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VA proposes changing disability ratings for mental health, other conditions | Stars and Stripes

Hey guys and girls Me and a friend of mine made a short film about a young man starting to suffer from schizophrenia. We have a friend who has schizophrenia, and we talked with psychiatrists and read a loooot of books in order to understand it better and make a fitting movie. I really love this part of the internet, so I thought I’d post the link to the movie here. It takes about 15min to watch and is filmed in swissgerman with english subtitles. Here is the link to the movie: https://succeedshortfilm.com But be advised, although there aren’t any disturbing images, it could trigger some of you because it shows the effects of a schizophrenic escalation. Do you like the movie? Do you think it's authentic? Kind Regards and take care Luki

1.) How many people here have decided to forgo having children because you have Mental Health issues? Are you glad that you stayed childless? 2.) If you DID have kids - do you regret your decision? Was it more (or less) challenging/upsetting/depressing than you expected? 3.) Does anyone here feel that having kids was the most fulfilling, meaningful choice in their life? Why?

Feeling so down and alone. Majorly triggered today by a family member who wrote an inane reply to my email (about how I'm severely depressed again and back on meds, struggling, often suicidal) suggesting: "Chin up, Look on the bright side, Journal about the positive things that happened to you today" "Make a Gratitude list" and the worst one "Don't Worry, Be Happy" because it's useless to stress about the things we cannot control." I seriously cannot believe she thinks this crap is helpful, caring, or empathetic in the slightest. I feel so shitty and alone in this world of people that don't understand anything about Mental Illness. How MORONIC can you be when you respond to a depressed/suicidal family member with an insipid trite quote? I can understand if it's an acquaintance or friend who doesn't really know you, but a Family member who has grown up with you, known you for life? I can't even speak with my own sibling, my spouse is totally clueless about my condition (goes off for beers with colleagues when I've been sobbing & starting new medication, probably because he wants to avoid me). What do you do when EVERYONE FAILS YOU - right when you need them the most? The health "System", your so-called "Friends" and then your own "Family"? Thank you for listening.

http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2016/03/23/471265599/probing-the-complexities-of-transgender-mental-health?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=npr&utm_term=nprnews&utm_content=20160323

So, this post has appeared several times in my feed today. I've commented negatively on it each time, but was on my phone. So, get home, do some research and hopefully I can post a link here, but I'm confused about this new format and how to do it, but if not, just google Brady campaign facebook. So, Kenneth Cole, yes the CLOTHING DESIGNER, has taken out several billboards in various cities which reads as follows: "Over 40m Americans suffer from MENTAL ILLNESS. Some can access care....all can access guns. Kenneth Cole #gunreform #areyouputtinguson" Seriously? Kenneth Cole the fucking clothing designer is a know all about mental illness? People are liking this and not finding it offensive? This is the equivalent of Donald Trump saying all mexican immigrants and rapists and murders! People are in an uproar about that, but THIS billboard is ok?

Ward 81 & Oregon State Hospital 1975 - 2005 Images from Mary Ellen Mark’s series Ward 81 have been floating around the internet lately. I feel a special connection, however, as I explored the hospital in its abandoned state. The old hospital buildings were torn down four years after I visited in 2005. Though Mark’s work is well known, the hospital’s biggest fame was as the filming location for One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s nest. I have provided both Mary Ellen Mark’s 1975 photographs as well as my own for contrast, to show what became of the hospital 30 years on. I also provided images of my artwork that are based on the 2005 visit. The paintings are part of a larger series of works based off different abandoned hospitals I visited over the years. When I requested access to Oregon State Hospital, the right wing to the main building had been slowly vacated ward by ward until the early 90’s when it was left to moulder in the damp Oregon weather. By the time I arrived, the top two floors were in ruins. The tiles were essentially just rubble spattered with bird and rat droppings. The paint on the walls had largely peeled away. Strangely enough, the bathrooms were in perfect condition, the tile looked almost untouched. Because the left wing held dangerous prisoners, it took quite some time to get permission to view the interior. I was given a visitor’s pass and a guide (an old man who had worked there as an orderly since the late 60’s). He was able to tell me about what went on in the abandoned wards during his time working there, which was helpful. The stories weren’t flattering to the hospital and his candour surprised me as he was still employed there. I suppose his supervisors weren’t around to hear, so he felt safe talking. I hope you all find this interesting. The quote below leads to Karen Folger Jacob’s full text on Mark’s website. I posted her pictures here because many of them seem to have been taken down from the current website gallery. I archived the site on my computer many years ago, thankfully, so I have the content in full. Enjoy... “In 1975, photographer Mary Ellen Mark was assigned by a magazine to do a story on the making of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, shot on location at the Oregon State Hospital, a mental institution. While there, she met, briefly, the women of Ward 81.Ward 81 is the women's security ward of the hospital, the only locked ward for women in the state. The women on this ward are considered dangerous to themselves or to others.In February of 1976, Mary Ellen and Karen Folger Jacobs, a writer and social scientist, were given permission to live on the ward in order to photograph and interview the women. They spent thirty-six days on Ward 81.” ----

