It is a travesty there are more mentally ill in prisons than in hospitals. Part of that is there are few state hospitals and often the money disappeared. It, often, did not go for the necessary community services to provide the support some people needed. In fact, the budget for service for the mentally ill already bare bone keeps getting trimmed. What ever happened to the idea we are our brothers’ keeper. Now the jails are being forced to treat the mentally ill. And they want to use as little money as possible, use the cheapest drugs when other new ones would be more appropriate. If you are manic they force you to take Thorazine for it is a cheap but is an outmoded treatment. If you are a prisoner and happen to be mentally ill you have no civil rights or say about the matter. It is really disgusting and inhumane.
Tags: civil rights, community services, jails, medications, mental illness, our brothers' keeper, prisons, state hospitals, the mentally ill in prison, Thorazine
Posted in knowledge&learning, life, mental health, money, politics, time |
What I remember about Greystone (going back forty years) is the locked doors. Each one led to another dismal ward. Of course, I did not have any of the keys. I had no freedom. Everything was taken away from me. I was told when to get up, when to eat and what medications I had to take. In those days when you were in a manic state they always pumped you up with Thorazine, which was a real “downer”. It felt like punishment. It was not even my fault. Almost all the drugs to treat bipolar disorder now did not exist then. I remember very well having almost all my civil rights taken away from me. There was not even a phone on the ward. I needed special permission to go downstairs and make a call. I was treated like a prisoner. Those were some of the memories I had of my hospitalization.
Tags: 40 years ago, bipolar disorder, civil rights, dismal ward, Greystone, locked doors, manic state, manic-depression, medications, no freedom, no keys, no telephone, prisoner, psychiatric hospital, psychiatric institution, Thorazine
Posted in life, mental health, time |
The worst diagnosis I ever received was being considered mentally ill. I had to fight for decades for my sanity. I doubted my own mind. I did not trust me. And that is devastating when you do not even trust your own mind. I had to understand me and also be able to rely on me. The stigma my parents felt when I started breaking down became internalized. I hated me every time I end up in a hospital or psychiatric ward. The treatment I received was, also, devastating. I was no longer treated as a citizen with all the rights due me. I became a second class citizen with no civil rights. They were all taken away from me because I broke down in a way society frowned upon. It was not my fault. Some people become drug addicts. Some become alcoholics. I was punished by the system because I was manic-depressive. They would shoot me full of Thorazine to stamp out the mania which was not my fault. I was stigmatized for being mentally ill. I read everything I could to understand me and how to find a way I could exist in this society. I do take medication now for my condition but all I do is take some pills in the morning and then evening and then forget about it. I know who I am and like who I am. I have learned to reach out to others. I do not want others to go through the hell I did. If reading this blog makes it a little easier for you on your journey I will be happy. This is part 1 of this discussion.
Tags: hospital, mania, manic-depressive, mental illness, mentally ill, my parents, no civil rights, no longer treated as a citizen, psychiatric medications, psychiatric ward, reach out to others, stigma, Thorazine, trust your own mind
Posted in balance, knowledge&learning, life, mental health, relationships, time, wisdom |
