Happy Halloween from Anna Rexia

I love Halloween. I love the joy of thinking of a great costume six months in advance, I love seeing people who are bona fide adults out in public wearing totally bizarre getups, and I love candy. I especially love creative costumes, but this year I broke down and bought a costume off the internet. And that's when I stumbled across this jewel!

This is not creative. This is not hilarious. This won't win a costume contest.

This is the "Sexy Anna Rexia" costume, complete with TAPE MEASURE belt and choker, from http://www.foxyladyboutique.com/d4503annarexia-costume.html?productid=d4503annarexia-costume&channelid=FROOG.

I don't know anyone who would wear this, but apparently enough people to make the small and medium sell out. If you see anyone wearing this tonight, try to find out know why they chose it--I'm interested.

I hope everyone has a safe and happy Halloween...

Behold, the Power of YouTube

I just saw CNN link to this story--apparently a man in Orlando posted his last will and testament on YouTube before taking a large quantity of pills, and someone in NY saw the video in time and was able to call the police in Florida. The police were able to locate the man, who was unresponsive, and he's now in the hospital.

Dear New Yorker, whoever and wherever you are, thank you.

http://www.local6.com/news/14471080/detail.html

Eat, Pray, Love

I am reading this amazing book right now by Elizabeth Gilbert called "Eat, Pray, Love" about woman who travels for a year after a difficult and messy divorce. She spends four months in Italy, four months in Indonesia, and four months in India. Early in the book, she has a moment when she is sitting in the park and her familiar and hated companions, Depression and Lonliness, in the form of two pushy police detectives overtake her. They question her, they follow her back to her apartment, they won't leave her be.

I loved the idea of these two old companions in the form of two hated, overbearing policemen that a person cannot shake--they will follow you even to the most exotic destinations. They will overtake you in your most private and even happy moments. "Why do you deserve to be happy?" they sometimes ask. "Look at the people you've hurt, the things you've messed up."

I imagine most of us have had this dialogue with ourselves and far be it for me to advise anyone on how to make those voices stop. But reading Gilbert's words today really spoke to me. And then I realized why: just knowing that other people face those voices too makes the ones in my own head a little diminished.

Baz Alert

Help Congress Override the President's Veto!
October 10, 2007 Congress is poised for an October 18 vote to override the President's October 3 veto of the compromise bill to renew and expand SCHIP the program of health care for low-income children. H.R. 976, the Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act, would authorize $35 billion over five years to provide healthcare coverage to roughly 10 million children, about 4 million more than covered over the past 10 years. (See the Bazelon Center's August 6 Mental Health Policy Reporter)
Renewal would improve mental health coverage.
The legislation would for the first time establish parity for mental health benefits in SCHIP plans by prohibiting discriminatory financial requirements or treatment limitations.
It eliminates the provision in SCHIP that allows states electing to develop benchmark-equivalent plans to lower the amount of mental health coverage to 75 percent of the coverage provided in the benchmark plans.
It includes a six month moratorium that temporarily halts the Administration's efforts to limit reimbursement for services under Medicaid's rehabilitative services option and for school -based administration or transportation costs. These are outlined in the President's fiscal year 2008 budget proposal (see our February 22 Policy Reporter) and proposed regulations released by the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services (see our August 20 Action Alert). The Medicaid rehabilitative services option is critical to community-based mental health services for children and adults.
More House votes needed to override the veto.
The Senate passed the bill by a veto-proof majority (67-29). But while the House passed the bill by 265-159, that is not enough to override the President's veto. To realize the victories won in this compromise legislation, 289 House votes are needed.
Please Act Now!
If your Representative is on the following list, call today and urge him or her to vote YES for health insurance for children in low-income working families. And if you know people in those states, forward this email and ask your friends and colleagues who are constituents to make the call.

Use the toll-free number 1 800-828-0498 set up by Families USA to access the Capitol switchboard, which will connected you to your Representative's office.

