You cannot watch this without cooing
I think everyone deserves a cramp-inducing-cuteness fix at least once a week, if not more.
liz | 6:22 PM | Uncategorized
Could George Bush be any more of a poophead?
I don’t want to get all into politics because it’s not properly my beat. I’m here to amuse and educate, not to make people mad at me. And yet, I find that I must share my feelings with you: George W. Bush is a putz. This is a man who’s pledged support on mental health issues, and yet wants to cut funding for a suicide hotline. I mean, come on. It’s a hotline. It’s less than $300,000. Bush probably wipes his tushie with more money than that.
It’s more complex than just writing a check, of course. The government wants to continue its plunder of civil liberties by tracking the calls that come into a new suicide hotline—one that’s not the vaunted 1.800.SUICIDE, which has helped millions of people. Along with PostSecret, the most awesomest blog and art project ever, I want to officially send a call out: Write those letters and make your voice heard.
Read more here.
liz | 4:04 PM | Uncategorized
Blog weirdness
I’m not sure what’s going on here at TTWS, but things are certainly amiss. All the text seems to be smooshing to the right, and we can’t have the smooshing, no? I’m kind of investigating, in my hapless way, and I decided to switch the photo of me under “About Me.” Because let’s face the facts, shall we? I don’t look the same way I did four years ago, so why use that outdated photo? I took the new photo myself! And I’m afraid it looks like I did.
UPDATE: Thanks so much to PW websmistress (and rollergirl extraordinaire) for fixing the site and giving it a whole new look. Don’t we feel better now? We do.
liz | 1:36 PM | Uncategorized
For the very smart among us
A headline today from the wire service All Headline News reads: “One In 5 Violent Crimes Committed By People With Mental Illness.” At first glance, this is a damning statistic, and if someone were to just read the headline, they’d come away with their stereotypes enforced: The mentally ill are violent.
But the headline doesn’t match up with all the conflicting interpretations of the study results. In fact, a spokesman for the Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health told BBC news, “This study shows clearly that people with severe mental health conditions commit a very small proportion of violent crimes and that the widely held prejudices about schizophrenia are inaccurate and unfair.” (Emphasis mine.)
A few days ago the American Journal of Psychiatry released a study about the mentally ill and violence that’s incredibly long, complex and jargon-filled. I tried reading the entire thing, but my eyes started to cross and smoke blew out of my ears with a choo-choo sound effect. It was too much for me. Nonetheless, it’s an important study, and so as a public service, I present it here in its entirety. (Hey, I paid $15 for it; I might as well use it.) It’s after the jump, and is not for the faint of heart. Oh, and every time you see a reference to a Table, simply accept its absence and move forward. I’ll try to post those later.
[Image by Jessica Griffin]
liz | 12:08 PM | Uncategorized
Thanks, Houston Chronicle
In the years since Andrea Yates drowned her five children in a bathtub as a result of postpartum depression and mental illness, I’ve had many people ask me about the difference between postpartum psychosis and lower-level sadness that can sometimes take over after pregnancy. Brooke Shields, believe it or not, did an exemplary job of articulating the difference in her memoir, but I know most people aren’t reading that. So kudos to the Houston Chronicle for taking the question on in a Q&A with a psychiatrist. It helps clarify the issue for the layperson, especially those of us terrified of having children.
Psychosis? Baby Blues? What’s the difference?
[Image by soupboy]
liz | 11:47 AM | Uncategorized
True confession: Monday, July 31, 2006
Sometimes when I skim the New York Times website and see headlines from the paper some 40 years ago, I think they’re breaking news, like today’s “Russian becomes first woman to walk in space.” My first reaction was, “Hey! Good for her!” But it happened in 1963.
liz | 10:43 AM | Uncategorized
See? Community does make a difference.
The writer of the craigslist post just sent this note in:
A sincere soul emailed this link to me and for the first time in..in..I think the first time ever, I cried tears of joy. Posting that ad on CL was just a reach into the darkness. I didn’t think I would get any responses, and the ones I thought I would get would be from rude, inconsiderate people, but I was sadly mistaken. Every response was extremely heartfelt and sincere. When I get low, I will never forget that there are people like liz out there. And I will keep the song of the day in heavy rotation:)
Words can’t express how thankful I am. My tears pretty much summed up my appreciation for the responses.
