About Me—Ashley L. Peterson

An Unashamed Crazy Guinea Pig Lady

Hello! I’m the human that happens to be attached to these and three other guinea pigs. They run the show, not me.

I’m an official Crazy Person™ by virtue of having lived with major depressive disorder for more than a decade. I’ve had the joy of being shit-kicked a few times over the years by others’ stigmatized beliefs about what a Crazy Person™ is, and long as there is ignorance, I’ll be trying my best to do something about it.

I also happen to be a disabled/retired-ish official Crazy Person™ nurse, having worked in hospital and community mental health settings for 15 years. Before that, I was a pill-pusher of the pharmacist variety.

I mostly write about all things mental health and illness, but I also enjoy the occasional detour to topics like pseudoscience, social justice, and making fun of the world just a little bit.

My best performer ever on Medium languished in obscurity for a year before leaping out of nowhere and onto people’s computer screens. I guess you just can’t keep a mankini down (and you’ll just have to check out the post to see that in all its glory).

The Swimwear Hall of Infamy

And then there’s the under-performer that got a lot of views and reads, but almost no fans. I guess people don’t really want to know about the weird things my rectum is doing. Go figure. However, I’m not the only one whose vagina and rectum are doing an unfortunate tango.

Let’s Talk About Rectocele

Why is this women’s condition such a big, stinkin’ secret?

I’ve written three books related to mental illness, because I’m a firm believer that knowledge is power. They’re available on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Ashley-L-Peterson/e/B07MVDCCZP/

I’ve published several papers in nursing journals, which are listed on my Google Scholar profile. https://scholar.google.ca/citations?user=GeBxRHMAAAAJ&hl=en

Several of these are based on my Master of Pyschiatric Nursing Thesis work, which used autoethnography to examine my experiences as a nurse with mental illness in the context of broader nursing culture.

You can also find me on my blog, where I spend much of my time: https://mentalhealthathome.org/

Thanks for dropping by!