The dandelions were out, but they all lost their heads when my hubby mowed the lawn, today.
I always feel a little bad about that...
time to take a break from debating religion.
take in a breath of fresh air and be healed by the wonders of nature around you.. how many of you have a garden?
how many have a nice flower patch to go with your vegetable garden?
The dandelions were out, but they all lost their heads when my hubby mowed the lawn, today.
I always feel a little bad about that...
i haven't seen anyone stopped for speeding on our freeways in some time.. wth it's dangerous out there, i'm driving 69-72 mph and someone pass me at 80-85 mph.. here in southern ca it,s crazy.
the speed limits are 65-70 mph.
i'am nervous as hell when i'am on the.
i have no interest whatsoever in stirring up controversy.. in fact, i find clashes of opinion to be debilitatingly negative.. so, i'd simply like to request that we narrow this discussion to evidence.. please watch this video which is tantalizingly titled :.
"there's no such thing as mental illness".. consider this data and listen to the presentation of cause vs. effects and give me your analysis and any evidence for conclusions you may draw.
we all have anecdotal tendencies, but i should remind you, anecdotal testimony isn't evidence, only opinion.________________________________________.
And, in my personal experience as a mostly successfully treated bipolar patient, he can take his cognitive behavioral therapy as ultimate solution and shove it up his ass.
This infuriates me. CBT can often be helpful for those with "garden variety" depression (not to underestimate the suffering). Sometimes the depression remits and sometimes medication is also necessary. Patients are often able to go off the medication after some time.
I'm not even going into the discussion about so many people being diagnosed with depression. It may or may not be true. Personally, but unprofessionally,I think the American way of life is extraordinarily stressful and we might need a culture change.
What I am going to talk about is severe mental illness like bipolar disorder or schizophrenia, and the good news is that we've come a long way, baby. These illnesses were an institutionalization sentence 50 or so years ago. Shock therapy was brutal, but one of the only treatments available.
Because of pharmaceutical advancements, these patients, for the first time in history are allowed to lead quasi-normal lives. Hardly anyone requires permanent hospitalization anymore.
Lest someone misunderstand how great a miracle is, let me give you my personal account of a psychiatric hospitalization. I, like most patients, was only hospitalized for a short stay (about a week) to find a combination of medications that would work for me.
The ward is locked. You may have personal clothes, but things like shoelaces and razorblades are only given to you after proving that you are not a danger to yourself. That means no shaving of your legs and armpits, ladies, or your face, gentlemen. (Oh, and if you arrived via the emergency room, they took your clothes, including your underwear, and gave you a heavy apron to wear.) If you earn it, you can go outside in an enclosed courtyard for fresh air twice a day. Someone physically checks on you every 15 minutes night and day. Any quiet time in your room is punctuated by a staff member popping in every 15 minutes saying, "checks!" You line up for your medication, take it with water in a little paper cup and show your mouth after you are done to make sure the pills went down. You do see a doctor daily. Lights are out when they say they are out. You get up when they say to get up. You can't lock the bathroom door. you just have to hope that other patients respect a closed door when you are showering. Maybe you have earned a razor and can shave your legs!
Everything is done for your safety, but it's all rather humiliating.I shudder to think that people with my diagnosis used to live out their lives in institutions. I was there a week, but I saw a doctor daily and we found a good combination of medication that started to work. They keep you safe and force you to get out of bed, to eat, to wash, to take your meds.
Then, you move to day hospital. You sleep at home, but drive back to the day hospital program for about 6 hours a day. You are educated about your illnesses, the types of medication you take, you do group therapy.
it's like a seminar that keeps you busy and educates you during the day. I was there for 5 weeks! All day, every weekday, over an hours' drive each way. You see the doctor less frequently to fine tune medication dosages, and you work with a social worker to plan community mental health care. You also learn to monitor your mental health and grade it daily on a 1 - 10 scale. Once your illness severity rates a 4 or less, you go home.
