Bipolar Disorder Has Its Upside?
finally... the other side of the story
is starting to come out. i hope.
Bipolar Disorder Has Its Upside, Patients Say
In a British study, 10 people with bipolar disorder —
a serious mental illness characterized by swings between
elation and depression — talked about positive ways the
condition had affected their lives.
The participants described an amplifying effect on their
own internal experiences, say the researchers in their study
published online April 1 in the Journal of Affective Disorders.
For instance, a participant the researchers call Alan (names
were changed to protect privacy), said: "It's almost as if it
opens up something in the brain that isn't otherwise there,
and er I see color much more vividly than I used to. ...
So I think that my access to music and art are something
for which I'm grateful to bipolar for enhancing. It's almost
as it's a magnifying glass that sits between that and myself."
In some cases, participants believed bipolar disorder had
helped them achieve goals that would not have otherwise
been possible. For Alan, this meant performing in comic
theater: "Had it not been for being bipolar, there's no
chance I could have done it," he said.
read the rest of the story here...
Bipolar Disorder Has Its Upside, Patients Say
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No More Drugs?
Haven't found a drug yet that works for you?
Sick of side-effects from the drugs you're already on?
Too bad... just suck all it up, baby, because
there's no new hope on the horizon.
Big pharma pulling back from mental health
drug research: studies
Pharmaceutical companies are focusing fewer resources on developing
drugs to combat mental illness, despite the fact it is a leading health
issue and represents a potential massive cash cow, a pair of new studies
has found.Two recent reports published in the journal Science Translational Medicine say drug development for major mental illnesses or psychiatric disorders -- such as schizophrenia, depression or bipolar disorder -- is virtually at a standstill.
"Despite high prevalence and unmet medical need, major pharmaceutical companies are de-emphasising or exiting psychiatry, thus removing significant capacity from efforts to discover new medicines,” states one report, written by Dr. Thomas Insel, director of the U.S. National Institute of Mental Health, and Steven Hyman, of Harvard University.
Read more about it at: http://www.ctvnews.ca/health/big-pharma-pulling-back-from-mental-health-drug-research-studies-1.1015154#ixzz2Aj7TSS3p
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Crazy for God
some people are born crazy.
some people have craziness thrust upon them.
and some people choose to be crazy...
some people have craziness thrust upon them.
and some people choose to be crazy...
being "born again" is like volunteer crazy.
i should know. been there. done that.
i should know. been there. done that.
it's probably why i find these paintings so strangely
compelling.whatever you might think of their aesthetic
qualities, there is no denying their relentless sincerity.
but is it art?
sorry, but i don't think so.
i don't think so because there is no room in them for me.
they are a fait accompli.
compelling.whatever you might think of their aesthetic
qualities, there is no denying their relentless sincerity.
but is it art?
sorry, but i don't think so.
i don't think so because there is no room in them for me.
they are a fait accompli.
they don't even need me. they are their own beginning
and their own end. closed systems.
and art, for me, is as much about questions as it is about
answers. in these paintings, there is no room for me
because there is no room for doubt.
which may be why this style of art is not only popular
among fundamentalist Christians - it's also popular
with Nazis, Joe Stalin, Mao, beloved North Korean leaders
and other connoisseurs of the efficiencies
of the fascist path..
and their own end. closed systems.
and art, for me, is as much about questions as it is about
answers. in these paintings, there is no room for me
because there is no room for doubt.
which may be why this style of art is not only popular
among fundamentalist Christians - it's also popular
with Nazis, Joe Stalin, Mao, beloved North Korean leaders
and other connoisseurs of the efficiencies
of the fascist path..
maybe that's why these paintings - drawn from all these
histories, these different countries and decades - look
so much the same.
the sun is always rising, and the people are always gazing
into the dawn's early light of what sure looks like a better
day.
no wonder these people are always smiling .
they're high on hope. they're totally faced on faith.
they don't have a doubt in their heads.
histories, these different countries and decades - look
so much the same.
the sun is always rising, and the people are always gazing
into the dawn's early light of what sure looks like a better
day.
no wonder these people are always smiling .
they're high on hope. they're totally faced on faith.
they don't have a doubt in their heads.
which is another reason why these paintings aren't
for me. not only is there no room for doubt...
they are downright instructional.
for me. not only is there no room for doubt...
they are downright instructional.
it's pretty creepy. if you ask me.
never mind the "right, two of every animal
on the planet fits in a boat that size" factor.
on the planet fits in a boat that size" factor.