Target List of Representatives
AL Robert Aderholt
AR John Boozman
CA Brian Bilbray
CA John Doolittle
CO Marilyn Musgrave
FL Gus Bilirakis
FL Ginny Brown-Waite
FL Tom Feeney
FL Rick Keller
IL Judy Biggert
IL Tim Johnson
IL Peter Roskam
IL Jerry Weller
LA Rodney Alexander
MI Joseph Knollenberg
MI Thaddeus McCotter
MI Tim Walberg
MN Michelle Bachman
MO Sam Graves
NJ Rodney Frelinghuysen
NJ Scott Garrett
NJ Jim Saxton
NY Randy Kuhl
OH Steve Chabot
OR Greg Walden
PA John Peterson
TX Kay Granger
VA Thelma Drake
VA Randy Forbes

Republicans Who Didn't Vote
CA Wally Herger
WY Barbara Cubin

Luxury Rehab, Part Two

Here's a fascinating link to an LA Times story about a cluster of pricey rehabs in Malibu--so f'ed up--they get away with some pretty shady stuff--and seem to prey on families when they are at their most vulnerable.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-rehab9oct09,0,5556868,full.story?coll=la-home-local

And here's a description I got from one of the rehab Passages' web site; the pic above is from there as well:

"Framed between the rugged Santa Monica mountains to the rear and a beautiful view overlooking the Pacific Ocean, Passages' three acre grounds are the perfect place to heal. From the babbling koi pond to the exquisitely manicured lawns, Passages offers an ideal setting for working with the lives of people who come to us from situations and life conditions that are anything but ideal."

Makes me want to go to rehab. Not!

The struggle goes on

I've been struggling this weekend. The sort of sadness that you recognize as having the potential to lead to something deeper. Mornings where I'd rather stay in bed then get up. Afternoons where I want to watch movies instead of going out. The desire to lose myself in sad music. I think a lot of us have been there.

It's a three day weekend for me, so I can afford to lose myself a little--but only a little. I can't let that sense of exhaustion overurle me because tomorrow morning, I know I will have to get up when my alarm goes off and use whatever core of strength I've got to propel myself to my front door, out into the world, to work. And I know how much energy it will seem to take to do it, but I know I will do it anyway.

I find myself in awe of you who I know struggle sometimes like I do and work for yourselves. If you didn't leave your apt, there'd be no one to answer to. And yet, Lizzie, Ross, Anastasia, Alison, you keep working everyday, for yourselves, rolling the ball forward up the hill. I admire all of your strength.

Go Massachusetts

I'm hoping this is a victory for accountability:

From the Boston Globe:

"Following the death of a 4-year-old Hull girl from an overdose of psychiatric drugs last December, state officials have set up a unique early-warning system to spot preschoolers who may be getting excessive medication for mental illness. In just the first three months, the system has flagged the cases of at least 35 children for further investigation, and the number is sure to rise.

The state Medicaid program is analyzing records of 82,900 children under age 5, looking for those taking at least three psychiatric drugs or a single prescription of a powerful antipsychotic drug. Mental health professionals will review the care of these children and, if necessary, contact the prescribing doctor for an explanation, say officials of the state insurance program for lower-income families, known as MassHealth."

Read the rest of the Article here:
http://www.boston.com/yourlife/health/articles/2007/10/07/mass_tracks_children_on_psychiatric_drugs/?page=full

Hurts So Good

I’ve just been asked if I’m available for abuse over the weekend. I have a roommate in New York City. Let’s call her Maria. I call her the Queen of the Gypsies because she’s traveled all over the world and never keeps an address longer than a year. She’s a filmmaker, art dealer, human rights activist and clothing designer. She knows a lot of people. Apparently she knows a Nice Guy who’s a masochist with a foot fetish and would like to come over and clean. The entire loft. For free. How does she know him?

“I used to be in the S&M scene, you know…”

"What exactly does that mean, he wants to clean the place for free?"

“Organize the closets, dishes, anything you want.’ Her arms are flapping, Martha Graham-style as she moves through the apartment. “All you gotta do is yell at him.”

"About what?"

"About anything."

"Like what?"

"Think of something. And he's AMAZING at TOILETS."

This guy's called Pony Boy she’s Mistress Jade. They've known each other for five years, never using real names, and they’ve never had sex. This is, unbelievably, not uncommon. Foot fetishists are rarely looking for sex. Some might say they’re looking for something more intimate: an assault to their sense of self-worth.

I’m skiddish, of course. if I have a problem with it, she says, she’ll invite him when I’m not here. I do have a problem with it, I'm repulsed. I'm also repulsed by Frank Lentini, the man with three legs and two penises. This fact doesn’t stop me from staring at his picture every time I get the chance, of course. After a few minutes I agree.

