The idea of MindLift was born out of an overdose death of a close relative.
As a child he was first diagnosed with ADD, then ADHD (followed by a prescription of ritalin, then dexidren). Whatever side effects he had, were brushed under the rug. As he matured, he was treated with a revolving door of pharmaceutical prescriptions for an ever-changing mental disorder.
First he was told he had depression, then bi-polar disorder, then borderline personality. The medications he cycled through were hard to keep track of. Lithium, Prozac, Lorazepam, Clonazepam, Effexor, Cymbalta, Seroquel, the list goes on. He would spend a year on one, but then move onto the next, when it invariably caused more problems that it solved.
Ultimately nothing seemed to really work. From a young age, he was taught that the mind is just a brain and feelings just chemicals to be manipulated. So when he found his prescriptions wanting, he took matters into his own hand and self-medicated with other substances: alcohol, caffeine, cigarettes, opiates of various sorts, ketamine, cocaine… He was in and out of psychiatric hospitals, Alcoholics Anonymous, and men’s groups.
Before he was 30, he passed away from a drug overdose. We suspect it may have been a kind of vaguely intentional suicide.
This project was started in the hopes that more accessible alternatives to the current paradigm of mental-health treatments, would bring benefits to individuals, both mentally and spiritually, in their day-to-day lives, as well as to society at large.