I was wondering how many of you that are ashamed of your own illness or have lowered self-esteem because of it? I posted this is in the schizophrenia thread as I have it myself, but maybe there are those of you with another illness with this problem. Anyways, here's a short but good read about mental disease and help against stigma: http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/mental-illness/in-depth/mental-health/art-20046477

Kinda need your opinions guys.. This is a tough one for me: Should I go to my relative's celebration of my nephews which is in a week? I hardly talk, and last time I was at a gathering with my relatives one of them indirectly said I didn't talk... The whole experience was not *nice* for me, as I had just been out of the hospital a couple of weeks and was still in some kind of care "day care/rehab" sort of stuff. I still haven't got my "speech" back, it's quite annoying. I know it just takes some practice and exposure to social settings, but yea... And if they ask how I've been doing, should I tell them I have a mental illness? It'd explain why I don't work or don't go to school as it's so hard to explain that away. I'm unsure of what they'll say or think.. Thanks for reading this.

A long time ago when I ran across an old book in the library that mentioned a study done in the 50s?, where schizophrenics/mental patients where helped "cured" with a plant based type diet of just fruits and vegetables and some water fasting. That was an old holistic health book and don't remember the title. The book said it didn't take off because it wasn't profitable and hard to get people to stick to follow, but it worked. But there is a new movement with holistic plant based diets now, so was wondering if anyone has tried that route and had any success? I'm talking about a plant based diet that is vegan like, with no meat, dairy or overly processed foods. Mostly just fruits and vegetables, no added oils, little salt and no sugar, with exercise to help boost endorphins. I am going to try it and will post results/updates here. What I eat, how many calories, macro ratios, any exercise I do. Want to see if it really works. I will be taking Wellbutrin. But eventually will wean off that if this diet really works at "curing" my depression/psychosis and do a water fast. Once I do this diet a while and feel like it's helped I will try going off medications. I am obese so hopefully will be losing weight too. Had a hard time losing anything on Ability but may fare better with just Wellbutrin and a plant based diet. Some background: Had depression with psychosis on and off since a small child. There is a lot of mental illness in my family. Both parents schizophrenic, brother schizophrenic, sister has depression with personality disorder, another sister has autism with mental retardation, grandfather had schizophrenia with depression. So I think my depression is something hereditary that I am just predisposed too.

I talk about my mental "breakdown" from a few years ago and the resulting various diagnoses. After trying many different medications that offered no relief, I recently did a session of Iboga and became completely symptom-free after one session (which was about a month ago, now): I also want to stress that I took Iboga TA, and not Ibogaine HCL, which I've read can make mental conditions possibly worse. Iboga TA, on the other hand, can relieve and, I believe, heal various mental "disorders." Feel free to contact me with any questions you may have.

So I applied for a tourist visa to travel to the US from the UK. I suffer from bipolar and just recently just got in remission On the visa it asks if I currently suffer from any mental illness that pose a threat to me, others or property. Which I did (mostly myself and car windows). But since I am in remission and it's been 2 and half years since I have been sectioned (committed, admitted without consent) does that mean I HAD a mental illness??? It does say that you can tick no to the question if you HAD a mental illness that posed a threat to you, others and property and that it's highly unlikely that these behaviours would come back.