“Good. You have to come up with a name. Mistress Something.

“He’s not going to touch me or anything, right?”

“Oh, no. Never. Just tell him he’s a worthless piece of sh** and he might ask to suck your toes. But you don’t have to let him.”

You wonder who on earth wants to be told that they’re worthless, much less travel all the way across town for the pleasure. A relationship of this kind has to be organized and planned. Not exactly like stumbling home with someone after a party. I wonder if I’m going to participate – however peripherally – in a psychotic event. I wonder if, instead of barking insults, I should ask Pony Boy how much sleep he’s been getting lately. Appetite shift. If he’s had or is having suicidal ideation.

Being depressed for me is like having a thousand Mistress Jades in my head. They hog-tie my thoughts. They collapse my body into a motionless mass. They tread their spike-heeled boots over my life force. But what would happen if these voices were attatched to real bodies? Is this really worth thinking about? I just want a clean apartment and a toilet scrubbed with bleach. Still, I can't help but wonder: is this man trying to fetishize his demons and thereby conquer them? Or is it simply a sexual lifestyle choice? Like being gay? Actual clinicians submit this argument. Others contend that it’s a psychological disorder. Is depression a masochistic disorder? What do you think?

Also: any ideas for a mistress name?

Revenge Plastic Surgery?

I was standing in my local supermarket waiting to check out and as usual I was perusing the tabloids. Tucked behind the typical Brangelina, Britney, and whoever is on Cosmo’s cover this month was a headline on US Weekly that really caught my eye and turned my stomach. The title is “Revenge Plastic Surgery.” It shows a smiling Heidi Montag star of reality show? The Hills. I say reality show? because I don’t know who’s reality that is. Anyway Miss Montag gave an exclusive interview to US in which she tells the magazine she was tired of being made fun of for being flat chested so she got revenge by not only investing in some fake breasts, but also some rhinoplasty. She didn’t mention anyone making fun of her nose, so that may have been an add on and not revenge. US was kind enough to show the before and after here. Interesting pictures for a 20 year old, who is now 21.

You will notice the poll on the page asks people which they liked better and I was so happy to see a definitive 82% liked her body before the surgery. As a male I am not going to go into the confidence issues and difficulty of having smaller breasts in today’s world. I know women with fake breasts which they got for a variety of reasons, but none of them were revenge. Revenge seems like a really bad motive for what is in essence mutilating your body. It scares me how normalized mutilating your body has become. The other scary thing is the rhinoplasty because her face isn’t finished maturing and changing. Ashlee Simpson did the same thing at the ripe age of 20 and again you don’t know how your body will change. Granted in Heidi’s case her breasts may have been finished developing for now, but there’s a lot of changes left in a woman’s life like I don’t know pregnancy. And a quick google search turned up that Heidi wasn’t too ashamed of her body to pose for Stuff Magazine before the plastic surgery. Even saying in the article she loves looking sexy. Apparently she also said she feels really insecure in the US article and was willing to risk her life for these changes.

SO I don’t know all that goes into the plastic surgery decision, but I do know it’s not the best thing for role models of the tweener girls and teenage girls to be doing. And let’s be honest women from their 20’s-40’s who are obsessed with the Hills as well. SO I guess it’s good on one hand to see how many people don’t like this, but sad that people in the public eye feel compelled to do this.

Mental Illness and Love: Part Two

Some Thoughts on How Untreated Mental Illness (Depression, Anxiety, Trauma, Mania) Messes with Love:
1. Mental Illness is pain and pain makes you seek pain relief above all, when in healthy relationships, you need to be able to seek love above all.
2. Mental Illness is internally pre-occupying, when in healthy relationships you need to not be self-absorbed.
3. Mental Illness distorts self-perception. Mental Illness distorts perception of others. In healthy relationships you need a fair perception of self and others.
4. Mental Illness interferes in one’s capacity for relaxation, which is necessary for healthy intimacy.
5. Mental Illness, in early childhood development, may interrupt a child’s ability to feel safe and loved.

Thoughts?

My Mets and Mental Health?

Some of you may be reading the title of this blog and thinking what do the New York Mets have to do with mental health. That is exactly what I was asking myself this morning when I saw a little title on CNN that says, "Mental Help for Mets Fans." Not only is this a story, but it's also in Time Magazine. I don't know if my book will ever be in Time, but alas my message and my favorite baseball team is.

