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Tag: mental health

  • Bird Box Movie You Are Missing The Point

    ***WARNING (Bird Box Spoilers)

    Y’all are totally missing the underlying message of this film!

    The monster makes you commit suicide and hear voices. Notice that people labeled as “mentally ill” are immune to the monster and they want everyone else to see it. THEY WANT EVERYONE ELSE TO SEE WHAT ITS LIKE TO WANT TO TAKE YOUR OWN LIFE AND HEAR VOICES IN YOUR HEAD. The monster is suicide and mental illness personified. Throughout the film you slowly watch people unravel and fall victim to their own fear, paranoia and violent behavior, all symptoms of mental illness. This forces the audience to ask “Now who’s crazy?”. Without any in-depth information about the “monster”, all the characters are figuratively and literally left blind.

    Why can no one see the “monster”? Because suicide and mental illness don’t have a face. It can affect anybody. In the scene in the kitchen with Sandra Bullock (Malorie), and Trevante Rhodes (Tom), Malorie says something to the effect of “My sister would have never killed herself. She wasn’t like that”. Today we have those instances of people who were clearly exemplifying suicidal tendencies before they took their own lives, but the stigma surrounding suicide and mental illness often causes people to hide those feelings rather than talk about them; we’ve all seen those new stories and interviews were people who were close to a suicide victim say things like “She never seemed like she’d do something like that” or “everything seemed fine”.

    The scene where Danielle’s McDonald’s character (Olympia), asks Malorie to take care of her child if anything happens to her is also very telling. Olympia speaks about feeling like a burden because she was spoiled her whole life and “all that love made [her] soft” while Malorie proclaims she was “raised by wolves”. Both women are PREGNANT, and despite their different backgrounds are at the mercy of the same invisible force. I think this is a commentary on gestational and postpartum depression.

    Almost all of the characters are dealing with grief to some degree, especially Malorie and John Malcovich’s character (Douglas). They both watch their loved ones commit suicide. This shows that suicide doesn’t just affect the victim, but also the people around them.

    In the end we see that the only way for Malorie and her kids to survive is by USING THEIR VOICES.

    Now go rewatch the movie and stop looking at things at face value. That kind of observation is what the film is trying to get you to stop doing. It’s so much deeper than that.

    Credit Carlly Pitson

  • Hashimoto I Can Cause Severe Pain

    Hi 👋 My name is Hashimoto’s 🦋 … I’m an invisible autoimmune disease that attacks your thyroid gland causing you to become hypothyroid … I am now velcroed to you for life …

    Others around you can’t see me or hear me, but YOUR body feels me …

    I can attack you anywhere and any way I please …

    I can cause severe pain or, if I’m in a good mood, I can just cause you to ache all over …

    Remember when you and energy ran around together and had fun …???

    I took energy from you, and gave you exhaustion … Try to have fun now …

    I can take good sleep from you and in its place, give you brain fog and lack of concentration …

    I can make you want to sleep 24/7, and I can also cause insomnia …

    I can make you tremble internally or make you feel cold or hot when everyone else feels normal …

    I can also give you swollen hands and feet, swollen face and eyelids, swollen everything …

    I can make you feel very anxious or very depressed, too. I can also cause other mental health problems …

    I can make your hair fall out, become dry and brittle, cause acne, cause dry skin, the sky is the limit with me …

    I can make you gain weight and no matter what you eat or how much you exercise, I can keep that weight on you. I can also make you lose weight … I don’t discriminate …

    Some of my other autoimmune disease friends often join me, giving you even more to deal with …

    If you have something planned, or are looking forward to a great day, I can take that away from you … You didn’t ask for me … I chose you for various reasons …:

    That virus or viruses you had that you never really recovered from, or that car accident, or maybe it was the years of abuse and trauma (…I thrive on stress …🙂 You may have a family history of me … Whatever the cause, I’m here to stay …

    I hear you’re going to see a doctor to try and get rid of me … That makes me laugh … Just try …You will have to go to many, many doctors until you find one who can help you effectively …

    You will be put on the wrong medication for you, pain pills, sleeping pills, energy pills, told you are suffering from anxiety or depression, given anti-anxiety pills and antidepressants …

    There are so many other ways I can make you sick and miserable, the list is endless – that high cholesterol, gall bladder issue, blood pressure issue, blood sugar issue, heart issue among others? That’s probably me …

    Can’t get pregnant, or have had a miscarriage …???

