Song of the day: It actually makes sense!
When I started the Song of the Day feature here, I felt slightly guilty: After all, it didn’t have anything to do with mental health, but as I used to edit the music section at PW, and as I have kick-ass eclective taste (she says humbly), I figured I could make a case for it.
Now I find such a precedent, um, precedes me. PW music editor Brian McManus just hipped me to a band called BiPolar Bears out of Australia; he suggested they become the official TTWS house band. But there’s actually an organization called the Mental Health Music Network, that is committed to providing a creative outlet for people with mental illnesses, and there are several bands and individuals making crazy music. Granted, most of this action to be taking place in Melbourne, but I feel certain it’s an idea that could catch on here. I can’t see it now: Spikol and the Trouble plays CBGBs.
Are you in?
liz | 12:54 PM | Uncategorized
The Trouble With Spikol’s interview with Lindsay Lohan
My column this week, posted here for your amusement—you know, a kind of mental-health pick-me-up:
>>THE TROUBLE WITH SPIKOL
Heeling Hearts and Minds
Lindsay Lohan talks to PW about depression.
by Liz Spikol
“Lindsay Lohan says sexy stilettos stop her from feeling depressed. The Just My Luck actress has suffered constant criticism from the media over her slim figure and her wild partying—but she reveals high heels help her keep upbeat. She said: ‘If I’m having a bad day, I put on a pair of stilettos, some red lipstick and a great dress and I go shopping!’”
— THEBOSH.COM
Last year, in the wake of Tom Cruise’s saucy remarks about Brooke Shields and postpartum depression, PW lured the tiny actor to our offices for an exclusive interview about his disregard for psychiatric medications.
Now Lindsay Lohan has been brave enough to speak out on the subject of depression—without the intervention of a cult that rules her brain—and I want to thank everyone who made this interview happen: Lindsay’s publicist, her publicist’s pilates instructor, her stylist’s husband’s baby mama, her umbrella holder’s Chihuahua (hola, Pedro!) and everyone else PW leaned on to convince La Lohan, as she’s known, to sit down with us—exclusively!—to talk about her newest area of expertise.
Lindsay, thank you so much for coming.
“No problem, Lynnette.”
It’s Liz, actually.
“Whatev.”
First I want to ask how you came up with that amazing strategy for beating the blues.
“[Cell phone rings.] Shit. Hold on. Hello? Yeah, this is Lindsay. What? [She hangs up.] You know what [looking at publicist], Jackleen? This is bullshit! These crank calls have to stop now.”
Oh my God. [Thinking “scoopity scoop scoop.”] Was that Paris Hilton?
“Wha?”
I heard you and Paris are having kind of a fight about your BlackBerry or something.
“[Sigh. Flip of hair. Frantic application of Stila lipgloss. Picking at nails—artfully, so they'll look kind of 20th-century Gwen Stefani. Adjusting of pink bra strap. Recrossing of legs sheathed in Imitation of Christ jeans. Pseudo-awkward twist of ankle, revealing Christian Louboutin open-toed platform heels and coral-dusted toenails.] It wasn’t Paris. But … ”
Yes? [Unsightly journalist drool.]
“Let’s just say it maybe was a person who she might, like, know.”
Ohhh. Speaking of mental health, Paris called you “delusional” for saying you dated her ex-boyfriend Stavros.
“Ugh. She’s such a slit. I don’t want to get into the whole Stavros thing right now. Let’s just say, it isn’t Greek to me. [Eyebrow lift.]”
I don’t know what that means.
“[Grinding cuticle bite.] Hmm. Me neither.”
But … you do have a unique strategy for combatting depression. Do you suffer from the illness often?
“Well, if I’m at home, like, I might feel bad. Like, my dad’s in jail, Paris has a greased string up her twat—boo hoo and all that, you know? Sometimes Jackleen’s all like, ‘Lin, you so totally have to go to this club. It’s crazy Us Weekly in there. Everyone’s going.’ And then I get there, and it’s just Leo, as always, and maybe some weird British person with a funky locket with some blow in it. And I’m like waiting all night for something to happen, and then P. Duddy or some hip-hop impesairio or whatever takes my seat.”
liz | 11:00 AM | Uncategorized
South Africa: AIDS patients need mental healthcare
South Africa’s Society of Psychiatrists released a statement today that says, in part:
“Both the public and people treating HIV infection should be aware of the mental manifestations of HIV infection. These range from minor intellectual difficulties (forgetfulness, poor concentration) to serious memory problems and sudden onset of psychiatric symptoms such as psychosis and mania.”
In addition, 89 percent of home-based care workers were said to be suffering from depression, which elucidates something I try to mention here from time to time: Caretakers are especially vulnerable to mental health issues and should be vigilant in caring for themselves.
