Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent

Reviewing a biography of Beaumarchais, David A Bell, dean of the humanities faculty at Johns Hopkins University, has the following to say:

Beaumarchais was a manic character, of the sort who would now be diagnosed at a young age with Attention Deficit Disorder or something similar, and placed on medication designed to ensure a long [...]

The right to die

This is a re-posting of a comment I left a little while ago over at Mental Nurse.  The post I was commenting on was discussing the sad case of Kerrie Wooltorton, a woman who had made use of a so-called ‘living will’ to ask doctors not to save her life following a suicide attempt.

A life at least bearable

In 1934 Samuel Beckett wrote to his cousin about the coming of spring:

I think of it as a victory over darkness, nightmares, sweats, panic and madness, and of the crocuses and daffodils as the promise of a life at least bearable, once enjoyed but in a past so remote that all trace, even remembrance of [...]

It’s ok, I can do this

Right, well, it’s dawned on me that I was somewhat ungracious in my reaction to your comments on my last post.  (In other words, I was a prick.)  Apologies if you were caught up in the middle of it.  (In other words, I’m sorry I was a prick.)  The thing is, I was on my [...]

I HATE being depressed

I mean I really, really, really, really, really, really, REALLY hate it.
Sorry.  Sometimes you just have to get things off your chest.
It’s weird.  I often think in terms of being debilitated by anxiety, and I am.  I could have spent the weekend just gone elsewhere doing different things with actual, real-life people, and it was [...]

What causes mental illness: a follow-up post

My last post received several interesting comments, which, as always, I’m extremely grateful for.  It really is a wonder to me that there are people who are interested or bothered enough to reply to something I’ve written.  As always, I tried to have a bit of a discussion with the people who had commented, but [...]

What causes mental illness?

There’s a long and dishonourable tradition of blaming the mentally ill for their own illness.  For a long time, people thought the mentally ill were possessed by evil spirits or demons.  Here, for example, is the description of a man who was ‘exorcised’ by Jesus:

And when he [Jesus] was come out of the ship, immediately [...]

Hello blog

…actually, when I say hello blog, I mean hello shadowy but friendly people who live in the internet and show up as numbers on my stats screen and as nice comments at the bottom of my posts…
What an odd way to start.
Apologies for the gap in posts.  I am continuing to put one foot in [...]

I’ve been trying to think

I’ve been trying to think of a reason to live.
Not in a ‘farewell, cruel world’ kind of way.  I’ve known for a long time now that I’m too much of a coward to take my own life, no matter how tempting it may be.  There’s no danger of a suicide here.  I have to live [...]

Yesterday

Yesterday, I cried in the street.