Read it and weep, America!

Loquisimo · #1 07/19/10, 07:55 PM

The following appeared last night on my local Craigslist rants and raves board. I know this is the truth because I have seen it, not her case but the system in general, at work. The fact is, we have no freedoms left in this country. Who decided to "fix" this woman? Who ordered her into a revolving door of doctors and hospitals to make her "sane"? Who, exactly, is the INSANE one here, her, or the system?

Rant of Rights
Date: 2010-07-18, 6:38PM PDT
Reply To This Post

Its a wonder that "these days" the age one reaches adulthood at the ripe ol age of 18, and me, age 23, am stuck having people at my left and at my right trying to make all the decisions for me and taking my freedoms away from me. Bipolar? Borderline Personality Disorder? Major Depressive Disorder alongside Panic Disorder? The doctors can't even agree. Which is it?! Or am i lucky enough to have some lethal cocktail of them all?
Hospitals, treatment centers, doctors, therapists. To all: "Please try and fix her!" What if i can't be fixed?! What if I don't want to be fixed like that?! Who gave EVERYONE ELSE the rights over my life. Who gave everyone else the right to decide whether or not i keep my own life. It's mine. MINE. No one else knows what I know. No one else feels what I feel. No one else could possibly understand the world the way I understand the world. It's mine. MINE. Tainted and tinged with my memories, thoughts, feelings and opinions.
If I come to the conclusion that its all not worth it who are all you- or a bunch of faceless doctors to take that away from me? YES. I am done with life. YES. The pros never outweigh the cons. The cons pile themselves up on a heap on my chest pressing down harder and harder until I can no longer breathe.
This is not a suicide note. This is my rant that you've taken away a persons right to choose. Their free will.
Suicide? I want to. But its not fair that my friends and family should feel I wronged myself and them in some way in doing so. Some people were just created softer than others. weaker. less able to adapt.
WHAT REALLY GETS ME IS THAT I CAN'T EVEN SEND THIS TO THE PEOPLE IT NEEDS TO GO TO. THEY WOULD HAVE ME COMMITTED. BECAUSE THEY "CARE"

CamM · #2 07/19/10, 11:35 PM

She can, indeed, stay away from being committed. First one removes oneself from all the people that care about them, those people that will remove their "freedom" by trying to help. The best route for this is to live in the woods or in cities and beg for money or food when needed. The people in the cities or the trees in the woods don't give a lick about how someone acts.

However, I know going to a mental hospital isn't the greatest experience, and really the people don't seem to care there either, but when someone is at the level where friends/family can't do anything, there isn't much choice.

pancho · #3 07/19/10, 11:47 PM

I have a sister that is bipolar.
Sure hope she never has to go through what my sister did.
Hope others are not hurt either.
It is a very real possibility.

gone-a-milkin · #4 07/19/10, 11:49 PM

So, What? we should just hand this 23 year old 'woman' a gun, and tell her to go for it?
(rhetorical question only)

Her 'Rights rant' actually sounds like an immature drama skit to me.

My experience has been that people who want to commit suicide just DO it.
Or they withdraw, like CamM says.

They dont necessarily post rants on CL to get attention.

If that sounds crass, so be it.

JuliaAnn · #5 07/20/10, 12:57 AM

Ya know, one could pick apart this person's 'rant', but what good would that do? On the one hand, this person is blaming family and doctors for 'taking away' her right to commit suicide. On the other, she is blaming her family/friends for caring about her because they would feel 'wronged' if she kills herself, and she can't even address her 'rant' to them because they would have her committed because they 'care' about her. This kind of irrational thinking is definitely the product of an unhinged mind. She wants to blame everyone else for her condition; and to blame them for caring about her as well. Family who care about her, Dr.s who try to help her-- in her mind they are all trying to deprive her of her rights. She clearly doesn't understand the contradiction in her thoughts.

This young woman definitely sounds ill. And she is very, very young. If she wants to be left alone by those who care about her, fine. But if or when she becomes a danger to others, her mental issues would have to be addressed, even against her will. She would no longer have the freedom to be insane. And unfortunately, people with untreated and significant mental illnesss often harm others.

NoClue · #6 07/20/10, 05:13 AM

I live with someone with mental illness, and I hear these kind of rants quite frequently. They're hard to deal with when you actually care about the person in question, and hard to listen to when you don't.

willow_girl · #7 07/20/10, 06:24 AM

Quote:

The following appeared last night on my local Craigslist rants and raves board. I know this is the truth because I have seen it, not her case but the system in general, at work. The fact is, we have no freedoms left in this country.

It's ironic that you say this, because the mentally ill probably have more "freedoms" now than at any other time in American history.