...which doesn't matter in the slightest.
for all their so-called "realism", images like these
are not concerned with reality. they are fantasies.
for all their so-called "realism", images like these
are not concerned with reality. they are fantasies.
they are fascist fantasies - fantasies of compliance.
fantasies of control. fantasies of a simple universe
that even comes with a book of answers...
fantasies of control. fantasies of a simple universe
that even comes with a book of answers...
a simple world. a better world. a world free from want.
a world free from thought.
a world free from thought.
like i said... creepy.
here, a Nazi soldier comes home to his family...
and here, an American soldier comes home, a la Rockwell...
when the war was over, there were some who found
all this relentless sincerity hard to swallow, and a process
of subversion began which continues to the present day.
thank god.
see more images like these....
http://www.azer.com/aiweb/categories/magazine/ai151_folder/151_articles/151_soviet_art_05.html
http://squashint.wordpress.com/2012/05/10/chairman-maos-socialist-realism/
http://pulpcovers.wordpress.com/tag/nazis/
what is "socialist realism"?
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Depressed... again?
i guess so... because i found myself once again
looking for touching Tumblr sentiments to deface.
oh dear.
oh well, i'm sure the sun will come out again.
tomorrow.
??
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Just Say No... to Caffeine!
Every time i hear some pinhead parroting Nancy Reagan's
trite, useless little mantra "Just say no to drugs",
the first thing i think of is all the young new moderns
packing out the Starbucks and the line-ups of SUVs,
cars and trucks idling their engines at the Tim's
on the edge of town, conjuring memories
of when i had a studio just down the street
from a methadone clinic.
You want an idea for a horror movie?
Open it with CNN breaking the news that some plant virus
has killed all the coffee trees on the planet...
and that there is only a week's worth of coffee left
on the planet.
Then we all watch the fun as drug addicts all over Europe,
the US and Canada go through withdrawal.
???
Mental Illness Awareness Week!
Hey kids...
How was your Mental Illness Awareness Week?
Did you send cards? Make cupcakes?
Did you read a book about mental wellness?
Did you take a loony to lunch?
Me either.
If you're in Canada, you're too late because
it was over today... but if you are n the USA,
it's just getting started so you could do any
or all of the above. I don't know why they are
sequential - maybe so the energy can build
to a fever pitch.
*
What I - as a mentally ill person - did do
for Mental Illness Awareness Week was...
a) be mentally ill
and b) put this inspirational quote from Demi
Lovato on my computer desktop.
Why? Because Ms. Lovato was a good reminder
that awareness-wise, there's a lot of room
for improvement.
In fact, there's so much room for improvement
that perhaps I should not be as cynical as I actually
am about things like Mental Illness Awareness Week.
I don't think they do much... partly because I don't
think most people even know they are happening.
Partly because I don't think most people care that
much, or care to learn about it unless it's having
some kind of direct impact on the life, or the life
of someone they love.
Sometimes not even then.
I guess these things are like chicken soup. They don't
hurt, and they might help some people, some times.
I can't say the earth moved for me. Things around town
seemed much the same as they did last week, and
the week before that.
Life still sucks more than it doesn't most of the time.
Sorry, Demi.
Anyway, there's more special times ahead.
It's Bipolar Disorder Awareness Day on Tuesday-
I think it's gong to be off the hook this year!!!
Here's a list of some other special days,
for special people
...and it's never too early to start planning
for Mental Health Week. May will be upon us
before we know it, eh?
Here's a place where you can learn
more about learning more:
Mental Illness Awareness Week (Canada)
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some days...
...i just get fed up with the meds
and the moods and the whole damn
BP ball of wax.
and the moods and the whole damn
BP ball of wax.
...