odd time signatures - Latest Comments in Mental Health Is the Center of VA Tech Tragedy, Not Guns

Re: Mental Health Is the Center of VA Tech Tragedy, Not Guns

Cynther Jones — Wed, 02 May 2007 17:14:09 -0000

May is mental health month. This is a good opportunity to do something special for someone who is mentally challenged. Mentally challenged individuals are often discriminated against, due to being diagnoses with a mental illness. Why are people with mental disorders looked down on and poked fun at? Do you look down on individuals battling with Cancer of Diabetes? Is it not normal to seek treatment when ill? Mentally ill individuals have a right to visit their physician and to take their medications in order to make them feel better. Why should we suffer, due to society's negative stigmas associated with mental illness? I am willing to promote mental illness and share my story whenever necessary. Send me an e-mail and give me your personal view about mental illness.

Re: Mental Health Is the Center of VA Tech Tragedy, Not Guns

karoli — Sun, 22 Apr 2007 05:03:11 -0000

Thank you, erin, and thank you for posting this. There is nothing that I could say that would ring as true or as powerfully as what you've said here, particularly with regard to removing the stigma. We are still in the dark ages.

Every time I read articles that decry treating mental illness with medication I want to scream, knowing that the right diagnosis and right meds can make the difference between success and failure, even life and death for some.

Re: Mental Health Is the Center of VA Tech Tragedy, Not Guns

erin — Sat, 21 Apr 2007 00:37:00 -0000

I have bi-polar disorder, and between the ages of 24 and 31, I experienced at least five psychotic breaks during manic episodes. With the help of a supportive boyfriend, during my last hypo-manic episode, I was able to seek help and am now symptom free because of medication. I was not a danger to anyone but myself during my psychotic episodes. I'm posting here because I want as many people as possible to understand how real delusional thoughts feel to someone suffering from psychosis.

I am quite intelligent, as I am writing a dissertation right now. But while psychotic, I have been convinced that other people were sending messages to me telepathically and that they could also read my mind. I have sincerely believed that if I read the correct sequence of passages in the many books I own, I would suddenly be endowed with supernatural powers and would become all-knowing. I once tried to kill myself while psychotic. My friends did not really know how to help me, and I once saw a therapist for several months while cycling between mania and depression. I was not correctly diagnosed at that time. I am lucky that I eventually got the treatment I needed and that my insurance covers my medication, which costs $170 a month.

I just want people to understand that if a person is psychotic, he or she experiences the world his or her mind creates as just as real as anyone else's reality. We need to keep discussing how we can help people get the treatment they need, remove the stigma surrounding mental illness, and make treatment affordable for everyone.

Thanks for your original post, karoli, and best of luck with your ADHD.

Re: Mental Health Is the Center of VA Tech Tragedy, Not Guns

karoli — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 14:18:24 -0000

Hi Katharine,

The system is designed to discourage anyone with mental issues from seeking treatment. The problems aren't going to go away, they're going to get worse, particularly as Iraq war veterans begin to struggle with the after-effects of their war service and PTSD in particular.

Your post about tracking meds was also interesting -- fodder for yet another rant. :)

Re: Mental Health Is the Center of VA Tech Tragedy, Not Guns

Katharine — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 06:35:24 -0000

Karoli, excellent post. I grow weary of navigating the mental health maze for my family too. The system ensures that we are all still on our own, which is the last thing anyone with mental health issues needs.