The Mental Health Thread

Did anyone hear Maria, a Victoria psych nurse, on White Coat/Black Art a few weeks back?

And as far as the 911 calls go, it's been fun (sometimes hilarious) but I really need a new hobby.

It's the rest of the world that's fucked up. 

Tupac - Keep ya head up

Tupac - Until the end of time

Tupac - To my unborn chiild [6]

Tupac - I wonder if heaven's got a ghetto [7]

Tupac - If I die 2nite [8]

Tupac - Hellrazor [9]

Tupac - Daddy was a soulja [10]

The man was brilliant, and likely, assasinated.

Tupac - Life goes on

Tupac - Me against the world [12]

  [post removed]

Just caught the last bit of an interview on CBC (Q) with Ethan Watters, who wrote Crazy Like Us, on the "Americanization of mental illness"/ "globalization of the American psyche". Cool. I think some of the "Science" proselytizers here might take some points from this.

The Americanization of Mental Illness

youtube [15]

Interesting read.  Thanks jas.

There's always some fucker out there that thinks he can kill a guy named Tupac Amaru that stands up against oppression.

Hey G Muffin - how's it going in GMuffin world?

Heard something disturbing on 103.1. A man in Saanich was running
around in the nude scaring people and the police tazed him and took
him to hospital. It was the 'tude of the radio announcer suggesting he
was heavily medicated that bothered me. That's just bad reporting and
if you don't know, don't guess. This guy was either just off his meds,
just on meds, or had just had his meds adjusted

You don't hear a lot of cancer jokes on the radio.

There's nothing particularly funny about psychotic states. They're terrifying.

Those stories bother me, too - where you've got some radio jock pandering to the pointy-headed frat boy mentality so dominant in our culture, sniggering over somebody's psychotic episode, like there's nothing more hilarious than somebody in a psychologically debilitated state making a public spectacle of themselves.

Thank you, Sineed, for understanding.

I'll be in Toronto May 6 to May 10. Please join us at the PsychOUT conference at U of T.

And, mods, I'm ready to come out of the closet.

Can you change my handle to EFSA?

They're offering a gimp bus pass for $40 annually which is a steal.

Unfortunately, I'm not eligible because I work.

But I need the bus to get home from work if it's late & dark.

I saved too much money to be eligible for income assistance from the Province.

They won't help me pay for my eyeglasses.

They won't help me pay for my dental work.

But if I need some patronizing clerk to make me feel small, the Ministry of Income Assistance is there for me.

I don't mind walking *to* work but in the winter I'd prefer to take the bus home. I walk through Blanshard Court and Fernwood and it's not the most salubrious part of town. Don't get me wrong about Fernwood -- I'd buy a house there if I could. It's just that it's beyond the Red Zone.

Luckily, I have lots of laundry coins saved up so I'll nip into the fund and steal $2.25 from myself. That's what I did yesterday but I ran into someone having more trouble than I am. So I gave her $2.25 and a granola bar and a Campino peach candy. Made her day -- she only wanted a dime.

They want $73.25 for a monthly bus pass & it's February 9th already!

How the fuck am I supposed to pay $73?

I thought the Government wanted us to take public transit. Should be free, then.

No, we deliver public policy through tax policy now, it's deductible from your income tax.  Good luck if you don't make enough to deduct it!

Thanks, Angella. I don't believe we've met.

I just happen to have my 2009 T4s available.

Job $4,944.20

CPP Gimp $9,661.56

Dental bill $85.77

Vision care $500.00

Legal defence $1,680.00

Family law disbursements $500.00

Accountant $194.25

Life's Been Good To Me So Far, don't you think?

I used to make $36,000 as a working stiff (legal assistant). Those were the days, my friend.

Isn't a mental disorder enough to deal with? Do we really have to lose our jobs and our friends and our marriages and our savings?

I had to live on $970.48 per month last year.

Rent is $620. That left $350 for *everything* else.

And I cost the government a ton. I was hospitalized January through March and again in December.  *That* costs $800 per day. I have no idea what a 911 visit costs but I spent X x 15 so far this year.

So who(m) do I have to kill to get a free bus pass, FFS?

I don't think we've met, either, your posts about falling through the cracks just hit on one of my MAJOR pet peeves. If you make enough money to get tax back on your bus pass, you probably could have bought it on your own.  If you can't afford to buy a bus pass, you either have to walk (which takes up time), not go, or spend more money over time, paying full fare for each individual bus ride.  In terms of economics / environment / social justice, I think affordable public transit is pretty much a no brainer.  I think this extends to many other public policy issues - like do you have to lose everything before you can get some help?

I should have introduced myself - hi,I'm Angella.

Acute Home Care Treatment keeps me out of the loony bin. Why aren't they open 24 hours? Why must I call 911 in the middle of the night? Why must I be such a drain on public resources? What am I doing wrong?

Got to go to work now. Some of us do that, you know.

Even though they claw back our benefits by an equivalent amount, some of us still go to work.

It's not a straight dollar for dollar clawback, anyway. They also took away my medical, dental, vision and bus pass.

And I'd fucking *still* rather pay $2.25 so that I don't have to walk through downtown at night.

[post removed]

You ever consider a bike? Worth the investment in the long run. I'm going to get one as soon as the snow thaws here, but your in Victoria, so...

I Left My Bike In San Francisco.

It would be easier & more cost effective to buy new (new to me, that is) than to try to retrieve my old one. Perhaps one of our more active babblers could recommend a store for me to find a second hand bike.

The other thing is running. I tried it once and loved it.

Allow me to introduce my friend Bob:

One Love

Don't worry, be happy [41]

No Woman, No Cry (2Pac Remix, check it out) [42]

Redemption Song [43]

I Shot the Sheriff [44]

Get up, Stand Up [45]

Buffalo Soldier [46]

Anyone else ever get information overload?

That's why I am up right now...

Me, too.

I should think so. Is there something particularly funny about me, LWB? Do you think hepatic failure and renal failure simultaneously is amusing somehow? Do you think walking to the edge and back deserves derision? Have you heard of David Foster Wallace? Who are you and what drugs are you on tonight? WTF are you thinking?

Did you like that video on YouTube, LWB? Were you one of the ones cheering him on? Because that's exactly what you're doing here tonight.

Retreating to friends.