Jul 24, 2026 · 24 min · 9 segments
**Psychiatric labels, medical dismissal, and what happens when a human being becomes paperwork** What happens when a provider sees your psychiatric history before they truly see you? In this deeply…
Lisa LacyHost
I wrote it because I almost died again, and I felt like it was necessary before I go.
When you become paperwork, when you are institutionalized in a mental health facility, you are often treated like a dog with a bad owner, much like when you're in jail, 'cause I've been in both, so I'm not speaking from theory.
I am not speaking from a textbook or a continuing education seminar or carefully controlled professional distance.
Your shoelaces are taken, your belt is taken, your purse disappears, your phone disappears, your jewelry disappears, your choice disappears, and depending on how you arrived, your freedom disappears too.
Name, date of birth, insurance, medication, substance use, previous diagnosis, suicidal thoughts, homicidal thoughts.
Are you hearing voices? Do you know where you are? What day is it? And yes, those questions can be necessary.
Psychiatric intervention can save lives, but something else can happen during that process.
Within an hour, one hour, you go from being a human being in distress to a diagnosis.
In the memoir, I write about being 40 years old when I learned how quickly a person can become paperwork.
I wrote it because I almost died again, and I felt like it was necessary before I go.
When you become paperwork, when you are institutionalized in a mental health facility, you are often treated like a dog with a bad owner, much like when you're in jail, 'cause I've been in both, so I'm not speaking from theory.
I am not speaking from a textbook or a continuing education seminar or carefully controlled professional distance.
Your shoelaces are taken, your belt is taken, your purse disappears, your phone disappears, your jewelry disappears, your choice disappears, and depending on how you arrived, your freedom disappears too.
Name, date of birth, insurance, medication, substance use, previous diagnosis, suicidal thoughts, homicidal thoughts.
Are you hearing voices? Do you know where you are? What day is it? And yes, those questions can be necessary.
Psychiatric intervention can save lives, but something else can happen during that process.
Within an hour, one hour, you go from being a human being in distress to a diagnosis.
In the memoir, I write about being 40 years old when I learned how quickly a person can become paperwork.
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3 of 6
Doubting Her Own Pain
She explains doubting chest pain until disaster
Hospital Roulette
Facing hospital roulette, diagnoses decide her fate
Dignity Checked At Door
She lists everything stripped on entry inside
+3 more clips · 3 min 54 sec of audio in all
7 of 22
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