Profile
Ashley L. Peterson
General Nonfiction
- Profile View
7949
- Total Quotes
5
- Books
4
- Member Since
Sep 2020
- Gender
Female
- Country
Canada
- Profession
Nurse (retired), Author
About
Ashley began her career in health care as a pharmacist in 2002, but she quickly returned to school to get a Bachelor of Science in Nursing. During her 15-year nursing career, she specialized in the field of mental health, working primarily with people with serious and persistent mental illness in both hospital and community settings.
Two years into her nursing career, Ashley was hospitalized and diagnosed with major depressive disorder. Since then, she has been passionate about sharing her own experiences to challenge stigma and generate open conversations about mental health and illness.
For her Master of Psychiatric Nursing thesis work, she used a research method called autoethnography to situate her own experiences with mental illness within nursing culture, addressing issues like stigma. She published several papers in peer-reviewed nursing journals based on this work.
Since illness-related disability has brought her nursing career to a close, Ashley has shifted her focus to writing and advocacy efforts online, including on her blog, Mental Health @ Home.
Ashley L. Peterson Books
There is no one right way to handle depression. While certain treatments may not be the right fit for certain people, that doesn’t mean the treatment itself is fundamentally flawed. Red flags should go up any time you hear someone say that X is the only right way or Y is never the right way. There are simply no such absolutes when it comes to treating depression.
Ashley L. PetersonOur illnesses are as unique as we are, and there will never be a one-size-fits-all approach. However, for an approach to work, you first have to try it.
Ashley L. PetersonI see two key angles from which we can attack depression: illness treatment and wellness promotion. Illness treatment includes things like medications and therapy—things that can actually put a dent in your symptoms. Wellness promotion is the exercise, the self-care, the meaningful activities. When you’ve got a solid treatment foundation, wellness promotion strategies can help lift you up further.
Ashley L. PetersonWhat you shouldn’t be doing is comparing what you can do while depressed with what you’re able to do when you’re well; that’s not just comparing apples to oranges, it would be comparing apples to tuna fish. When you’re well, brushing your teeth is easy, but when you’re depressed, it takes a huge amount of effort and motivation. Putting in the effort matters more than whatever the task or the outcome might be.
Ashley L. PetersonJust as depression doesn’t happen only one way, there is no one “right” way to treat depression. For all the stigma that gets piled onto medications, they’re really just another tool in the toolbox. That kind of tool may or may not be appropriate, effective, or tolerable for you, but there’s nothing wrong with being someone who takes and benefits from medications.
Ashley L. Peterson
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Ways to reach Ashley L. Peterson
https://mentalhealthathome.org
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