I realize there are probably a thousand threads on this topic, but how do you break the special news, if it's not obvious. I like to be up front. It hurts too much to be rejected for my symptoms further down the line. I've gotten everything from stereotypes about mentally ill people being better in bed, to well-meaning friends, saying that though I'd have a lot to offer the right person, they thought someone would also have "a lot to put up with," to some people who are simply attracted to instability and drama (I'm trying to become more stable). I know there are people on this site in successful relationships. How do you do it?

I thought it would be interesting to hear others' thoughts on this topic. The Iraq and Afghanistan Wars have brought issues of military service and mental illness to the fore, with high rates of post-enlistment diagnosis. About five years into the Iraq War, I looked into the possibility of serving (in the U.S. Navy). I was asked what medications I was taking (no questions about diagnoses, though I was BPII). I said I was on Paxil , and was told that I would need to be off that medication a full year before I could enlist. Later, after my medication regime had changed, this time to Lithium, I thought I would check again, less because I thought Lithium would be more acceptable and more because I wondered if perhaps the policy had changed--for want of troops and because that policy seemed to incentivize untreated mental illness in a war zone. The policy had not changed. Some thoughts for discussion with anyone who cares to discuss them: I believe that the military has a responsibility to protect its soldiers and noncombatants. I believe the consensus of the mental health profession is that serious mental illnesses are not temporary diagnoses, which would seem to make electing to forgo life-saving medication medically unsound. The U.S. military might be said to economically incentivize this course of action. Furthermore, although many mentally ill soldiers are not a risk to others, some are. Knowingly putting persons less-well-equipped to handle stress into situations of high-stress seems irresponsible. And then we have situations where soldiers are known to be mentally ill, don't receive proper treatment, and go on to commit crimes. They are punished as though the factor of mental illness has no mitigating power, and as though the U.S. military has no culpability in employing mentally ill soldiers and in not doing enough to remove them from combat situations. And then there's my friend, who served two tours of duty in Iraq, was awarded the purple heart, and has had great difficulty in getting mental health assistance through the VA. These are all instances in which the military might be said to be failing our (mentally ill) people. (I can hunt down specific sources for you if you'd like them.) Are their still ways for our people to serve? I'm good at languages, for example, and at medical things. And aside from my mental illness, I'm a rather athletic person. I'm a good team player--able to give orders and to take them, able to get results. My medication makes me better able to do these things. Why would I want to leave them at home? We best know our own diseases. We don't want to hurt others. We best know how to protect others from our own diseases. I don't like guns. They're loud and they hurt my shoulder. Maybe if these were saber days we'd be having a different conversation. I don't understand why, when I can go out my door right now and run five miles, do "boy" push-ups, have the respect of men when I speak, and have a decent stack of letters and "W's" and "sportsmanship" awards from high school, that when I say "put me in, coach," I can't even get an audition for a theater from which it seems like everyone is walking away. What do you think? Should our people be given an audition? Do our illnesses necessarily make us a military liability? And how is targeting mental illness medications in war zones not a terrible, terrible idea?

I'm having problems with the state. One week after my son was born someone called Child Protective Services and told them that they heard me say I was worried about hurting him. That's what the social worker who came told me. They are going off of what someone said they heard. She said he said. Yet, she doesn't seem to have any concern about that at all! Rather than ask me about him, she asked me about my personal life and tried trapping me in trick questions that I didn't catch on until later. It was as personal as asking about details for finances and even noted our wedding date! If that wasn't bad enough, our kitchen was searched for alcohol!! Her reasoning for all of this? I have a history of mental illness. That is what I was told. Because I have mental illness, they have to go to these measures and take whoever called them seriously. For that reasoning alone. That's it. No history of harming anyone. No criminal history. No evidence for this false claim (I'm pretty damn sure I know who since she was wanting to take him out of state with her and kept saying how concerned she is that we can't handle him which I told her). Now I am being forced to have a psychiatric evaluation which will determine whether or not I can keep him or have him taken away. So they say I'm bipolar, and because I'm bipolar I'm not fit enough to take care of him? She says she is trying to help us close this case, but I have a bad feeling about this. So, my SO and I are looking into getting a lawyer to have on stand by. If they try, we decided to sue for discrimination. They cannot legally take him for that reason, but I have a feeling they are trying harder than she led on. I really needed to vent. This is so sickly twisted.

