It's a Prozac Nation. But once again this article smacks of propagandizing the serious struggle Gay men and women have had over the years - by associating our struggle with those who are Mentlly Ill.

Why not compare it to religious people instead: The Religious have more in common with the mentally Ill than gays and lesbians.

religious People are allowed to be dellusions and their affliction "does not preclude them from productive lives"

Mentally ill people are so crazy it's just nuts.

Har har.br />

But seriously, I've known some people with "extreme mental states." My ex, for example. An aunt, for another. Her son, my cousin. A good friend who's a brilliant musician (and has managed to get it under control enough to perform on Letterman and Leno - beat that!)

It's quite a challenge being around them sometimes, and I just want to tell them to stop being so damn crazy... but they also have much to contribute to the world.

Per CBOB: "...and I just want to tell them to stop being so damn crazy."

That in a nutshell sums up the misconceptions the vast majority of people have in regards to the mentally ill. People seem to assume they choose to act crazy, or that something other than illness guides their actions.

Mental illness is not like a broken bone which can be seen via x-ray, or cancer which can be seen via cat scan. But it is just as real, and potentially just as deadly. Having worked with mentally ill people I am very aware of how reluctant many people are to recognize the realities of such illness. Many people seem to look it as simply a form of acting out, or other voluntary behavior. It is not.

When I saw the title, Hillary, Obama and McCain first came to mind.

The Religious have more in common with the mentally Ill than gays and lesbians.

Posted by DUMPLING1

I'm sure you have some facts and figures to back that statement up.

You non-religon people have taken a no-win bet.

If there is NO God and no heaven for an after-life, we all end up as nothing. If there IS a God and an after-life in heaven or hell, there is no doubt where you are going.

It's really sad that people need to create a faux world for themselves in which they normalize their impairments or debilities. We have minorities declaring their "pride" in their distinguishing feature which does not partake of any accomplishment. We have gays proclaiming they are "proud" not to be subject to biologically utile sexuality manifest in heterosexual attraction. Now we have people displaying pride in mental impairment.

I wonder if the word "pride" has not acquired other definitions because of this usage? The word has been appropriated to mean other than its prior recognized meaning.

Well, then again, there does not seem to be a need for any basis for pride. It acn be a baseless exaltation of self based on superficial criteria.

Here are some definitions:

Syn: Self-exaltation; conceit; hauteur; haughtiness;
lordliness; loftiness.

Usage: {Pride}, {Vanity}. Pride is a high or an excessive
esteem of one's self for some real or imagined
superiority, as rank, wealth, talents, character, etc.
Vanity is the love of being admired, praised, exalted,
etc., by others. Vanity is an ostentation of pride;
but one may have great pride without displaying it.
Vanity, which is etymologically "emptiness," is
applied especially to the exhibition of pride in
superficialities, as beauty, dress, wealth, etc.

[1913 Webster]

I suppose we can have people declare their pride in their bodily functions, flatulation pride, eructation pride, sternutation pride, defecation pride, micturation pride. Why be proud of these bodily functions? Refer that question to those who have declared their pride in other aspects of their being and promulgated their sense of "pride" in other conditions or acts.

Do you think declaring "pride" in certain aspects of their being may occur because people are defensive?

It's very sad indeed, and not a thing of which to make sport.

Life can be difficult enough for those not burdened by particular peculiarities. We all might try to make life easier for all others, providing particular leeway for those excessively burdened.

Johnson-
re: "Okay, I concede. People can esteem themselves for whatever specious reason they find admirable regarding themselves. Er, oxymoron pride?"

For example: You're white and speak english.

"Do you think declaring "pride" in certain aspects of their being may occur because people are defensive?"

Definitely so! You, for example.

I don't give a flying fu-k what they think, Reagan let all the nuts out of the hospitals and now all they do is wonder the streets ruining life for the people who pay for society here.

Living on the skids, eh J-rod?

"For example: You're white and speak english.

Posted by BetelG "

I would require further proof.

Thought this was a thread about the GOP Convention.

Sniper-given the large number of religions and those not christian, I'd say statistically you're in the same boat with un non-belivers.
At least, if we're wrong, we didn't vote for the other guy.