AIDS patients need more than drugs
liz | 3:26 PM | Uncategorized
Charming B&B in the U.K. …
…is available for seven people who are certifiably loony. Doilies on antique dressers; shared bathrooms with lace toilet-seat covers; canopy beds; guest books with fountain pens; old photographs of non-family members … everything you find in a B&B, but for the insane!
Jolly good—except the poll question at the end of the article.
Rasen B&B turned into mental health unit
liz | 2:19 PM | Uncategorized
Zoë’s story
The EADT, Suffolk and Essex’s daily newspaper online, featured an article a couple days ago about a woman, Dorothy Schwarz, who recently published a book about her daughter’s struggle with bipolar disorder. The article is followed up by another article about why Dorothy felt she should make their family’s tragedy—Zoë killed herself at 27—public.
Both articles are extremely powerful, mostly because the family was well-heeled, had plenty of resources and was yet still mired in the kind of ignorance that allowed Zoë’s behavior to seem more annoying than pathological. It seems clear she could have been helped if her symptoms were identified sooner.
I love you but I can’t live like this
Why I had to write daughter’s sad story
Behind a Glass Wall
liz | 1:24 PM | Uncategorized
Irish eyes are cryin’
A new study about schizophrenics in Ireland yields some less-than-encouraging results:
-53% were given no choice in relation to medication.
-52% were given no choice in their mental health treatment generally.
-44% had tried to stop or reduce their medication at some point in their treatment, however just 18% were offered help in doing so.
-48% said alternative treatments were never discussed with them.
-28% found that side-effects had a high impact on their day-to-day life.
There’s more here.
liz | 12:32 PM | Uncategorized
Disturbing news from India
One of TTWS’ readers, “Passionate,” sent me two articles last week from the Hindustan Times. One is about the military’s desire to essentially limit female involvement, a very sexist and regressive attitude. The other was the article below, which shows a serious lack of mental-health savvy on the part of military commanders.
Indian Armywoman lieutenant commits suicide
A woman lieutenant of the Indian Army, commissioned just 10 months ago, committed suicide by shooting herself in Udhampur, headquarters of the army’s Northern Command in Jammu and Kashmir, apparently because she was “dissatisfied and unhappy with her job.”
Lt Susmita Chakraborthy of the 5071 Army Service Corps (ASC) Battalion did not leave any suicide note. She had undergone four psychiatric counselling sessions in March, army authorities in New Delhi said.
Army and police officials in Udhampur, 65 km north of Jammu, said the 25-year-old officer went to the officer’s mess near her official quarters on Thursday evening and asked the sentry for his rifle “as she wanted to get photographed with it.”
The unsuspecting sentry handed his weapon and, within moments, Chakraborthy shot herself with it. She was taken to the Command Hospital in Udhampur where she was declared brought dead.
liz | 11:59 AM | Uncategorized
Bonjour! Hola! Guten tag! Shalom! How!
Yes, that’s right—it’s Tuesday’s International, the day when the rest of the world exists. To start things off on the right note, I present a speech I gave many years ago in Malta, of all places, where I spent three days at an AstraZeneca conference meant to promote the approved use of Seroquel for bipolar disorder. What a strange and beautiful country. Divorce and abortion are illegal there; it’s probably the most Catholic spot on the globe. Sometimes I look around a place and wonder if I’m the only Jew there. In Malta, I didn’t even have to think about it.
I gave a few speeches for AZ because I believed I was on a mission to spread the gospel of psychopharmacology—the gospel of Seroquel, in particular. It really did save my life, so I figured why not give back a little. In Malta.
I spent one morning trekking around a fishing village with a guy who did global marketing for AZ. He was a nice guy, despite his job. We got some really fresh fish for lunch, and he snapped a photo of me standing in front of colorful boats. I look like I’ve just nibbled something sour. Maybe big pharma spores were polluting the air.
Anyway, the speech is after the jump. Because the audience was coming from all over Europe, I tried to use terms everyone would understand. Hence I sound like I’m speaking English as a second language.
Incidentally, Malta was the last time I collaborated on anything with AZ. I learned some things about their marketing that made me uncomfortable, and I decided to sever my ties. It’s better now. I have to shower less, for one thing.
liz | 10:09 AM | Uncategorized
The word “bipolar” comes to life
A group of mental patients (how’s that for an un-P.C. term?) in Hungary are riding a rollercoaster (pictured) for 10 days straight to attract attention to the issue of bipolar disorder. I wish I could get off of work and join them—I love rollercoasters, especially when they’re not in my brain.
The amusing piece linked below is the first entry in Tuesday’s International, a new feature here. Each Tuesday we’re going to focus our efforts on global mental health stories, and possibly feature some embarrassing photos from the author’s well-traveled past.
Granted, today isn’t Tuesday. But I’m just getting you ready for the warm, splashy feelings of interconnectedness you’re going to have tomorrow.
American’s Rollercoaster Ride Inspires World Record Attempt
liz | 4:19 PM | Uncategorized
