Category: z_features

Mental Illness Words You Can’t Say

Posted by Natasha Tracy | Nov 14, 2011

As a writer I take claim to any and all words. They are mine and I do with them as I please. This includes mental illness / mental health terms. However, some people would argue that as a mental health writer and advocate, it is my responsibility to promote certain language and verbiage.

I did not agree to that.

I agreed to be a writer. I agreed to be opinionated. I agreed to be passionate. I agreed to be well-researched. I agreed to be intelligent. I did not agree to push a political agenda.

Mental Illness Words You Can’t Say

Nevertheless, people still insist that I not use the following words / phrases:

Whackjob
Nutjob
Nutbar
Crazy
Bonkers
Off his rocker
Mentally unstable
“The mentally ill”
Bipolars
“I’m bipolar”

And about a million other things. The politically correct people have told me I’m not allowed to refer to anyone’s mental capacity in anything but the most politically correct way. Which is, in case you were wondering, a person with a mental illness or a person with bipolar disorder, etc.

Again, not to flog a horse that happens to be dead, but I have poetic license which means I get to do whatever I want with words.

The Daily Athenaeum Response Regarding the Depression Article

Posted by Natasha Tracy | Nov 10, 2011

Last night I received a response from John Terry, the managing editor at The Daily Athenaeum. While I am rather disappointed to its content as it seems to have missed my points, I do appreciate someone from the paper taking the time to answer my email.

Objection to the Depression Article and Abusive Comments

Depression Article Response

One of the points John makes is that they cut off comments because the comments became “abusive, attacking.” While I don’t agree, the comments seem pretty tame to me, I will say that I do agree with his point that it isn’t acceptable to abuse or attack the author of the article or other commenters. In my opinion, the issue with The Daily Athenaeum’s piece has more to do with editorial permission to publish and less to do with the individual author. Any one person can be ignorant and uninformed but that’s when it’s up to the editor to step up and make sure that such content does not get published.

Moreover, my objection is around the content and the effect it has on others. This takes precedence over even editoral judgement. That multiple people that such stigmatizing and minimizing remarks were acceptable to print at all is the problem, not the individuals, per se.

Letters to the West Virginia University Regarding Depression Article Feedback

Posted by Natasha Tracy | Nov 8, 2011

The following is a copy of the two letters I have sent to the West Virginia University (see why I’m fighting their stigma here). I have yet to receive a reply. You are welcome to copy and paste any parts that you like and send them yourself. The most voices the better.

Send Your Email to the Newspaper and Other University Staff

I sent this letter to everyone at the paper as well as psychology and journalism heads at the school:

To: ‘DAnewsroom@mail.wvu.edu’; ‘DAPerspectives@mail.wvu.edu’; ‘Alan.Waters@mail.wvu.edu’; ‘Tracy.Morris@mail.wvu.edu’; ‘Kevin.Larkin@mail.wvu.edu’; ‘William.Fremouw@mail.wvu.edu’; ‘Maryanne.Reed@mail.wvu.edu’; ‘Diana.Martinelli@mail.wvu.edu’; ‘CHERUKURI@huffingtonpost.com’; ‘Danielle.Faipler@mail.wvu.edu’

CC: ‘velasconyc@yahoo.com’; ‘DASports@mail.wvu.edu’; ‘DAA&E@mail.wvu.edu’; ‘Erin.Fitzwilliams@mail.wvu.edu’; ‘John.Terry@mail.wvu.edu’; ‘Alex.Koscevic@mail.wvu.edu’; ‘Mackenzie.Mays@mail.wvu.edu’; ‘Lydia.Nuzum@mail.wvu.edu’; ‘James.Carvelli@mail.wvu.edu’; ‘Ben.Gaughan@mail.wvu.edu’; ‘Berry@mail.wvu.edu’; ‘Jeremiah.Yates@mail.wvu.edu’; ‘Jakob.Potts@mail.wvu.edu’; ‘Charles.Young@mail.wvu.edu’; ‘DACalendar@mail.wvu.edu’; ‘Matthew.Sunday@mail.wvu.edu’; ‘DA-Editor@mail.wvu.edu’; ‘BoFisher@mail.wvu.edu’; ‘Kyle.Hess@mail.wvu.edu’; ‘Alan.Waters@mail.wvu.edu’; ‘Pam.Dodson@mail.wvu.edu’; ‘chris.mcelroy@mail.wvu.edu’; ‘Jami.Christopher@mail.wvu.edu’; ‘roy.batesr@mail.wvu.edu’; ‘danewsroom@mail.wvu.edu’