A wise man once said, our society is judged by how we treat the least fortunate amongst us.

as someone who's disabled mentally ill, there is a lot of fear we have to deal with regularly. people treat us as dangerous, like they'd treat a violent felon. we're discriminated against (legally) in the workplace, and cast aside by libertarians and conservatives who don't want to pay for social programs that we need to live and function.

as people who are societal cast-offs, we feel the need to take pride in our common flaw. most of us really don't give a shit if you "approve" of us using insanity as a badge of honor, as most of you have failed us repeatedly with lack of compassion, understanding and patience.

I hear you Beavis and I totally agree. I've known several people who suffered horribly due to schizofrenia. Any other disease would provoke sympathy and caring while their illness earned them only rejection. America should be collectively ashamed of our treatment of the mentally ill. And as as jrod54 said:Reagan let all the nuts out of the hospitals and now all they do is wonder the streets: and that is still another good reason to hate Ronnie's guts and hope he is burning in a huge lake of fire.

But once again this article smacks of propagandizing the serious struggle Gay men and women have had over the years - by associating our struggle with those who are Mentlly Ill.

That sounds like what some blacks say after their civil rights struggle is compared to the gay rights movement.

If people want to humanize mental health problems by showing pride in themselves and admitting they have them, I don't see the negative in doing so.

I think Dumpling's objection to the comparison with gay pride is that the APA considered homosexuality a mental illness until 1973. It is a sore spot with many gay folks.

They can also reclaim some other words too like: crazy, nuts, lunatic, and maniac. Just because they're nuts doesn't mean they shouldn't have all the same rights as normal people. That crazy shooter at Virginia Tech was just an aberation. Naniacs should be able to buy guns too.

Are they really proud, or just confused?

"Are they really proud, or just confused?"

I think they are just not willing to be ashamed of something that they are blameless for and that they are doing everything they can to combat. For that many of them deserve a lot of respect. The side effects of some of the drugs required to control serious mental illness can be pretty severe and many take their drugs though they hate the changes in their bodies caused by them. I respect them for doing that. I respect them for struggling so hard to lead productive lives and to not be a burden on others.

My musician friend only began to succeed in his career when he "came out" about his mental illness and began to "own" it. He knows that at times it's a detriment to his life and the lives of those he loves, so I don't know that he would consider himself proud of his bipolarity. But he's not ashamed of it either. He takes his meds, he recognizes when an episode is under way, he does what he needs to do, so he can function pretty darn well. And as a result his wife and child and the rest of the world are blessed by one of the funniest, most talented, most insightful people I've ever met.

And he has no interest in weaponry.

If only Charles Manson had taken his meds, then we could all love him and respect him.

Danni,

Being proud is not the same as not being ashamed. Should I be proud that I get bitten by a mosquito and get malaria?

If they don't wanna be a burden, how bout not making such a big deal about it and go help somebody, instead of wasting everybody's time on what is obviously fake pride. Real pride doesn't require parades....

"Being proud is not the same as not being ashamed."

Being "proud" is coming out of the shadows and demanding to be treated with dignity. It isn't fake pride at all. It is a display of courage that few "normal" people ever have to show. Try "coming out" as mentally ill and renting an apartment, getting a job, finding friends. Many "mentally ill" people have their illnesses under control and live productive lives and they wish to help other people facing the stigma of mental illness by doing the same thing as the gay community has done....coming out of the shadows and admitting who and what they are so that others still in hiding will realize that they too can "come out." By "coming out" the "normal" folks can see that they aren't to be feared or marginalized.

Oh NorthGuy,

Hope you are well, but your party cant even figure out how many delegates are needed to win.

Hillary thinks its 2209 and Obama thinks its 2025. Now thats crazy.

Danni,

If these people were already living productive lives, how were they being marginalized? If they weren't, what do they have to crow about?

Dignity is something you possess. It isn't given to you by others. THat's what the paraders don't get. If I'm crazy, and I walk up to you and demand that you respect me, are you going to be more inclined to respect me?....I think not.

You know what has helped gays become accepted? One thing and one thing only...they are by far better-educated, more creative, and wealthier than the average American. They earned respect the same way everyone else does in this society....by being useful and by making money...Period. The parades are generally done by the non-productive, and are generally met with contempt...I'd be willing to bet that the parades have actually made acceptance in society more difficult for the productive gays.....

Jon your rant is utter nonsense. You know nothing about the topic but just yak away as if you did.
It wasn't that many years ago that anyone coming out of the closet would lose jobs, apartments, friends, everything up to and including their lives. Parades were exhibitions in courage by people willing to risk all of those things to make homosexuality less frightening, to demonstrate how common it is, to show how many "respectable" citizens are gay. The same is true for the mentally ill whether you are smart enough to recognize it or not.