    That’s probably me too …

    Teeth and gum problems? TMJ …??? I told you the list was endless …

    You may be given a TENs unit, get massaged, told if you just sleep and exercise properly I will go away …

    You’ll be told to think positively, you’ll be poked, prodded, and MOST OF ALL, not taken seriously when you try to explain to the endless number of doctors you’ve seen, just how debilitating I am and how sick you really feel … In all probability you will get a referral from these ‘understanding’ (clueless) doctors, to see a psychiatrist …

    Your family, friends and co-workers will all listen to you until they just get tired of hearing about how I make you feel, and just how debilitating I am …

    Some of them will say things like “Oh, you are just having a bad day” or “Well, remember, you can’t do the things you use to do 20 YEARS ago”, not hearing that you said 20 DAYS ago …

    They’ll also say things like, “if you just get up and move, get outside and do things, you’ll feel better …” They won’t understand that I take away the ‘gas’ that powers your body and mind to ENABLE you to do those things …

    Some will start talking behind your back, they’ll call you a hypochondriac, while you slowly feel that you are losing your dignity trying to make them understand, especially if you are in the middle of a conversation with a “normal” person, and can’t remember what you were going to say next … You’ll be told things like, “Oh, my grandmother had that, and she’s fine on her medication” when you desperately want to explain that I don’t impose myself upon everyone in the exact same way, and just because that grandmother is fine on the medication SHE’S taking, doesn’t mean it will work for you …

    The only place you will get the kind of support and understanding in dealing with me is with other people that have me … They are really the only ones who can truly understand …

    I am Hashimoto’s Disease … 🦋🦋🦋

  • Mum dies alone in cold house – wrapped up in a coat and scarf

    Grieving relatives of a loving mum stated she died alone and cold in her freezing cold house after her benefits were stopped because she was too ill to attend a benefit meeting.

    Elaine Morrall passed away whilst wearing a thick winter coat and a scarf indoors because she couldn’t afford to pay for heating and had switched it off until her children got home from school, her priorities were keeping her children warm and not herself.

    The 38-year-old, who suffered from an eating disorder and mental health problems, was found dead at her home earlier this month.

    In recent days, a fundraising campaign has been launched to raise money for her devastated four children and help ease some of their burden.

    Elaine’s mum, Linda, sent a raging and “brokenhearted” letter to her local councillor in Halton.

    In in an open letter on Facebook, she wrote:

    “How many people have got to die before this government realises they are killing vulnerable people?”

    Her plea has gone viral on social media.

    Linda said: “My daughter lived in Boston Ave. She died on the afternoon of 2 November, 2017 at home on her own. She was 38yrs.

    “In the cold with her coat & scarf on. Because she wouldn’t put her heating on until her kids came home from school. Why?? Because she couldn’t afford it.

    “Because she was severely depressed. Suffered from eating disorder & many other problems for many years.

    “Mainly due to authoritarians of one form or another. I can give you details. Was in & out of hospital in recent months in intensive care.

    “But was deemed not ill enough for ESA [Employment and Support Allowance]. Had her benefits stopped numerous times, which in turn stopped her housing benefit.

    “No income but expected to be able to pay full rent. Was told being in intensive care was not sufficient reason for failing to attend a universal credit interview.

    “I went to the job centre to inform them that she couldn’t attend. But benefits stopped again.

    “Uncaring housing taking her to court. She’s due to go to court on Monday. Is being dead now enough reason? Is that what’s had to happen to prove she was ill?

    “How many people have got to die before this government realises they are killing vulnerable people??

    “What are you and your fellow councillors going to do to protect your constituents?”

    Mum dies alone in cold house - wrapped up in a coat and scarf
    Mum dies alone in cold house – wrapped up in a coat and scarf


    Halton MP Derek Twigg , who is now working with the family, said: “It is a very tragic case and I am providing assistance to my constituent.

    “The family are grieving and request that they are given the privacy, time and space they need at this time.”

    A Department for Work and Pensions spokesman said: “Our thoughts are with Ms Morrall’s family at this difficult time.

    “We understand that people can’t always attend appointments, which is why we will re-arrange alternative times.

