Government farting of psychiatrisms!

Now, just a word about government initiatives in mental health. They are so out of date and offensive they are silly!

                Psychiatrisms being farted out all over the place and little scared psychiatrist’s parrots saying what they should, lest they be reminded of that time they maxed out their credit card and drove across several states without stopping. Or, even that time they started accusing people of poisoning their food, when they hadn’t heard that it was actually Monsanto doing it, not their sweet innocent cousins.

                There are a number of videos on this page that upset me (with the exception of Christopher who actually talks about the trauma and his recovery that happened through conversation and support.)

                Why would I listen to Kay Jamison’s view that psychiatric treatment is ‘important’? She is clearly suffering under the medication she takes. I can see the way it dulls her eyes and droops her face!

I haven’t got time to critique each video and say why they’re not positive representations for recovery and reducing stigma. They do nothing for validation, or enabling either. So, I’m going to focus on an actor who should know better, in hope to enlighten her as to why she is upsetting to so many (yes of course she will read my blog, she really wants to know a psychiatric survivor’s view for her next film role…)

 

Dear Glenn Close, saying, ‘drapetomania’ a billion times with actor’s glee, in 1851, would not make the word less offensive. Same with saying a person has a ‘sexual orientation disturbance’ in 1970. I mean, while people ‘joke’ about brides who run away in Hollywood movies, saying a person’s sexual orientation is a ‘disturbance', a 'deviation' or a 'disorder' when there is nothing wrong with their sexual choices, is about a societal disturbance. It is society being prejudiced. The fact is, sweetheart, psychiatry is disturbing and when you repeat words like ‘schizophrenia,’ and ‘mental illness’, they hurt people like me, because they remind me how I’ve been abducted, tortured, threatened, physically restrained and had to put up with the coercive-control brainwashing that goes on, as recently as 2011. And before you jump to conclusions that I was behaving like some Fatal attraction role you played, may I remind you, about the myth that so many people hold close to their heart that people with mental health problems are violent. Yes, it is a myth. And no, I wasn't being violent.

                And the fact is,  ‘The vast majority of people with mental health problems are no more likely to be violent than anyone else. Most people with mental illness are not violent and only 3%-5% of violent acts can be attributed to individuals living with a serious mental illness. In fact, people with severe mental illnesses are over 10 times more likely to be victims of violent crime than the general population. You probably know someone with a mental health problem and don't even realize it, because many people with mental health problems are highly active and productive members of our communities.’

                Okay, you should’ve got that any way, because it’s on the website where you talk of your relatives and ‘their illness’. You seem to have little insight into why your relatives got so upset they went into an emotional discombobulated crisis. But you’re happy to give them labels that no one wants. (Except maybe the Bipolar. That one is new and sounds nice. Manic-depressive, people hated the sound of that. Schizophrenia, roll it on your tongue and it sounds like a cat saying, ‘back off!’ as for ‘mental illness’ being something to get used to, come off it!

                So, just to let you know, these words alarm me as much as racism and sexism, probably more, because they areused to harm, disable, threaten, brainwash, dehumanise and torture, yes, even the UN agrees that forced-drugging is torture. And the public seems oblivious to this.

                How could you be so stupid as not to be aware of this? Don’t you read?

                Stop farting psychiatrisms and get with it! Don't turn coping mechanisms and discombobulated responses to grief and trauma into 'symptoms'! And don't you dare ever use the 's' word where I can hear it again!
 

 

Sincerely,

Initially NO

PS: If you like my poster of psychiatry farting, you can buy it at Redbubble. (Alright I'll send you a postcard I know stars expect everything for free.)

What does ‘mad’ mean?

I’m looking at a flyer for a theatrical production and I’m feeling just a little trepidation about it. It could just be because it is theatre. Theatre tends to have that detached over-the-top exaggeration that even stand-up comedy doesn’t have.

What I’m really concerned about is horrible clichés emerging during the performance and having to sit in the audience gritting my teeth with the want to shout things out, like hecklers would to comedians or poets in a pub.

I’m also feeling awkward about this production because I’ve got a piece of writing in it, so I’ll be partially to blame.

Just at a glance, I’m sure it looks like a MAD comic sort of thing to most people. You know, all those fun kooky mad women thinking weird stuff. Get into that giant cake and rub it all over your body like lube!

I'm all into the idea of the fun of madness. But the actors pictured are all in white, some in strait-jackets…  so they’re trying to say this is something about the psychiatric system as well… Something like, ‘Ain’t it fun being all tied up!’

The actors are open mouth smiling laughs… they seem to be having a right ripper of a time… Makes me want to ask… Does this show have any authenticity in its direction?

The poster replies: ‘Um… awefinticity ‘bout wat?’

Am I mad about this mad show? Um, depends what you mean by ‘mad’. I haven’t even seen it yet and I’m bagging it for the baggage it brings up about horror, prejudice, ignorance and cliché rubbish.

Still, if you’re in Melbourne, I’m urging you to go see it. Recognise what the individual writers think ‘mad’ is, what the costume designer thinks ‘mad’ is, what the director thinks ‘mad’ is, what the actors think ‘mad’ is and if the use of psychiatric torture equipment is fitting with the term ‘mad’. Some people think the term ‘mad’ is akin to crazily angry. Some people use it for selling mobile phones cheaply. Look I’m going to be open to this show and give it a watch and keep my mouth shut and learn exactly what people think. No need to assert my opinion by madly calling out things in the theatre. Maybe a cough or two will do, if utterly necessary.  Got to stick with the boundaries of what is okay, or you are mad.