On the question "Who will defend the mentally ill from discrimination?" I WILL DEFEND US!
Last edited Wed Aug 7, 2019, 10:27 AM - Edit history (13)
First, please allow me to introduce myself. I am an elderly bipolar, who is effectively medicated and only unstable when I drink alcohol. If told my psychiatrist that I drink, he would probably have me committed and change my medication. Primarily, bipolar condition is a sleep disorder. I sleep well almost every night. Fortunately, like many people with a bipolar condition, symptoms were not life-altering or diagnosed, until my early thirties. At the time, the mental disability was called Manic/ Depressive Disorder. My ex-wife and I argued with the psychiatrist, because I have never suffered depression. Like almost any mental illness, there are numerous types of bipolars, with only one thing in common. It is a sleep disorder.
During extreme manic episodes, some people with bipolar disorders suffer from disillusions of grandeur, flight of ideas, paranoia, rapid speech. In a Jekyll and Hyde way we can change from a gregarious, outgoing, entertaining person to an aggressive monster. A young, unmedicated bipolar can kill you, without warning. During manic episodes bipolars have been documented with almost superhuman strength and hyper-sexuality, which is good for our self-esteem; but why would I ever drink alcohol? Ask Doctor Jekyll why he enjoyed becoming Mister Hyde for a short periods of time.
Here is an article from Psychology Today.
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/extreme-fear/201011/yes-you-really-can-lift-car-trapped-child
Yes, even typical people, without any mental problems, have been witnessed exhibiting superhuman strength, just not on a regular basis, like some bipolars. From experience, police officers approach known bipolars with extreme caution. Many of us are undiagnosed, unmedicated and rotting in prisons, all over the world. Due to hyper-sexuality, which is almost a constant condition, with many bipolars, we are out-reproducing typical humans; and bipolar disorder is a genetic condition. Like my undiagnosed father, I was a classic over-achiever, with an interest in writing media. A book I wrote was published; but it was a telecommunications manual, with a short shelf-life and after sales declined, it went out of print. Also, I have written copy in newspaper, television and radio. In fact, I was able to charm my way into a wide variety of media jobs. I can run several types of printing presses and bindery gear, along with cutters and other equipment in a print shop. I learned plenty on ways RF Energy is relayed through space, as manager of a company, which sold and installed many kinds of transmitting and receiving equipment, especially police radios, transmitting station and receivers. Sadly, due to bipolar condition, I lost many of them, within months.
For me, Lithium was not an effective treatment; so I spent time in numerous mental institutions, where I met patients with other mental problems. I have been in more mental institutions than I can count; and no mental health professional has ever diagnosed me as delusional. Decades ago, my first psychiatrist told me, "the bad news is that you have bipolar disorder. The good news is that bipolar disorder is considered the Cadillac of mental illnesses." I replied, "but sir my mental Cadillac is not hitting on all eight cylinders." About a week later, I learned a new term: Against Medical Advice (AMA) and wanted to return to my life of love, drugs and rock n' roll. After about a week in the mental institution, I told a psychiatrist that I was going to AMA out of his loony bin. He said, "Well, I will be forced to go sign commitment papers and you will be here for at least another thirty days. How do you feel about that?" I said, "I feel like only staying another three weeks, voluntarily." Bipolars can extremely entertaining and funny.
Like most people with bipolar conditions, I used to spend money like it was going out of style on sports cars, drugs, expensive alcoholic beverages, women and anything else that I found appealing. Years ago, I would drive for thousands of miles, without sleep, on a whim. I lived with dozens of women and married four of them; but for people with bipolar conditions and other mental disorders, relationships rarely last a life-time. When I was young and gorgeous, I realized that new lovers and friends were easy to make. For little or no reason, I would wish people, who loved me "good luck and best wishes," before dumping them, forever. Now, I am slightly overweight and alone.
Finally, Lamotrigine alleviated my bipolar symptoms. For several years, valporic acid failed to work; but during the early seventies, I used another kind of acid, which sent me on a trip that lasted for over 24 hours. LSD, was not my cup of tea; but it allowed me to see how people with other mental disorders might feel; paranoid and highly delusional.
In various mental institutions, I met several people with psychosis and schizophrenia. Usually, people suffering from these conditions are reclusive and afraid. I deplore the term psychotic killers. It's a type of discrimination. People with mental disorders are also discriminated against in the workplace and other ways. For example, during one of those closed-door meetings at night, U.S. Republican congress-critters tried to cut Social Security Disability Income by 20& last year, because they realize that many people with mental problems and physical handicaps fail to vote. Are reclusive mentally disturbed people willing to sit at home paranoid and depressed, while Trump wins office to cut off not only Social Security Disability Insurance but also regular Social Security to the elderly?
Psychosis is characterized by an impaired relationship with reality. And it is a symptom of serious mental disorders. People who are psychotic may have either hallucinations or delusions. Hallucinations are sensory experiences that occur within the absence of an actual stimulus. For example, a person having an auditory hallucination may hear their mother yelling at them when their mother isn’t around. Or someone having a visual hallucination may see something, like a person in front of them, who isn’t actually there.
The person experiencing psychosis may also have thoughts that are contrary to actual evidence. These thoughts are known as delusions. Some people with psychosis may also experience loss of motivation and social withdrawal. These experiences can be frightening. Symptoms can also cause people, who are experiencing psychosis, to hurt themselves or others.
Schizoaffective disorder is a condition in which a person experiences a combination of schizophrenia symptoms — such as hallucinations or delusions — and mood disorder symptoms, such as mania or depression.
Schizoaffective disorder is not as well understood or well defined as other mental health conditions. This is largely because schizoaffective disorder is a mix of mental health conditions ― including schizophrenic and mood disorder features ― that may run a unique course in each affected person. Untreated, people with schizoaffective disorder may lead lonely lives and have trouble holding down a job or attending school.
As if people born with mental-illness aren't suffering enough, in the wake of mass-murders in Ohio and Texas, mental-illness, instead of a hate-inducing Trump agenda, is being touted as the cause of the slaughters. Mentally ill people, who already face enormous discrimination by the public, are suffering enough, without Republicans condemning us as mass-murderers.
In fact, Over a third of the public think people with a mental health problem are likely to be violent – in fact people with severe mental illnesses are more likely to be victims, rather than perpetrators, of violent crime. The majority of violent crimes and homicides are committed by people who do not have mental health problems. People with mental health problems are more dangerous to themselves than they are to others: 90 per cent of people who die through suicide are experiencing mental distress.
Bipolar is primarily a sleep disorder. During Trump's first bid for presidency, he bragged that he only needed one hour of sleep a night
On Tuesday, Trump’s White House doctor said the president gets a minimal amount of shut-eye.
Now, a While-House doctor has revised earlier comments by Trump: For most people, four to five hours a sleep every night may prove to have destructive consequences. But for U.S. President Donald Trump, it seems to be working out.
If I told my psychiatrist that I got such a small amount of sleep every night, she would have me escorted to lock-up for 30 days of observation, in a VA mental institution.
Trump, also exhibits, paranoia, flight-of-ideas, hyper-sexuality and sporadic episodes of extremely aggressive behavior, which are other bipolar symptoms.
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