A hundred years ago, she might have been committed to a state hospital and essentially incarcerated for the rest of her life, with little recourse.

suzfromWi · #8 07/20/10, 06:32 AM

I met a young Bi Polar girl. She was so delusional about her life and people around her. Thought everyone was out to get her. I wanted to help her, I could not. She was pregnant and I worried about the baby, Counseling her was a waste of time...She went about her way and I still wonder what happened to her and the baby...She was not capable of running her own life and needed the help this other girl rages against. Sad....

JJ Grandits · #9 07/20/10, 06:58 AM

My question is why are we supposed to "Read it and weep America"? Im sorry this person has mental problems and certainly hope they get the care they need, but how is this a reflection on American society?

Callieslamb · #10 07/20/10, 07:44 AM

My sister is schizophrenic/bi-polar....???? This woman sounds like she needs to be back on her meds. Sorry. Her letter is evidence of her illness. These days NO ONE forces you into a hospital unless you NEED it. She sounds like she is in denial of her problems. Generally, that means on and off meds, which is the worst thing you can do. Bi-polar folks don't always recognize their own symptoms. My sister had to be taught to recognize them and does well now. Sometimes she will call her Dr and say that she thinks she needs to go to the hospital. As her stress levels change, her meds don't work the same so she goes in to have them adjusted. I had to have her forceably committed once. It was awful. But on meds, she does well and she knows it.

marvella · #11 07/20/10, 08:40 AM

i agree with all.

anyone can post anything on craigslist. it's hardly a comdemnation of america.

**Tiempo** · #12 07/20/10, 08:48 AM

Agree with all too.

What is society to do? Let her go on her not so merry way where goodness knows the havoc she could cause?

Like my severely bi-polar BIL, sentenced this week to 3 years in prison for a bank robbery he committed during a manic phase.

Same BIL also destroyed my husband's cr by using his name and social on admittance to hospital racking up thousands and thousands in med. bills.

Loquisimo · #13 07/20/10, 09:18 AM

I really don't know the specifics of this woman's situation, and I have to say that I don't know if she's a danger to others. I will say, however, that there are many many psychiatrists out there who are subpar, and who hurt more than help. The psychiatric hospitals that still exist are more like fancy prisons, mainly intended to keep suicidal people from killing themselves, although admittedly they're better than say Bedlam.

The fact is that treatment for mental illness is low quality unless you're rich, and for people trapped in low quality mental care, their problems are magnified. I say that unless a person is a danger to others that they should be allowed to live their lives. Unfortunately, the line is very fuzzy.

I've met people who spent their young lives in a revolving door of hospitals, psychs, therapists, all of them poor quality and clueless. The main goal of the system seems to be to keep people in the revolving door, then when they explode blame somebody else. Just think, this is ALL of our futures under ObamaCare. Got an illness? They'll pass you around, put you in the revolving door, and when you die it's somebody else's fault, but hey you're cured.

A good psychiatrist can save lives. However, most psychs are low quality, many have issues themselves, and they can do great harm. Until you've been in the system yourself, or had a family member who has, and been reliant on the so-called "safety net" that has plenty of holes, and been passed around so that your problems are somebody else's fault, you don't understand.

NoClue · #14 07/20/10, 09:43 AM

Mental illness is insidious in that it affects the only mechanism a person has for processing data and the world around them, and it can affect anyone, regardless of how well educated, cared for, or outwardly successful they are. In fact, education and outward success seem to make it more difficult for the person suffering from the illness to accept the fact that their brain simply isn't functioning properly, and if they can't accept this fact, no treatment of any kind is going to be very effective.

Simply having money doesn't change this fact. As I said above, I live with someone suffering from mental illness, and I have top notch health insurance. When she takes her medicine, everything is alright (not perfect, but alright). The big problem though is that she can't actually accept the fact that she has an illness and blames any documentary evidence of her symptoms as the fault of the treatment or on me (for doing things like keeping a record of her behavior).

pancho · #15 07/20/10, 11:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tiempo

Agree with all too.

What is society to do? Let her go on her not so merry way where goodness knows the havoc she could cause?

Like my severely bi-polar BIL, sentenced this week to 3 years in prison for a bank robbery he committed during a manic phase.

Same BIL also destroyed my husband's cr by using his name and social on admittance to hospital racking up thousands and thousands in med. bills.

My sister shot and killed her husband. Bipolar is very serious and can be deadly not only for the one who is bipolar but anyone around them.

naturelover · #16 07/20/10, 12:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Loquisimo

I've met people who spent their young lives in a revolving door of hospitals, psychs, therapists, all of them poor quality and clueless. The main goal of the system seems to be to keep people in the revolving door, then when they explode blame somebody else. Just think, this is ALL of our futures under ObamaCare. Got an illness? They'll pass you around, put you in the revolving door, and when you die it's somebody else's fault, but hey you're cured.

