R.I.P. Tinsel Spikol

I know it was over-the-top, but I loved this little hamster so much.

liz | 10:58 AM | Uncategorized

Can I have a blog even if I’m not ready for 2.0?

Philip Dawdy is pissed off. Read the post below. It goes beyond my understanding.

Making The New Media: Google Punishes Blog For Obeying Web 2.0 Ideals

liz | 9:39 AM | Uncategorized

Green genes

Here’s some new info from the U.S. News and World Report’s website:

A U.S. team has spotted nine genetic markers that can increase a person’s risk for schizophrenia.

They’ve also found evidence that the condition can be inherited in what geneticists call a “recessive” manner — inherited from both parents.

“If a person inherits identical copies of these markers from each parent, his or her risk for schizophrenia increases substantially,” lead author Todd Lencz, director of research at the Zucker Hillside Hospital campus of the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research in Glen Oaks, N.Y., explained in a prepared statement.

The study was published this week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Genes Yield More Clues to Schizophrenia

liz | 11:54 AM | Uncategorized

Polo

Kent sent this in to cheer us up:

You’ll get the title of this post if you watch the whole thing

liz | 10:50 PM | Uncategorized

I wish this blog were better, and that my hair looked nicer, and that my house was cleaner, and …

Unhappy? Self-Critical? Maybe You’re Just a Perfectionist

By Mr. Mental Health himself, Benedict Carey

liz | 2:38 PM | Uncategorized

And when did they say they’re closing Gitmo?

This man was so desperate, he used his own fingernail to try to kill himself. From the LA Times:

GUANTANAMO BAY, CUBA — Despite sweeping measures to prevent suicides among the 305 prisoners here, a detainee slashed his throat with a sharpened fingernail recently and might have bled to death if guards hadn’t rushed to his aid, officers disclosed here Tuesday.

The apparent suicide attempt last month in a shower at maximum-security Camp 6 was one of dozens known to have occurred since prisoners were first brought to the military prison nearly six years ago.

After four suicides by hanging, three last year and one in May, bed linens are collected each morning to keep detainees from making ligatures. Anyone suspected of trying to hurt himself is outfitted in a green quilted “suicide smock” that attaches by Velcro and cannot be shredded.

What are they going to do now? Cut everyone’s fingernails?

Guantanamo suicide attempt confirmed

liz | 8:23 AM | Uncategorized

Okay, here’s what she said

Here is the full text of Dear Harriette from the New York Daily News:

DEAR HARRIETTE: My best friend is bipolar. Two years ago, he told me he was going into a depression and not to contact him until he contacted me. I waited a year and a half for him. All that time, I sent him cards and e-mails saying we were still friends.

Camille, Oakland, Calif.

Dear Camille: Bipolar disorder is not something you have one day and not the next. It is a health condition that can plague your friend for life. You may never have the same relationship as before, but that doesn’t mean you have to write him off. If possible, let him know you care about him and miss his friendship. Read up on bipolar disease to understand what he may be going through.

DEAR HARRIETTE: I’m 13 and in a deep depression. I have felt this way for months and haven’t admitted it before. I have feelings of hate toward myself. I have trouble sleeping. I eat about one meal a day. I have the overwhelming feeling of being alone. I feel like an empty shell of myself.

Brenda, Queens

Dear Brenda: You are wise for recognizing your emotional state. Recognition is usually the first step toward a cure. Many teens have emotional difficulties at this age. You do need professional help. I’m sorry your mother isn’t taking you seriously, but you need to find someone else who can help. Go to the counselor or psychologist at your school, who should be able to give you advice or refer you to someone who can. Your family doctor is another resource, or even a trusted family member. The clergy at your church or place of worship should be able to help, too. Reach out to one of them NOW. Then ask that person to talk to your mother. She will take you seriously once she really understands.

liz | 1:45 PM | Uncategorized

TTWS says…

In response to the below questions to advice guru Harriette Cole, HS writes with his customary comic flair that always makes me laugh out loud:

HOPEFULLY she answered letter one by advising the first writer to continue the relationship with a bit of wariness and telling the second writer to contact a counselor at school and getting an immediate professional evaluation.

Alternatively though she could have said, “I’m sorry, I would love to answer but my hair has a huge amount of electricity pulsing through it.”

liz | 11:07 AM | Uncategorized

Advice needed

Below are two questions written to Harriette Cole (pictured enormously, above), the advice columnist for the New York Daily News. Later today I’ll post the answers she gave. If anyone wants to try their hand at giving an answer in the meantime, I’ll post your answer first. I’ll bet you can do better than Harriette did.

DEAR HARRIETTE: My best friend is bipolar. Two years ago, he told me he was going into a depression and not to contact him until he contacted me. I waited a year and a half for him. All that time, I sent him cards and e-mails saying we were still friends.

Out of the blue, he contacted me six months ago. He is on a newly introduced medication. He says it feels better than what he took before. He is nothing like the man I used to adore. I don’t know if this has to do with his being bipolar or if he’s just a bad friend now. I resent that I waited a year and a half, only for him to become this selfish, self-centered person. Do you think this new medication has cured him, and his true personality is a selfish one? Alternatively, do you just think he is a bad friend?

Camille, Oakland, Calif.

DEAR HARRIETTE: I’m 13 and in a deep depression. I have felt this way for months and haven’t admitted it before. I have feelings of hate toward myself. I have trouble sleeping. I eat about one meal a day. I have the overwhelming feeling of being alone. I feel like an empty shell of myself.

I need professional help, but my mother won’t listen. She writes it off as me being “dramatic.” She tells me I’m a normal 13-year-old and tries to make jokes about it, by pretending to cry and saying, “Boo-hoo.” I need her to see that my problem is serious and need to see someone.

Brenda, Queens

liz | 8:31 AM | Uncategorized

This song sounds familiar

Every now and then I see an article that I could swear I’ve seen before. Then I realize it’s just that we are constantly bombarded with new ideas for “cures” for mental illness, which is okay, I suppose, but perhaps is misleading. While research is important, the reality is that many people can live fulfilling lives in absence of a total cure, in the same way I do, by being in recovery.

That being said, can fish oil be a preventive? Researchers in Australia believe so.

Fish oil may decrease risk of developing schizophrenia: research

liz | 2:15 PM | Uncategorized