I guess I should start at the beginning. As a youngster growing up in northeast Pennsylvania I had choices for my favorites teams. We lived an hour from Philadelphia and an hour and a half from New York City. So in a lot of cases favorite teams are divided. My dad really doesn't have any favorite teams so I wasn't bred to like any team over another. At the ripe old age of 8 I started to watch baseball on TV and low and behold that year the New York Mets won the World Series. As an 8 year old this was amazing to me! I was so elated that surely the Mets had to be my favorite team for the rest of my life. I bought all of the paraphernalia. I begged my parents to take me to spring training games when we were on vacation in Florida. I went to see them play in different cities. I have even stuck with them through some terrible years since I was 8. Granted I am no different from other sports fans, especially my Philadelphia Phillie fan friends who are definitely tougher than me, because they used to choke worse than anyone, until this year at least. For those of you who don't follow sports the Mets just had the worst collapse in major league baseball history, which brings me back to the point of this blog!

A fellow Mets fan wrote this article for Time. In it he interviewed about 5 or 6 psychologists to find out what fans can do to deal with the Met's downfall. There is actually some really good advice in there. And I know a lot of times people don't get why sports affects other people so much and this has been studied endlessly. For me I think it's a mixture of things. You follow a team for 162 days and it becomes a routine in your life, once that routine ends you can be lost as to what to do. For others they may project everything that is going wrong in their lives into the hope of having their favorite team succeed. As someone who worked at a Circuit City Distribution Center near Philadelphia I watched this in a lot of Eagles fans. SO when the team loses you're forced to go back to your life and if that sucks, well then you need another distraction. Also let us not forget that nationalistic pride in one's country also translates into individual sports teams. And if you don't think nationalism is dangerous may I remind you of World Wars 1 and 2 and just about every other war. SO what can people do. Well the article says to definitely feel the loss and make sure you talk about how much it affects you. If you don't it can come out in other ways, like drinking etc. It also says to start following other sports to take up a new routine and get your mind off how terrible the Mets finished the season. Another coping strategy that is suggested is to look at how competitive the field was and how maybe the Mets were beat out by better teams. (which is a total lie, but we'll let it slide) The article recommends remembering it is just the end of the season and not the end of the world. And lastly the article promotes a sense of community saying I am not alone in my misery. There are other Mets fans to cry with!

Overall this is a great example of how we can tie mental health into an area that isn't often directly associated with it. I mean talk about promoting cognitive behavioral therapy! The advice given for dealing with the Mets loss can be used in everyday life. Talk about your pain. Find healthy ways to deal with it and know that you're not alone. Remember any loss is not the end of the world. If more people opened up about all of their emotions on a regular basis, not just sports, then maybe it wouldn't be so hard to deal with your favorite sports team's failures! As for my Mets there's always next year!

when protective laws hurt people??

I know I'm double-blogging but there is another story I'd like to share. Last week I did a hearing with a boy (teenager) accused of breaking a school rule who was facing two months expulsion. He prepared a bunch of material about how the expulsion would harm himself, his mom, his family, his grades, his chances at colllege. . . .etc. I prepared material on how the expulsion was unlawful because the conduct was "disability-related." Only problem was, this smart guy pulled me out of the hearing and explained to me during a break that he didn't really feel good about the words I was saying -- that he didn't like how it felt to argue that his disability had caused his actions, and that he'd prefer that we just stick to the strategy of trying to convince school personnel and their lawyer that the expulsion was too severe. I explained to him that I needed to make the argument because, in my experience, the "too severe" argument would get us nowhere -- there was no liability there, and the lawyer would be moved only by my "disability-related" legal argument. I got permission from him to make the argument, we won at hearing, and I went home feeling like crap. This kid -- really, a man -- had articulated something really important about accountability. The law had no room for it.

are we really talking cancer or diabetes?

Last night (watching Tony Soprano on DVD) I again was reminded of that "treat us like we have cancer or diabetes" thing that has always bugged me. A mother on the show has a son with ADHD and she tells hubby and friend that medications are OK because, certainly, she'd give him medicine if he had been diabetic. This analogy about medication for mental health conditions really bothers me because having a mental health issue is probably nothing like having a physical ailment. I guess it most bothers me because most people with mental health "histories" do not really discuss their experiences "with" mental illness -- as if they were a person with a mind separate from and completely apart from a disease -- isn't it far more personal than that? Isn't there personality and aren't there all the issues with explaning behavior and being accountable and being proud about progress, etc., etc., and doesn't this claim that "it's just like cancer" really get in the way of that? What do you guys think?

