Beyond Blue

I forgot to tell you — the lovely Therese Borchard featured me a couple days ago on her very cool blog, Beyond Blue, on Beliefnet.com. Though Therese writes about spirituality, her writing will appeal to everyone, religious or not. Check her out:

Beyond Blue

liz | 11:21 PM | Uncategorized

The acronyms are taking over!

Check out this press release from Eli Lilly. It really is too funny.

INDIANAPOLIS, Nov. 6 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Eli Lilly and Company has received Program Design Certification from the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) for its Tools that Empower(TM) Depression Care Management Program.

Tools that Empower(TM) Depression Care Management Program is designed for managed care organizations to assist in further driving the standard of patient care around Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). Lilly created the program in response to the growing population of patients diagnosed with MDD.

The foundation of this program is based upon the APA Standards of Care for major depressive disorder, the HEDIS(R) measure for Antidepressant Medication Management, and several other related, peer-reviewed articles.

Lilly Receives NCQA Design Certification for Depression Care Management Program

liz | 3:33 PM | Uncategorized

Election Day

Well, today is voting day, and my new polling place is Abbraccio restaurant, where I can do my civic duty while scarfing down ravioli. I’m voting for mayor today — Al Taubenberger – and there are ballot questions as well.

Tee hee. Just kidding. I probably will eat ravioli, but I won’t be voting for Al. I’m voting for Michael Nutter because you would have to rip my fingernails out with fishing pliers before I’d vote for a Republican. I didn’t always feel that way, but today’s GOP is so radically divergent from my own views in every way, I can’t imagine a Republican candidate who would appeal to me. But then again, I’m kind of a typical liberal: pro-choice, anti-death-penalty, pro-gay rights, pro-environmental protection, anti-gun, antiwar, anti-Iraq … you could write the rest of the list. Liberals are just as predictable as conservatives. Yawn.

If you live in Philly and want to know where to go to vote for important judicial retention questions, ballot issues, City Council races, and more, go here. Also, read this City Paper article about a judge who made what an appalling decision, was rebuked by the Bar Association (see below), and who may end up having a tough time today because of it.

Jill Porter | Phila. Bar rips judge who nixed rape of hooker

liz | 10:47 AM | Uncategorized

RIP Charmaine Dragun

Thanks to Simon for bringing this to my attention. A bright TV personality in Australia, Charmaine was obviously struggling with her new life in Sydney, which afforded her professional success but took her away from her family in Perth. Just read a little bit about Charmaine, and you’ll be captivated by her beauty and charm, which I guess is how people get on TV to begin with. I’m sad that she couldn’t find a way to make it through.

More »

liz | 4:27 PM | Uncategorized

Meds, no meds — it’s the endless debate

A dispatch from the other side, from Scotland’s Sunday Herald:

Ron Coleman, diagnosed with schizophrenia in 1982 and treated with electro-shock therapy and drugs, has cited his own nightmare experience in the psychiatric system to call for the term to be dropped altogether.

The 49-year-old from Fife said: “I lived the schizophrenia label instead of living as a person. People treat you as if you’re a piece of crap, talk to you like a non-person. I got people battering on the door, shouting psycho’ and throwing things at the window. I spent 10 years in a drug-induced, zombied haze..”

advertisement”I still hear voices, but I’ve found a way of living with them. It was only when I turned away from psychiatric medication that my life totally turned around. Since then I’ve got married, had kids, got a house and love going to work every day.”

Calls to end stigma of schizophrenia ‘label’

liz | 10:23 AM | Uncategorized

First Person, Singular: “It fits my daughter to a tee.”

This is an entry from TTWS reader Nancy. For some reason, identifying information wasn’t posted for her earlier, for which I apologize.

All I can say is that what the commentator wrote fits my 24 year old daughter to a tee. With a gene pool on the both sides of her family tree that includes schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, OCD, major depression and anxiety disorders, she remembers as early as 4th grade feeling worthless and suicidal, unbeknowst to me and her late father.

She was a much loved and wanted child who had an extremely stable/normal childhood. From day one, though, her father and I knew she was “wired” differently and because of disabling, irrational fears, hyper-reactivity and sensitivity, she/we saw a family therapist & a renowned child psychologist at 3 different times in her childhood. No drugs, just talk therapy. It helped a bit but she still struggled with anxiety & over-reactivity. We went to parenting classes, read books about “the difficult child, the underachiever and the tempermental child” and yet nothing seemed to change to help her with low self esteem and anxiety issues.