Until you've been in the system yourself, or had a family member who has, and been reliant on the so-called "safety net" that has plenty of holes, and been passed around so that your problems are somebody else's fault, you don't understand.

Loquisimo, the revolving door problems you describe may or may not be so where you live, I wouldn't know about that. Perhaps this has been your experience and the way you view things because you are autistic. I think you need to take your slightly skewed autistic viewpoint into consideration and keep in mind that what you're describing is your lifelong experience and not the fault of your president who has only been in office a little over 2 years. You don't know for a fact that everybody else's futures will be like that.

I think it's making assumptions to say that unless people here have been in the system themselves that they won't understand. I'm betting that nearly everybody on this board knows a good friend or has a close family member or relative they care about who has some kind of mental illness issues, and that they would understand the system better than you think. I suspect many of them are happy that there is some kind of system in place to help them to help and care for their loved ones who suffer from mental illness.

Psychiatrists and psychologists are not gods, they are only humans and I think most of them are doing the best they can to help people with poorly understood mental illnesses. There is no real cure for most mental illnesses.

.

plowjockey · #17 07/20/10, 07:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Loquisimo

Suicide? I want to.

But its not fair that my friends and family should feel I wronged myself and them in some way in doing so. Some people were just created softer than others. weaker. less able to adapt.
WHAT REALLY GETS ME IS THAT I CAN'T EVEN SEND THIS TO THE PEOPLE IT NEEDS TO GO TO. THEY WOULD HAVE ME COMMITTED. BECAUSE THEY "CARE"

Maybe she should shut her yap and pull the trigger, already.

Frankly I'm starting to get sick of these kinds of people. They claim they are "mentally i'll", but in reality they are simply self-absorbed, craving endless attention and will stop a nothing (except suicide) to get it.

The Doctors want to help make her "better", but instead of "being fixed" she would much rather continue to be a burden to everyone around her.

Bu Bye.

palani · #18 07/20/10, 07:38 PM

Welcome to Hot'l California ... you can check out any time you like but you can NEVER leave.

Loquisimo · #19 07/20/10, 07:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by plowjockey

Maybe she should shut her yap and pull the trigger, already.

Frankly I'm starting to get sick of these kinds of people. They claim they are "mentally i'll", but in reality they are simply self-absorbed, craving endless attention and will stop a nothing (except suicide) to get it.

The Doctors want to help make her "better", but instead of "being fixed" she would much rather continue to be a burden to everyone around her.

Bu Bye.

Exactly. Instead of "fixing" these people against their will, we should allow them to fend for themselves. You don't want meds? Fine, no govt bennies for YOU, you get to find a job alongside the other unemployed, you have to fend for yourself. We need to stop handing out "fixes" to everybody, even people who don't want a fix, and let them handle it themselves. Many of these people are ultimately just divas without bank accounts. Time to adjust that attitude, kid.

The "fixes" most people can afford are half-assed at best, and at worst they become charity cases, with county mental health personnel called out all the time to stop them from imploding. Sacramento County eliminated county mental health. There's a recent story in the Bee (sacbee.com) about a woman named Feather who had relied upon the county to save her from herself. When that went away, she called the cops instead, was tased, and hauled off to jail.

We can't afford to save divas from themselves any longer, whether they be Hollywood ( http://www.sacbee.com/2010/07/20/290...-court-to.html ,Lindsay Lohan serves jail time for cocaine) or Main Street. I suggested that a jail in Lynwood, CA, would be way safer than the streets of that city, and that if she REALLY wants to be left alone, we drop her off at the corner of Rosecrans and Atlantic and let her make her way home. If she gets there in one piece, the charges are dropped. We need to call in Darwin here, since he's been banished for too long.

TheMartianChick · #20 07/21/10, 08:32 AM

The problem with mental illness is that is really has only been studied for about the last hundred years. The study of psychiatry is still in its infancy and modern psychiatrists are almost witch doctors in their field because there is so much that hasn't been discovered yet.

That being said... People with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, are lacking the ability to produce certain chemicals. In essence, they are as dependent upon their meds as a Type 1 diabetic is on insulin. The problem is that their meds have side effects and they don't like to stay on them. Every person that I have every talked to with bipolar disorder says that the meds make them feel as though they aren't participating in life and that they are merely spectators. This seems really sad to me. This is one of the reasons why they stop taking their meds. It is a sad truth but what are we to do about the situation?