SoberRecovery : Alcoholism Drug Addiction Help and Information - View Single Post - Need help helping others understand mental health

shutterbug · 11-03-2008, 02:31 AM

She can look up the stats....

about 80 percent of bipolars are also addicts.
1 in 5 will commit suicide.
It (depression and mental illness) has been known to be biologically based for 100's if not thousands of years.
Depression was once revered as an 'upper-class' diagnosis (in the 1700's or 1800's) b/c there has been proven to be a connection to higher intelligence and creativity.

It is passed through family lines....thru the generations.
There are lists after lists of famous poets, musicians, writers, scientists and other inventors with mental illnesses of the depressive and mood types, and usually with severe addictions.

I'm a broken record in the forum for suggesting the book "A Brilliant Madness" by actor Patty Duke about her bipolar I disorder, major depression, suicide attempts and alcohol and pill addictions. Every other chapter is written by her and the others by her psychologist who provides wonderful information about the illness.

If you can....buy her a copy and send it to her ($8.95 for a new copy and as little as $1, plus shipping for used copies through Barnes and Noble's web site). If she's a real friend...she will read it and want to at least give the benefit of the doubt to being open about learning what she doesn't understand right now.

Her view of our illness (i'm also Bipolar II, rapid cycler) is why I've been fired from 2 newspapers in the past 4 years...and why the stigmas of mental illness is still so strong to this day.

If she isn't willing to make the effort to read the book....as you needing her to try and understand why what she says hurts and is actually cruel.....then she is not a true friend of any kind.

there is a reason why creative people tend to struggle with depression, bipolar disorder, addictions, ect., And actually, the person who created the steps toward making a computer into a reality....was a family member of Lord Byron....who's whole family is sooooo littered with mental illness and addictions. He wrote genius prose....she wrote genius electronic machinery thingy's. We wouldn't have computers, cell phones, DVD players, digital cameras, ....any and all other computer based electronics of our modern day world if not for a severly mentally ill family of genius who struggled gravely and several committed suicide. (This is all talked about in the book called "Touched With Fire"....and another good one is "An Unquite Mind" -- tho both are quite technical and more difficult reads. Another good one is "A Noonday Deman - An Atlas of Depression" tho that one took me about a year to work my way thru b/c it is soooo historically and technically based, but it is the one that talks about depression once actually being revired as an 'upper-class' illness that many would actually TRY to get diagnosed with "melancholy" - thier word for depression back then....since they saw the connection of the higher and more creative intelligence levels associated with melancholy).

NO real doctor or scientist argues about the biological based origin of depression and mental illness these days....it's been overly proven throughout history to be totally unquestionable.

hugs,
Jenna

p.s. i'm not a doc, just a self-educated mental health consumer.
p.s.s. I'm also a recipient of 23 shock treatments this past year for my 3rd life episode of major depression.
p.s.s.s I've also found, and been confirmed by my neuro-psychologist/psychiatrist, that the mood stabalizer Lamictal is one that a large number of bipolar II's have found useful, including myself, since it also successfully addresses the very real physical pain of major depression, stabalizes while also acting to help boost the anti-d's, and helps with some anxiety also (sometimes is prescribed solely for pain management and sometimes solely for ADHD).

11-03-2008, 02:31 AM	#3 (permalink)
shutterbug A picture's worth a 1000 words Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: With any luck, I'm lost in a view finder Posts: 2,947 Blog Entries: 5	She can look up the stats.... about 80 percent of bipolars are also addicts. 1 in 5 will commit suicide. It (depression and mental illness) has been known to be biologically based for 100's if not thousands of years. Depression was once revered as an 'upper-class' diagnosis (in the 1700's or 1800's) b/c there has been proven to be a connection to higher intelligence and creativity. It is passed through family lines....thru the generations. There are lists after lists of famous poets, musicians, writers, scientists and other inventors with mental illnesses of the depressive and mood types, and usually with severe addictions. I'm a broken record in the forum for suggesting the book "A Brilliant Madness" by actor Patty Duke about her bipolar I disorder, major depression, suicide attempts and alcohol and pill addictions. Every other chapter is written by her and the others by her psychologist who provides wonderful information about the illness. If you can....buy her a copy and send it to her ($8.95 for a new copy and as little as $1, plus shipping for used copies through Barnes and Noble's web site). If she's a real friend...she will read it and want to at least give the benefit of the doubt to being open about learning what she doesn't understand right now. Her view of our illness (i'm also Bipolar II, rapid cycler) is why I've been fired from 2 newspapers in the past 4 years...and why the stigmas of mental illness is still so strong to this day. If she isn't willing to make the effort to read the book....as you needing her to try and understand why what she says hurts and is actually cruel.....then she is not a true friend of any kind. there is a reason why creative people tend to struggle with depression, bipolar disorder, addictions, ect., And actually, the person who created the steps toward making a computer into a reality....was a family member of Lord Byron....who's whole family is sooooo littered with mental illness and addictions. He wrote genius prose....she wrote genius electronic machinery thingy's. We wouldn't have computers, cell phones, DVD players, digital cameras, ....any and all other computer based electronics of our modern day world if not for a severly mentally ill family of genius who struggled gravely and several committed suicide. (This is all talked about in the book called "Touched With Fire"....and another good one is "An Unquite Mind" -- tho both are quite technical and more difficult reads. Another good one is "A Noonday Deman - An Atlas of Depression" tho that one took me about a year to work my way thru b/c it is soooo historically and technically based, but it is the one that talks about depression once actually being revired as an 'upper-class' illness that many would actually TRY to get diagnosed with "melancholy" - thier word for depression back then....since they saw the connection of the higher and more creative intelligence levels associated with melancholy). NO real doctor or scientist argues about the biological based origin of depression and mental illness these days....it's been overly proven throughout history to be totally unquestionable. hugs, Jenna p.s. i'm not a doc, just a self-educated mental health consumer. p.s.s. I'm also a recipient of 23 shock treatments this past year for my 3rd life episode of major depression. p.s.s.s I've also found, and been confirmed by my neuro-psychologist/psychiatrist, that the mood stabalizer Lamictal is one that a large number of bipolar II's have found useful, including myself, since it also successfully addresses the very real physical pain of major depression, stabalizes while also acting to help boost the anti-d's, and helps with some anxiety also (sometimes is prescribed solely for pain management and sometimes solely for ADHD). __________________ I'M FINE!! Fanatically Insecure Neuratic & Emotional Bipolar/Depression support: 1-800-950-NAMI(6264).