We’re here for you. Hang in there.
liz | 5:38 PM | Uncategorized
Getting phat on pharma phood
Drug Makers Pay for Lunch as They Pitch
Another in the NYT series examining how money from drug and medical device companies can influence the ways doctors conduct business and practice medicine.
liz | 4:53 PM | Uncategorized
The Diary of Little Champ: The Return
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Hello everybody. It has been a long time since I wrote to you. I am sorry, but it isn’t my fault. Auntie Liz bought a camera, and it has taken her away from us. She told me before she got it, “Champy! I’m getting a camera! I’ll take so many pictures of my cutie patootie Champity-Champ sweetheart lovebug!” (This is how she talks to me.) But then she got the camera and took a few pictures of us and then said bad words and now only takes pictures outside. And since I live only inside, I am not in any of the pictures.
Uncle tells us not to be mad at Auntie about this. He says we move around too much and that’s why Auntie can’t take our pictures. But then he told us secretly that if Auntie knew how to use the camera, she wouldn’t say the bad words, and we would all look very pretty in the photos. But he told us not to say anything to Auntie about not understanding her new machinery, so maybe I shouldn’t have said that.
It has been so long since I wrote, that the babies are quite big. Auntie has dumb names for them: Rosemary and Shackleton. I prefer to call them Baby 1 and Baby 2. Baby 1 is the girl, and she’s shy and pretty. I have to take care of her all the time because she sniffles and cries if you leave her alone. Baby 2 is the boy and he is very adventurous. I guess he got that from me. Mama still nurses them a little, but they have also started eating the paste Auntie gives us. Sometimes they try to hold mealworms, but they don’t really know how to use their hands, so it’s a mess. I try to be patient with them, but they are not easy.
I hear Auntie and Uncle talk about taking them away. Auntie wants to keep them and buy a bigger cage. Uncle tells her she must move to another apartment far away from Uncle if she does that. Auntie gets sad but always says, “Yes, I know. We have to get rid of them.” Mama and Papa have not heard these conversations because they don’t understand the humanspeak very well. That’s good. I don’t dare tell them that the babies are going away. Papa, especially, would be very sad to see them go. He stays with them all day and night. What will he do when they are gone? Play tug of war with the humans? Doesn’t seem as much fun as it used to.
Well, that is all for now. As long as Baby 1 and 2 keep nursing, they will stay with us. So I have been whispering to them and telling them not to eat the paste. I don’t know if they understand what I mean. Oh well. They’re babies.
[This is a photo of me showing Auntie my bald spot. She said, "Tuck your head, you sweet lovey pie!" So I did.]
liz | 2:42 PM | Uncategorized
Let this person know she’s not alone
Someone just sent me this post from craigslist:
I’ll keep this short
-Diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 2001 but suffering since adolescence
-Kept the diagnosis hidden; those that know me think I am just a free-spirit spontaneous adventurous gal
-Experiencing rapid cycling, visual and auditory hallucinations, mixed moods, lack of concentration, short-term memory loss, unwarranted irritability,indecisiveness, extreme anxiety, clouded judgment, unrealistice expectations, lack of motivation, feelings of hopelessness,extreme hostility, reckless and excessive behaviour (once bought a brand new car with only $300 to my name because I convinced myself that I needed it even though I knew I couldn’t afford it), thoughts of death and suicideIf anyone can relate, please respond. I have no one to turn to, and thanks to the wonderful healthcare system, i can’t get proffessional help for another 6 wks. Please let me know that I am not alone.
Because of the stigma associated with behavioral helth, all info and correspondence will be confidential. No details about personal life outside of the disorder will be discussed (place of work, family and friends names, location of residence, etc.) and fake names will be used.
Let’s send this person good wishes and encouragement so she can have some support till her healthcare kicks in. Go here to respond to her.
[The image is of Bill Withers, of "Lean on Me" fame. Let's make that TTWS Song of the Day for our friend on craigslist.]
liz | 12:21 PM | Uncategorized