    “Assessment decisions are made with consideration of all the information provided, including supporting evidence from a GP or medical specialist.

    “Anyone who disagrees with a decision can appeal.”

    Jonathan Horsfall, Halton Housing Trust debt recovery manager, said: “We always follow strict procedures around arrears.

    “We strive to find solutions with our customers and have intensive support workers who enable us to do so where possible.

    “Our support services are on offer to those who we know are in arrears, and are always reached out to for support.

    “If customers are concerned about arrears we always encourage anyone to get in touch with us as early as possible in the arrears process so we can do all we can to help.”

     

  • Autism And Abuse

    My name is Thomas. It is not my real name. I am using this name as I don’t want my abusers to find me.

    I am 59 years old. My mother abandoned me as a young child and I was put in a foster home and an institution. Both places abused me.

    I was diagnosed autistic aged 4. Autism then was seen as a rare form of schizophrenia and was a mental illness and they tried all they could to normalise me.

    My foster parents abused me telling me my mother should have aborted me. I stimmed (self-stimulatory behaviour),  tippy toed and screamed. They hated that. I couldn’t tolerate being touched, or noise. I was sexually abused from aged 4.

    I was then insitutionalised where physical abuse continued.

    I was forced to go onto strong meds and it did terrible things to my sensitive digestion. Psychiatrists treated me as mentally ill.

    They told me I would never be independant and treated me like a small child. Like many autistics in some ways I can be quite childlike, but I am cognitively intelligent.

    Like many autistics I often related better to objects than people. Again I was ridiculed, especially by psychiatrists. All my life I have had a close attachment to one particular object , and they tried all they could to remove that from me. That object is my Thomas The Tank Engine Ornament.


    They inflicted Lovaas ABA therapy on me.

    They forced me to stop stimming and hit me when I did.


    I love drawing, but if I drew the same picture twice in a week they yelled at me and forced me into more therapy.


    They hated my special interests. They tried to destroy all of them. Many were forced out of me and I still struggle to focus on them again.


    I was punished for lining things up.


    I was severly punished for not giving eye contact. I was kicked, hit and slapped on the face for not doing it. Eye contact was hell for me, and still is


    I did not speak until I was 11. I was punished for not speaking. I was never given other options of communication, as verbal was the only thing they cared about.


    When it ended I was offered therapy. The therapist sexually assulted me.


    Even though the abuse eventually got less, living in assisted care was still very problematic for me. Hearing people in other rooms, fire alarms going off, noises I couldn’t control. My meltdowns were very frequent due to sensory overload and I was scared I would hurt someone, or end up in prison.

    With a lot help from friends we decided I needed to live outside the city and on my own and with nature. Humans scared me, I have difficulty processing facial expressions and so can find it hard to understand what people mean. Animals however, I have a natural liking to. I was exhausted with the therapies and tired of having to adjust life to suit everyone else.

    At last, I found a wonderful therapist who taught me life skills. She let me be me, and listened to my needs. We worked with my special interests to enhance my life skills and worked on my strengths, so I could have the life I wanted and needed.

    I have now been living on my own for 17 years. In the countryside where its quiet. I now take no medication, I stim all I need, I don’t force myself to keep eye contact with people. I am managing my sensory issues with body brushing so I can hug my friends too.


    I have 4 cats who I love dearly.


    I have sensory issues with my hearing, therefore I use industrial strength head phones, that have soft cushions. Strong lights hurts my eyes, so I have dark sunblocking shades. To keep the wind from me outside, I wear a big hat.


    Routine is my life and it stops me getting too distracted. I thrive with routine, and can cope better with needed changes when I stick to these schedules. As long as the change is gradually added to my planner, over time, I can adjust.


    I only go out when I can avoid crowds, perfumes overwhelm me so I avoid any places like this.


    I can enjoy my special interests to my hearts content. I love to do artwork. 

    Occassionally memories of repression can make me feel guilty about having special interests. I love my main object, like a person would love another. My love is so deep. No one can judge me for that now. They tried so hard to humiliate me for it, but they failed. My Thomas the Tank Engine ornament always sits on my chest of drawers.

    I believe strongly that autistic people should be allowed to be themselves. Adjustments and accommodations need to be made. I try to help many families online with this. What is normal anyway? Normal is a setting on the dryer, and my normal is Autism.