She was/is a wonderful, creative and intelligent human being, who despite our love and acceptance, didn’t feel that she was a “good daughter.” When her beloved Dad died suddenly & unexpectedly, she was a fragile 14 and his death was the kindling that plunged her into what first appeared to be a major depression/grief reaction, with suicide attempts, self-injury, etc. Our genetic/family history wasn’t as obvious then as it is now and when she was eventually diagnosed with bipolar disorder several months later, we were all shocked. High school was hell, even with meds, but she graduated and went off to a local university and eventually discontinued all meds, w/o my knowledge.

She dropped out of school, made some extremely bad lifestyle choices that still affect her health today—-she even did sword swallowing in a local anarchist show. The daughter who used to be terrified of weapons, knives, risk of any kind was engaged in self-destructive behavior I never could have imagined. Alcohol and pot became her meds of choice and after a couple of awful years for her and for me (I was doing this all alone,while grieving the loss of my husband, parenting partner and soulmate and being scared beyond words that I’d lose her, too), she found herself in an ER, depressed and drunk after a plunge from a manic high.

It proved to be an opportunity for her to 1) accept that her brain needed some sort of prescribed mood stabilizer and 2) work with a great psychiatrist who listened to her and very slowly and with great caution, started one med at a time. She has been alcohol and pot-free for 18 months and is currently on Lamictal and a tiny dose (2mg) of Abilify.She states that this is the most stable she’s EVER felt, even going back to childhood. She advocates for herself and says “No” to her doctor if she doesn’t agree with his suggestions. She is fully aware of the short-term and long-term risks of the meds she is on. She still wishes that she didn’t have to take them —she has had to deal with weight gain, acne and other body issues that would be difficult for any woman in our culture. But she knows that w/o them, her life would deteriorate again. She is even more accepting of this than me!I grieve for all she’s lost. I wish she didn’t have to be on meds—period.

She takes vitamins, fish oil and other supplements; she doesn’t have a car and walks everywhere; she eats well and makes sure she gets enough sleep.

Working with our state’s department of vocational rehab, she recently participated in the META peer support training program, got certification and will actually begin a part-time job next week in the mental wellness field. Her intelligence, empathy, personal experiences & training should be huge assets in this position.

After a decade of loss and numerous crises, our relationship is stronger than ever and I am so proud of her courage and resilience. She is wise beyond her years and is more hopeful than ever. I am, too.

liz | 4:50 PM | Uncategorized

Now there are some serious declarative statements

I like a post I saw today on the blog bipolar chicks blogging. I know it’ll get people hot and bothered (and not in a sexy way), but I must quote from it:

I have come to one conclusion. LISTEN UP ALL OF YOU WHO THINK YOU DON’T NEED THE MEDS. AND THOSE OF YOU WHO THINK PYSCH MEDS ARE AN UNNECCESSARY LUXURY FOR EITHER YOURSELF OR YOUR FAMILY MEMEBER. Psych meds are just as important as cancer meds, blood pressure meds, or any other med. Bipolar and all of it’s psych cousins IS a real mental and physical illness. It is not the condition that you see portrayed in the press. It cannot be cured by a few weeks in an expensive rehab setting. The celebrities that you see packing their Gucci bags and heading into a posh resort either don’t have bipolar or are not “cured” when they come out. They may have learned to manage their bipolar and/or been put on meds. But, once bipolar, always bipolar. You do not outgrow it. You do not get cured of it. And, most of all, it is not an illness of convenience.

In other words, bipolar is not a label to be slapped on a person for a defense in court then removed on down the road.

One final thought……if you or your loved one is bipolar, please seek treatment. The manic high is absolutely the most fantastic feeling in the world to the BP who is experiencing. BUT, a crash always follows sooner of later. Then, the BP is left in a dark hell-hole of black depression. This is no way to live. This is no way for your loved one to live. Treatment does help. Talk therapy does help. Don’t just ignore it and think it will go away. IT WILL NOT.

You go, girl(s)!

liz | 11:51 AM | Uncategorized

RIP Lorian Elbert

Documentary filmmaker/poet/artist/homeless advocate Lorian Elbert (pictured) died a couple weeks ago, I’m sad to report. I was told she killed herself in Los Angeles. She made two films about people living in poverty and with mental illness: Dignity 1: A Study of Schizophrenia, and Dignity 2: The Human Side of Mental Illness. She was, by all accounts, deeply committed to making the world better for those less fortunate.

In an interview about her work, Lorian was asked what she was hoped poeple would get from seeing her work. She said:

I want them to be moved. Maybe they’ll volunteer at a halfway house or maybe they’ll be nice to somebody on the bus.

So that’s your job. Be nice to someone for Lorian’s sake and for the sake of the people she chronicled.

Dignity project homepage

liz | 3:33 PM | Uncategorized