There needs to be a space for people who have received harmful treatment.

Long story short, I was in the mental health system for 14 years. As in, I lived in group homes, was hospitalized over 100 times, and basically my entire life was centered around mental health for a long time. I will not say that I was the perfect patient all the time, or that I didn't cause some of my own problems. But I do believe that the treatment itself caused much more harm than good. I was told from the age of 16 that I would not be okay without it, that I would have to be dependent on the system or I would not survive. I became financially dependent on the government. My housing was linked to mental health. All of these things were designed to help, but they didn't. They enabled me, affected my self esteem and caused trauma, while delaying my skills I needed to function in the real world.

I experienced what may be considered abuse to some people in these facilities. As soon as I left the restrictive environments and had total responsibility for my own life, I started to get better. I was able to work full time and function in the world. When I was in the system I was not able to do that.

To be clear, this isn't about claiming that we (the patients) did not cause some of our problems by choices we made. It's about ALSO holding the people in power over vulnerable individuals accountable for their actions. If it's expected that they get credit when their treatments are helpful, shouldn't it be known when they are not? I was told that if I worked full time, my mental health would deteriorate, but it turns out that the opposite was true. Yes, I chose to listen to the person who told me this, but I had no reason not to. They were the professional, and they fed me misinformation. For 14 years.

There is much more depth to my experiences, but I won't share them here. I'm just wondering how we can begin to have these discussions. I'm particularly interested in hearing stories from people who have dealt with the system in my area (Middle Tennessee) , but I'm not sure how to recruit those people. I've tried posting in local FB groups but it always gets removed.