Soldiers get boot for 'pre-existing' mental illness

Many soldiers get boot for 'pre-existing' mental illness
By Philip Dine
POST-DISPATCH WASHINGTON BUREAU
09/30/2007

WASHINGTON — Thousands of U.S. soldiers in Iraq — as many as 10 a day — are being discharged by the military for mental health reasons. But the Pentagon isn't blaming the war. It says the soldiers had "pre-existing" conditions that disqualify them for treatment by the government.

Many soldiers and Marines being discharged on this basis actually suffer from combat-related problems, experts say. But by classifying them as having a condition unrelated to the war, the Defense Department is able to quickly get rid of troops having trouble doing their work while also saving the expense of caring for them.

The result appears to be that many actually suffering from combat-related problems such as post-traumatic stress disorder or traumatic brain injuries don't get the help they need.

Link to the story:
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/washington/story/B8F5491DEDE1CF2C8625736500190F67?OpenDocument

Anti-Anorexia Billboard Creates Controversy

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An anti-anorexia billboard in Milan featuring a naked woman with anorexia, French actress Isabelle Caro, has created quite a stir. The ad campaign coincided with fashion week and was supposed to display, as stated by the photographer, how scary being too skinny can look. He also states that this is how most of the models today would look without any clothes. While some may say that the intentions are noble, others comment on the fact that this campaign is still, in fact, an advertisement.

In my opinion, the ad would have been more effective if it was a photograph of a woman of healthy weight being presented as desirable, sexy, and the ideal, so that we as a society become more accustomed to this as the standard of beauty rather than an emaciated young woman. Of course, my idea would most likely not create nearly as much controversy. But is controversy necessary in order to get a message across? Would an ad featuring a model of "normal" weight be a less effective tool in getting the message of how the media and fashion world create an unreasonable ideal of beauty?

Thoughts? Comments?

Got an Old Backpack?

Donate it to Active Minds, Inc. and Help Us Send Silence Packing!

Here is a plug for a new campaign Active Minds is running, to represent the incidence and impact of college student suicide. Every backpack we collect will represent a college student who has died by suicide in the past year. Unfortunately, many of us know at least one such tragedy - please donate in honor of anyone you know, or all who you hope never get to that stage.

_____

Suicide claims the life of over 1,100 college students each year*, and the impact of each one of those deaths touches us all. Active Minds, Inc., the only national organization dedicated to utilizing the student voice to raise mental health awareness on the college campus, is embarking on an aggressive campaign to promote a dialogue about mental health issues on campus and combat the incidence of student suicide. By empowering students and the student voice in mental health awareness, we envision one day when mental health issues are widely discussed, and the number of these tragic deaths is reduced to 0.

To demonstrate the crisis of college student suicide, we are looking to collect 1,100 backpacks/messenger bags/book bags this fall to be publicly displayed to represent all of those promising lives lost each year. If you have a plain backpack that you would like to contribute to this campaign, please send it to**:

Send Silence Packing
Active Minds, Inc.
1875 Connecticut Ave, NW Suite 418
Washington, DC 20009

If you would like to donate a backpack in memory or in honor of a loved one and would like to attach a name/story/picture/etc. to the bag, please laminate your message and attach it securely to the outside of the bag. Please do not put your message inside the bag, as it will not be seen. If you don’t have a backpack but would like to contribute to the Campaign and the work of Active Minds, please send donations to Active Minds, Inc. at the address above, or donate online.

The first presentation of the Send Silence Packing Campaign will be on Friday, October 26, 2007 on the National Mall in Washington, DC. A special gathering with guest speaker Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-RI) will occur between 12:30-2pm at 13th and Jefferson Streets, NW, as part of the Fourth National Mental Health on Campus Conference.

**Please note – due to the nature of this exhibit, your backpack will not be returned to you. However, if you include your email address in your correspondence, we will be sure to keep you informed of where and when the backpacks will be displayed.

*National Mental Health Association & The Jed Foundation. (2002). Safeguarding your students against suicide: Expanding the safety network. Alexandria, VA.

Click here for PDF of this document