To the Editors and Management of the Daily Athenaeum as well as the psychology and journalism professionals at West Virginia University,

After a lack of response regarding my prior feedback on the Depression can be treated through lifestyle changes article, I’m forced to again express my extreme disappointment in the handling of this situation.

I would like to encourage the editorial team to take this as an opportunity not only to acknowledge the questionable reporting, but also to help remove stigma from the mental health community. I strongly ask for:

A retraction and correction of the published piece posted online, on Facebook and Twitte
A series of education-focused articles on the mental health services available for WVU students and mental illness stigma
A guest column on mental illness to be published (I would be happy to contribute this)

I am asking for professional journalism behavior as are the hundreds of other people who have read my articles on this subject. I look forward to your reply.

Natasha Tracy

Mental Health Advocate and Writer

https://natashatracy.com

Disallowing Depression Misconceptions – Newspaper Response

Posted by Natasha Tracy | Nov 6, 2011

Last week many people read my article Disallowing Depression Misconceptions containing critical remarks about a piece in West Virginia University’s school paper, The Daily Athenaeum. The piece was entitled Depression can be treated through lifestyle changes and suggested, among other inaccuracies, that all people needed to help depression was, “a walk in the park.”

I found Depression can be treated through lifestyle changes to be stigmatizing and just plain inaccurate and I said so both here at the Bipolar Burble and in the comments on The Daily Athenaeum’s website as well. I’m pleased to say many of my readers also stopped by to express rather notable disapproval of the article.

The Daily Athenaeum’s Response to Criticism

And so what did The Daily Athenaeum do?

They removed all comments from the piece and disallowed new ones.

Why Aren’t Lifestyle Changes Frontline Treatment for Depression?

Posted by Natasha Tracy | Nov 3, 2011

Many people complain about overmedication. They lament that the first thing doctors do is prescribe a medication for depression or another mental illness rather than suggest lifestyle changes like exercise and meditation.

This is often true. Doctors, including psychiatrists, often prescribe medication over suggesting lifestyle changes when a mental illness like depression is diagnosed.

And that’s a completely reasonable thing to do.

Is There a Cure for Bipolar Disorder, Mental Illness?

Posted by Natasha Tracy | Nov 2, 2011

In the world of mental illness we talk about “response” and “remission” and not cure for mental illness. The reason is very simple – we don’t know of a cure for mental illness. One may exist, but we don’t know of any such cure for bipolar disorder, depression, schizophrenia and other mental illness.

Disallowing Depression Misconceptions

Posted by Natasha Tracy | Oct 31, 2011

I despise bad reporting and I don’t care if you write for a newspaper with a circulation of 3 people or the New York Times – there is no excuse to report badly on mental illness, there is quality information available everywhere.

Point in case is Depression can be treated through lifestyle changes by Danielle Faipler in West Virginia University’s student paper, The Daily Athenaeum.

Comments on Depression can be treated through lifestyle changes

This article contains some of the most widely-spread mistruths about depression and mental illness and is inexcusable. It doesn’t even pass a sanity check (even by an insane person).

Antidepressants are good for short-term treatment, but they do not facilitate with the long-term changes needed to treat the illness, and they add to the growing prescription drug abuse problem in the U.S.

That is absolutely false and I would enjoy seeing any research that indicates otherwise. As I have shown, depressed people who take antidepressants do better long-term and antidepressants are not addictive. Stating otherwise is ignorant or untruthful.

A side effect of antidepressants is hallucinations, and most of the time, different medication is prescribed to the patient.

If the number of people who experienced hallucinations from taking antidepressants alone were to get together for a party, they could fit in my freaking apartment. Yes, it can happen with some antidepressants, but it’s far from common.

Sleep and Bipolar Disorder – How I Cured My Insomnia – