What? What?
Mayor John Street, of Philadelphia (pictured here in a funny illustration by Jay Bevenour), really could not be any worse in my estimation right now. Gar Joseph of the Daily News reports that Street said:
“I should also announce that Terrell Owens is going to be the mental-health adviser to the task force.”
What a funny joke! Thanks, Jay, for sending this in. Mayor, you are a jackass. I will say that to your face. Or your hair. Your call.
liz | 2:57 PM | Uncategorized
Here’s where you don’t want to live
Portsmouth, England. From Portsmouth.co.uk:
Gaps in the city’s provision were revealed in a survey of mental health users carried out by health watchdog, the Healthcare Commission. It said the government recommended counselling and cognitive behavioural therapy for all patients with schizophrenia or suspected schizophrenia, but nationally the inspectors found only 50 per cent were given access to it. The survey also discovered mental health patients living in the community cannot rely on getting NHS help in a crisis.
Sounds almost as bad as the U.S.! (Kidding. Patriots: Please don’t yell at me.) The best places for nutters like me to live in England are: Bournemouth, Dorset, Buckinghamshire, Southampton and Harrow. Good to know.
liz | 1:15 PM | Uncategorized
Huggy bear
I gotta be honest with youse all: There’s just not much going on in the way of exciting mental health news today. Hence I give you the following article.
Eight hugs a day keep depression away
You know when you’re citing Oklahoma State’s Daily O’Collegian, things are bleak.
liz | 12:53 PM | Uncategorized
Brian Wilson
Those of you who watched the Discovery Channel video might wonder why I chose Wilson’s song to go along with it. As Dennis mentioned, Wilson is a fellow traveler, and I have always felt that his music on Pet Sounds expressed the deepest most lonely parts of him, and me. To explain further, here’s something I wrote about him:
Brian’s Song
Last night I stumbled out of bed to find my cat and dog–usually at odds–working together against an unseen foe, poking their paws under the couch like little prizefighters. I sat down on the floor, trying to figure out what they were looking at, and a mouse dashed away from the cat and into the nightgown I was wearing.
Much as I like rodents, I’ve never been keen on having them in my sleepwear. I jumped up, and everyone scattered. And after that, of course, sleep was but a dream.
So I decided to read last week’s issue of Time magazine, which has a cover story on bipolar disorder. When I saw the story, I’ll admit I felt proud. It’s definitely the closest I’ll ever come to being on the cover of a national magazine.
The article is excellent, but I was disturbed by an accompanying piece headlined “Manic Genius,” which listed several famous people who all suffered from bipolar disorder. Ever since Kay Redfield Jamison wrote her book Touched With Fire: Manic Depressive Illness and the Artistic Temperament, about great artists with mental illnesses, people can’t get enough of this parlor game of insanity. The goal seems to be to shock so-called “normal” people into the anti-stigmatizing realization that the people they admire most had mental illnesses–so it’s really not so bad!
I’d like to invent an educational board game with a similar message. Instead of “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon,” it could be called “Six Degrees of Robert Downey Jr.”
Here’s how it would work.
liz | 11:38 AM | Uncategorized
New video: Discovery Channel mishegas
Okay, let me explain. Many years ago the Discover Channel did a documentary about ECT, and because I’d written about it, they included me and my family. There are some kind of haunting images in this, including suicide notes I wrote, and drawings my dad did of me while I was having the treatments.
But most of all, I think these excerpts show that from way, way back, I’ve had problems choosing flattering eyeglasses. Now that I see it’s a pattern, I’m ready to ask for help.
liz | 4:38 PM | Uncategorized
Update on a story no one cared about anyway
The mystery death of Anna Nicole Smith’s son has, it seems, been solved. Daniel accidentally overdosed on Lexapro, Zoloft and methadone. He was not a heroin addict, so it’s a bit of a mystery why he had the methadone. The Lexapro was prescribed.
Oh, and for whatever stupid reason, I did care about his death. Maybe it’s because Anna Nicole is so screwed up, and I feel sorry for her, and now she’s going to be even more screwed up. Very sad.
liz | 2:46 PM | Uncategorized
I wish this had something to do with me
It sounds so interesting and helpful and scientific.
Bipolar Time-of-Flight Detectors for Mass Spectrometry
liz | 2:22 PM | Uncategorized
You say tomato…
Sometimes it’s important to simply gaze upon cuteness. This is Nana of Baruchito’s Homecage trying to eat a cherry tomato.
I love her.
liz | 12:58 PM | Uncategorized
Gaza into my eyes
I’m not going to get into my political attitudes regarding the Middle East because it always gets me into trouble. As it is I’m on some list of Jewish traitors, which is so ridiculous, I refuse to dignify it. But suffice to say that this report about mental health problems among Gaza residents makes me furious. There is no reason for such a devastating mental health crisis.
Depression increasing due to conflict and poverty
liz | 12:01 PM | Uncategorized
