

Compassion means empathy and imagining the perspective of others. The idea that “we are all one” may be dismissed as straight out of the 1960s. But that idea stays with me and continues to influence me. This consciousness of love and compassion is one of the pillars of most religions.

Before the first medications were developed, lobotomies were used on the most difficult cases, and electroshock was often used as well. Even with modern treatments and knowledge in the field of psychiatry, senseless cruelty continues to be perpetrated upon persons who suffer from mental health problems.

When I die, or after I die, I want to look back at my life and see that I ate that cookie, I drank that vodka, I made love to that woman. I did not shy away from living because of the petty fear that death might come sooner.