Once I went home, I saw an outpatient psychiatrist and a therapist. I started seeing the therapist 3 times a week, then twice a week for several weeks, then once a week, then once every two weeks, etc. until I was able to function in the community, again.
This is a best case scenario. It's very expensive and I was fortunate to have healthcare insurance so i could go to an excellent private hospital. The public hospital has a horrid reputation and some of the other patients had been there and had terrible tales to tell.
But, it's only through the miracle of modern psychiatric pharmaceuticals that leaving the hospital and living at home is even possible. A half century ago, and that hospital may have been my home.
So, I am livid at videos like this that misunderstand the types of treatment protocols that are considered best practices, and devalue the very drugs that are literally lifesavers and also allow those with serious mental illnesses to live relatively normal lives in the community.
Cancer treatments make your hair fall out and nearly kill you, but they can also allow you to beat the disease and live. Psychiatric medications can have awful side-effects and they can surely stress your liver, but they allow you to live with the disease in your community and function. How is that a bad thing?
Ill-informed opinions like this are infuriating. Psych meds are crude in many ways, like chemo, so we have to allow science to find better drugs. This type of video aids in reducing support for scientific research, whether public or private. He seemed to dislike both. I won't belabor the best source of funding here, but it has to go on. People's lives depend on it.
i have no interest whatsoever in stirring up controversy.. in fact, i find clashes of opinion to be debilitatingly negative.. so, i'd simply like to request that we narrow this discussion to evidence.. please watch this video which is tantalizingly titled :.
"there's no such thing as mental illness".. consider this data and listen to the presentation of cause vs. effects and give me your analysis and any evidence for conclusions you may draw.
we all have anecdotal tendencies, but i should remind you, anecdotal testimony isn't evidence, only opinion.________________________________________.
In the last minute, he promises to give his "amateur's opinion" of what is really going on in another video.
He says there are other effective solutions. Like cognitive behavioral therapy. For severe mental illness? Maybe as an adjunct...
He hates the medication. OK. The medicine has side effects. Not every medicine will work for every person. It might take several trials to find the right medication. But, there's a risk/benefit analysis that must be done for every person.
He's not a fan of electroconvulsive therapy. It is an invasive procedure and has really bad side effects. It's also a treatment of last resort and is highly effective at remitting depression.
He seems to have an issue with semantics. I personally don't care what you call it. Actually, it's a physiological illness like any other, so the modifier "mental" seems unnecessary and stigmatizing for serious illnesses like bipolar disorder that are visible on brain scans.
Personality disorders might deserve that title a little moreso, but, ultimately an argument over semantics is wasted time in my opinion. As is arguing over illnesses and categories for the DSM.
Yes, the suffering is real. He admits this, yet has no answer for it, likely because he is no expert, as he admits.
So, why is he talking?
i haven't seen anyone stopped for speeding on our freeways in some time.. wth it's dangerous out there, i'm driving 69-72 mph and someone pass me at 80-85 mph.. here in southern ca it,s crazy.
the speed limits are 65-70 mph.
i'am nervous as hell when i'am on the.
They drive crazy fast in Maryland. Police do give out tickets but not unless you go 10 miles above the speed limit because otherwise it gets thrown out of court.
And, they don't give out tickets during rush hour because drivers see the flashing lights of someone being pulled over, slam on their brakes, and rear-end the cars in front of them.
Traffic is bumper-to-bumper anyhow and giving out tickets just shuts the entire roadway down.
There are some passive speed cameras in the District, but people know where they are, hit their brakes and then speed up as soon as they pass. Again, more chance for rear-end collisions.
People are so frustrated from crawling along, that when they get a chance they speed.
I think it's really a function of the incredibly heavy traffic.
has anyone by chance read the latest issue of pshychology today?
april issue, article title' moment of impact'.. i havent fiished reading it yet, but it got me thinking, how likely is it that many born in jws [ teens in particular since thats the age these issues start to appear] will end up with these problems mentioned in the article?
i know of a few adults that have this problem, schizophrenia, bi polar, ect.
