Reblogged from Beyond Meds:

I had this thought and felt it was worth writing down and remembering when I go through the harder valleys of this journey to wellbeing. It’s a nice and spontaneous, and therefore authentic, affirmation. I’m not one for manufactured and contrived affirmations. If you don’t believe what you’re saying, frankly it feels slimy to me as well as unhelpful and even depressing. This was real and from my heart. I will remember it and carry it with me now. Even though I’ve been chronically ill for a long time the …

Reblogged from Occupied Palestine | فلسطين:

IMEU, Feb 22, 2012 This post and the photos included are available for republication with credits. While the people of Gaza have been undergoing an unprecedented electricity and fuel crisis that has significantly affected their living conditions and livelihoods, solidarity with administrative detainee Khader Adnan did not cease and a number of civilians began an open solidarity hunger strike on February 3rd at a tent they set up in front of the International Red Cross office in Gaza. As they heard the news …

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Yesterday was primary election day for many local races in Milwaukee. To prepare for this event I checked to learn who were my local representatives, found a piece of mail to bring with me to the polls as proof of address and then learned about the candidates. The actual voting took place in the afternoon between my morning and afternoon shifts. I went to the polling place where I had voted the past several years, only to discover I was in a new ward and I would have to walk a few blocks to my new polling place.

Voting has been ingrained in me almost from birth. When I went home for the holidays in December my soon to be 88 year old mother told me she not only votes but also helps drive others to the polls. My older sister is a former Democratic committee woman. I found my first girl friend through working on a political campaign while in high school. Yes, I was born to be informed.

I was always aware that our choices my be limited or increased by what happens at the ballot box. Take re-designing the mental health system in Milwaukee County, for example. At least two of the new supported apartment buildings constructed in Milwaukee were built using federal money from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009  signed into law by President Obama. This act, derided by Republicans, helped create real and permanent good by offering decent affordable housing for people with mental illness. Combined with resources from state and local government, private foundations and investors, it was an example of economic stimulation at its finest.

It was a sharp contrast the the Bush era economic stimulus which consisted of nothing more than a small across the board  tax cut. Barely Political, a You tube satire group, did a hilarious send up of the stimulus package. It included a man fantasizing about all the great things he was going to buy with his $200.

The merits of these approaches to government are being debated and distorted every day in the media and it behooves everyone to learn about them. Especially when you are recovering from a mental illness, you need to understand that you can make a difference in the world around you. You can petition, make telephone calls, write blogs, talk to your neighbors and pay attention to the news. These are called instrumental activities of daily living and they are almost as essential as getting a good night’s rest in building a whole life. You will find the more you immerse yourself in the world, the less time you will have to feeling distressed.

Image via CrunchBase

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Is this something that everyone could do? Probably not. For one thing I have a a lot of coping strategies. I’m highly educated, work experience in several fields, access to resources in person and over the Internet, a pet and a lot of self-understanding. I have people in the programs where I work who complain about their medications and the length of time they have been taking them. However as soon as they remove these medications from their symptoms they begin to deteriorate. To a certain extent their bodies have been trained to look for these medications and their minds keep asking, where’s the stuff?

Even the most ardent mental health advocates usually  recommend a gradual approach to weaning yourself off medications. This process involves finding other strategies, such as one might develop using a wellness recovery action plan. I developed my plan several years ago and I have helped others. These plans cover many different areas such as exercise, coping with environmental triggers, friendship, employment and romance.

When I moved into a clean and safe duplex recently it was a direct result of the success of my wellness plan. My mind responded positively, too, saying, “I like that, give me some more.”  In other words, now that I have a nice place, how about some company? I worked with a woman over the weekend who I have been dying to get to know for more than a year. As it happened, she moved recently and lives about ten blocks away from me. Walking distance, another one of the coping strategies.

I got a dvd player last week and hooked it up to my big screen television. I bought some dvds, watched one of them at home and decided I should bring it to work. My Internet provider ATT forced me into their rebranded service Uverse which sounds like something that the Unitarian Universalists would have created. It’s a little faster than my old service and works better with my blog. And the aforementioned pet, my little cat, has more room to roam around without getting underfoot. That was one of my pet peeves, pun intended, at my old place.

So you can just imagine with all of these things going on, how would ever have time to become depressed? So my advice, for those who want to replace those little placebos, is to get a life. Really, you’ll be glad you did.

