tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3368504086012529655.post5089200809050821587..comments2024-03-27T11:00:55.885-06:00Comments on Keith's Odyssey to Planet Fitness: Mental IllnessKeithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09364395150014197905noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3368504086012529655.post-77535311979776152702011-01-16T12:52:50.750-07:002011-01-16T12:52:50.750-07:00One of the problems of mental illness is that it o...One of the problems of mental illness is that it often makes it difficult to get help; it's like if someone breaks a leg and you say "well, why don't you just walk to the hospital and get it fixed?" You can't get help if you don't know how to get help.SteveQhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16943650844671498074noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3368504086012529655.post-6300281325270655092011-01-15T06:37:05.364-07:002011-01-15T06:37:05.364-07:00What "normal" is is culture specific and...What "normal" is is culture specific and perpetually evolving. Typically we delineate normal from abnormal by asking whether the behavior interferes with functioning or is harmful to self or others. <br /><br />I agree that it is a thin line between normal and abnormal. And depression and anxiety are v prevalent, most people, for ex., have at least one panic attack in their lives. The term "mental illness" is so stigmatizing and unhelpful. Education is really what we need more of, as well as, obviously, more access to treatment for those in need.Running and livinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00057835870342142162noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3368504086012529655.post-26944358587152297252011-01-15T05:48:29.453-07:002011-01-15T05:48:29.453-07:00Because of the shooting in Tucson here in the US, ...Because of the shooting in Tucson here in the US, <a href="http://www.tnr.com/blog/william-galston/81228/the-tucson-shooter-and-the-case-involuntary-commitment" rel="nofollow">there have been calls, by pols with more influence than intelligence</a>, for draconian laws making it easier to lock up not just allegedly mentally ill people, but also anyone who suspects these people may be a "danger" and don't report them to ... well, just about every authority in the world short of the commissioner of Major League Baseball.<br /><br />The level of ignorance of the way harmless mentally ill people (and mere eccentrics!) were abused by such lock-'em-up-and-throw-away-the-keys laws in the not-that-distant past on display in such articles is as appalling as it is remarkable. Yet these essays get published in agenda-setting rags like <i>TNR</i>. <br /><br />Here in the US, the solution to every problem has become: jail it; shoot it; or, if you're lucky, cow it into submission with threats of jailing or shooting.<br /><br />George Bush instituted a torture regime here in the US and started two wars that have led to literally hundreds of thousands of deaths of innocent civilians; Obama has continued and expanded both of these policies, after getting elected on a platform of promising to end them. In campaigning, he acknowledged the illegality of the previous regime; and it is a well-established principle of International Law (since Nuremberg) that those who wage a war of aggression, which the Iraq war is, should be prosecuted. Yet Obama, upon taking office, said we must "look forward, not backward" - essentially saying Bush, Cheney et al. would have impunity. Because Obama himself expects that for <i>his</i> crimes when he leaves office.<br /><br />People like this guy in TNR cheered these decisions on.<br /><br />But the mentally ill?<br /><br />Lock 'em up for life REGARDLESS of what they've done.<br /><br />That's America now.Glaven Q. Heisenberghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08223203230634447543noreply@blogger.com