Mental illness has a genetic component. It's not a given that you'll get it, though. It's more like a vulnerability.
Usually, it takes a stressor to trigger it. Living the JW lifestyle can definitely trigger it. Being disfellowshipped is an extreme stressor that causes extreme stress even to those not genetically vulnerable.
In my case, there is a definite family history of mental illness. This is in nonJW family so there appears to be a genuine genetic component.
I started suffering depressive symptoms at about age 15. I was stressed out about the JW lifestyle, though still confused about it being the truth. My mom suffered depressive symptoms as well and was difficult to live with. All these things were stressors. To my mom's credit, she did talk to the doctor, but I was not diagnosed.
I was disfellowshipped at 18 and went throufh a suicidal depression. I did not go to the doctor at that time, but after being reinstated and moving out on my own, I did go to the doctor and get diagnosed with depression. I was put on medication and did well until I had my son. The physical stress of a difficult pregnancy and post-partum period with all the hormonal changes was more of a stressor than my body could handle. I was diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder, Postpartum Onset.
I was hospitalized at that time and again a year later. I've been on a good medication regimen and have for the most part been functional for the last dozen or so years, though I do have some occasional difficulties.
The problem is my mother just blames it all on genetics. It's obvious, personally that the JW lifestyle was a big contributing factor, especially being disfellowshipped. That was the end of my being able to function without medication.
If I had had a different upbringing would I have avoided bipolar disorder? Maybe. There is no guarantee that I wouldn't have had any other stress and, indeed, it was the stress of having a child that really pushed me over the edge. But, I know, personally that having a different, more healthy upbringing would have been one less stressor and I would've had a much better chance of avoiding the most extreme expression of my genetic propensity.
don't get here much anymore.
my mom, if you remember, really wanted to see her granddaughter before she died.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcpuj96a8lg.
I'm sorry to hear of your loss.
Two-thirds of born-ins leave. There's a good chance that your grandchild will be free eventually.
time to take a break from debating religion.
take in a breath of fresh air and be healed by the wonders of nature around you.. how many of you have a garden?
how many have a nice flower patch to go with your vegetable garden?
My tulips have finally bloomed. I got a yellow one yesterday and a red one today!
My very dark purple ones that almost look black are getting ready to bloom.
I wonder if I should cut some and put them in a vase so I can enjoy them in the house?
As soon as the petunias are out, I'm going to buy some for my window boxes. We've done red, white and that dark purple/blue color in the past and it's really looked good after about 6 weeks of growth.
Hmm...maybe I should mix up the colors this year, though. Maybe red, white and yellow?
i booked a double appointment so that she wouldn't be rushed.
i explained that i'd been brought up in the jw's and woken up to what a load of shite it was.
i explained that they have changed the blood card and that the elders in the cong are being told to effectively force people into signing it.
For those banking on the rarity of an accident causing you to be sent unconscious to an emergency room, this just recently happened to my parents.
It's a foolish bet.
i am so bad at being worldly, it's not like i gave it a good try, we are just not good at it my husband and i, i see him light up as he has started to read the bible again.
i'm good at being a witness, i am accepted, and hold the same beliefs, i have tried to find somewhere else, if there is a place, why hav'n't jehovah and the angels directed me to it?
thank you for all the loving posts, some of them have been just what i needed.
Keep in mind that not all "worldly" families are healthy.
Lots of people are vulnerable to cults because of their dysfunctional family lives.
Not being able to become close to your family again proves nothing in regards to "the truth" being a better place to go back to.
________________________
Are you sure you're not an 18-year old kid who lives in Canada and also near Disney who is a professional actor as well as a voice-artist and whose "son" is an atheistic, ex-Bethelite physicist who also is "starting to understand why you loved the JWs so much?"
Or is it the "Borderline Syndrome" after all?