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• The Placebo Drug Effects – Clinical Studies, Trials and Research With Anti-Depressant Drugs and the Degree of Effectiveness (ducknetweb.blogspot.com)
• Treating Depression: Is There A Placebo Effect? (dfw.cbslocal.com)
• Inside “60 Minutes” placebo story (cbsnews.com)
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Reblogged from Beyond Meds:

I mostly only write. I rarely speak even with my husband. We often communicate via internet when I am having trouble speaking. It’s changed some now and on occasion I can talk more now, but for a long time I communicated solely via writing. I write through a haze of exhaustion and pain. One in which I’m often unable to talk, but writing works somehow, often it works very well. It leads to many misunderstandings about my capacities by pretty much everyone except those who’ve seen me at home. There are only …

Reblogged from Occupied Palestine | فلسطين:

“Israel kills by deprivation of Healthcare” Facts tweeted earlier now storified آخر الأخبار والتحديثات Feb 20, 2012 | 23290 Days Since Al-Nakba & Gaza has been under siege for 1713 days For news of previous news days Daily News Overviews Follow on Twitter NEW PAGES ON THIS BLOG —— OVERVIEWS CONTINUOUSLY UPDATED █▌ CHILD ARRESTS BY ISRAEL ▶ OVERVIEW █▌ ALL ATTACKS ON PALESTINE ▶ OVERVIEW █▌ ALL MARTYRS OF PALESTINE ▶ OVERVIEW Palestine Under Attack – Timeline | …

Reblogged from CBS Dallas / Fort Worth:

NEW YORK (CBS NEWS) – Do antidepressants work? Since the introduction of Prozac in the 1980s, prescriptions for antidepressants have soared 400 percent, with 17 million Americans currently taking some form of the drug. But how much good is the medication itself doing? “The difference between the effect of a placebo and the effect of an antidepressant is minimal for most people,” says Harvard scientist Irving Kirsch. Will Kirsch’s research, and the work of others, change the $11.3 billion antidepressant …

Reblogged from CBS Dallas / Fort Worth:

NEW YORK (CBS NEWS) – Meet the new underclass — the four million Americans who have been unemployed for more than a year. With every additional week out of work, their chances of finding a job dwindle. It turns out that many employers don’t want to hire the currently unemployed. Enter Joe Carbone, who is determined to return the American dream to the long-term unemployed in Connecticut. And he’s succeeding, one job at a time. How’s Carbone doing it? Click Here To Read More From CBS News Also Check Out: …

Mental health is one of the major responsibilities of Milwaukee county government. The re-design comes at a time when there will be a large turnover on the board of supervisors. And our county executive Chris Abele will be seeking his first full term of office. Boxed into a corner by previous county executive Scott Walker he has faced sniping from right wing Sheriff David Clarke. Clarke seems to think that he is an entity unto himself and no one can tell him anything. Added to that problem is the fact far too many people with mental illness become involved in the criminal justice system. Not the kind of dramatic and violent episodes sensationalized in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel but more mundane things resulting from inappropriate behavior. This can result in being saddled with hundreds of dollars in tickets and killing any chances of obtaining employment.

I have found that having a significant role in society has been a powerful force in my recovery from distress. The change from self doubt to confidence has been profound and one that I constantly seek to share with others. I feel we do people a disservice when we numb their minds to a point where they can barely find the strength to shuffle to a community support program several times a week. At some point mental health needs to mean being out in the world, tending a garden, helping a friend move his or her belongings, sharing a movie and making good choices.

That is why I have been encouraging the consumers I assist to join the conversation about re-designing the mental health system. Although I work in the system, I was never a patient. I never sat in the Psychiatric Crisis Center early in the morning waiting to be seen, although I have heard about people, talked wit survivors and assisted them. Because I am a veteran I had a whole range of alternatives available to me. My unique perspective is valuable to the re-design process, as well. I learned the language about person centered processes with attending Milwaukee Area Technical College and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. I am excited to hear others passing it along. Implementing the approach will be a whole new animal and one that will engage people in this county for years to come. Now we must roll up our sleeves and get to work on creating a more humane and fair system.

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Reblogged from Phillis Remastered:

Usually, my blog posts deal with African American community or political issues, and I talk as one cultural insider to another cultural insider. However, I’ve realized that sometimes, well-meaning, really nice White people (of which there are many, by the way) want Black folks to talk to them in non-angry, non-confrontational, and patient ways about Black cultural issues they don’t understand. So I wondered if it might be useful for me to write blog posts that break racial things down for good White …