Danni,

The parades cost them jobs, if they were in them. They founded their own businesses, made money, and became irreplaceable. That's how they became accepted...by being useful.

Here's a news tip: a carnival of freaks walking down main street, insulting heterosexuals as flamboyantly as they can does not, in general, lessen the fear of gays. It can inflame hate for them, though.

Do you know what does lessen the hate for gays? Having a gay couple for neighbors who both make good money, keep a beautiful house, and prove to be excellent neighbors....Thats how you get respect...by being productive citizens and good neighbors...works every time.

"Thats how you get respect...by being productive citizens and good neighbors...works every time."

Riiight. Too bad that for hundreds (thousands) of years that didn't prove to be true. No, in 1969 an event called Stonewall started the gay rights movement and our rights have increased ever since because....we demanded them....we paraded....we came out and proved we were just as good as anyone else. You seem to forget that before the gay rights movement you might have been living next door to a gay couple but you wouldn't have known it because they would have rightly feared the violent reaction that their exposure brought so they pretended to be "brothers", "roommates", etc.
You seem to have opinions on so many topics that you know absolutely nothing about. You're actually sort of entertaining. A good laugh now and then does the soul good.

religious People are allowed to be dellusions

Posted by DUMPLING1

The retards are out in full force.

"The retards are out in full force.

Posted by LIVE_OR_DIE"


Indeed.

Gay people are not equal. If they were they wouldn't need special laws that only pertain to them. Perhaps we should have a gay state where you have to be gay to live there. Kind of like Israel. Maybe we can give the Palestinian land to the gays and move the Palestinians to Egypt and Jordan where they belong

But seriously, I've known some people with "extreme mental states." My ex, for example.

Is there any other kind of "ex" besides a crazy one?

"Indeed."

Posted by Jomama

Further proving my point...

The most lethal of the modern socially constructed diseases is liberalism. There is no known cure. Even lobotomized patients actually exibit much the same zombie like behavior as people with full blown liberalism.

Living in an alternate reality which they believe to be true is typically how this disease manifests itself. Liberals actually believe that surrendering to our enemies, raising taxes, and creating new government programs make sense. Obviously people with liberalism are delusional, but no drug or treatment has yet been found.

If you see a liberal parading around please contact your local mental health professional. In extreme cases of liberalism sometimes referred to as Deanism or Goreitis call 911.

Timbci,

Gay people don't need seperate laws. Some idiots made them anyway, but they really didn't need them. In fact, like all affirmative-action nonsense, all this does is cast suspicion on the talents of the talented gay people....Are they good, or did they just get there because of their gayness?

Is the NBA nearly all black because of affirmative action, or because there are more good black players?

Is the NBA nearly all black because of affirmative action, or because there are more good black players?


From the movie Top Secret:

"Do you know any good, white basketball players?"

"There are no good, white basketball players, my friend."



"Who do you favor in the Virginia Slims Tournament?"

"In women's tennis I always root against the heterosexual."

Timbci,

What about the fashion industry...dominated by raging homosexuals...was that because of affirmative action programs?

What about coffee shop ownership? Is homosexual domination of that nice little industry a result of affirmative action programs?

What about the art world in general?

Wake up!

But seriously, I've known some people with "extreme mental states." My ex, for example.

Is there any other kind of "ex" besides a crazy one?

Posted by NappyHeadedHo at 2008-05-12 12:42 PM | Reply | Flag: Flag: (Choose)
FunnyNewsworthyOffensiveAbusiv
e

Yeah, Nappy, I know. It does sound rather stereotypical, doesn't it? But she really WAS mentally ill, and she acknowledges it. Therapy, meds, delusions, complete breakdowns, the works. She's been through two more hubbies since me. Total babe to look at, total hell to live with.

I'm a pain in the ass too, but I can't hold a candle.

JonRyker. The fashion industry is dominated by homesexuals because they spend all the life wishing they were women. Last time I checked the fashion industry is run by corporations. Corporations pick homosexuals as partners because they know that either they will die from a coke overdose, suicide, or AIDS and they will get complete ownership of the company quicker than say a Tommy Hilfiger or Ralph Laren that will stick around.

Where I am from coffee shops are run by Greeks.
Homosexuality is a state of dementia and I would not wish it upon anyone

12:04 - 12:21

3 anti-gay posts by TIMBCI in a thread about mental illness. You make your own conclusions, I've already made mine.