Hello Everyone, My name is Heather and I run a blog called Mental Parent. My goal is to help reduce the stigma against the mentally ill. I have been diagnosed with bipolar 1, BPD and PTSD. With the recent uptick in violence in this world, the new scapegoat has been chosen...the mentally ill. I decideded to write a blog post about it called "Mass Shooting=Mental Illness". If you are interested, please do read http://www.mentalparent.com/mental-illness/mass-shootersmental-illness#.U7SZIvldVvA

I know there is some research out there relating Celiac disease to depression and ADD and autism...I havent really done much research but its there. Does anyone think that dietary choices play a big role in mental illness? or even a small one? I have a cousin who is a homeopathic doctor and she is constantly posting stuff on facebook about ailments, both mental and physical, and it just has me wondering. Has anyone ever tried changing their diet to eliminate symptoms? have you had any luck?

First off, I have to explain that I am currently a post graduate student doing my masters in visual arts. As such, my research is of a visual nature in its final format. There is a long history of reading and writing about medical history behind all my artwork, however, and all that writing and reading is what leads up to my finished works. These images are of abandoned asylums from around 2009. I did a large series of these during my BFA. There are 30 or more works in total and they are fairly large canvases. These four are some of my favourites. http://www.crazyboards.org/forums/index.php?/gallery/image/8537-the-examination-room/ http://www.crazyboards.org/forums/index.php?/gallery/image/8536-sink/ http://www.crazyboards.org/forums/index.php?/gallery/image/8535-doorways/ http://www.crazyboards.org/forums/index.php?/gallery/image/8534-the-activity-room/ I am currently working on another project for my masters that I am very secretive about. It is hugely different from what you see here. I might share some of it when it is finished because mental health, in regards to its history, will undoubtedly play a part. I will also have to dig up my articles because i raid the medical databases on a regular basis and I have a medical history treasure trove of articles, books, images, videos etc...

I write. Not as much as I should, but that's going to change. However, I've never been published as a fiction writer, so I decided to do something about it. Many of you here probably suffer from anxiety-related issues. So d I. No matter how calm and cool I ever am on the outside, I'm usually one step away from falling apart on the inside, even with meds. I know it's going to take a while for my brain synapses to stitch themselves back into a workable pattern, so I'm trying to be patient. Meanwhile I'm doing the best I can to help the process along by being more creative. As I said, I write. And after several months of letting self-doubt rule me, I finally sent a story off to an online magazine. It's the second time I've done it with this story, but I think I have a shot of it being accepted. According to one of the editors, I can only send in one story at a time. I'm going to try to use this as an excuse to write one story a week. I'm terrified. I hate picturing being laughed at. I keep thinking of all the things wrong with me, and how messed up my life is right now. And then I remember that Dickens had depression, and Jane Austen was probably bipolar. Stephen King? A verbally abusive drunk who was a second-rate school teacher from a small town in Maine. JK Rowling? Poor, and at one point on the dole. James Baldwin was a disaster area. So was Hemingway. My hero, Steve Jobs, was bipolar like me. I am not a failure. I'm having a great opportunity to learn. I can turn this bug into a feature. Right now I am neither manic nor depressed (I actually write better when depressed than when I'm manic, and I write best of all when I'm stable like I am now), which means it's a great time to write.

Going through this forum section has made me reminisce about years of very stupid teenage behaviour and whatnot, but I am curious about something. I tried Ecstasy probably around 5-6 times and it never had any effect on me whatsoever. A couple of those times I even took multiple pills and I've never met anyone who hasn't had some kind of reaction to this drug. It is not because the drugs were placebos or just generally ineffective (as far as I know). Anyone else ever experience this (or hear of this happening)? It always struck me as strange and often made me frustrated because I wanted to feel good instead of just flat like I've always felt, and it never made me feel anything at all.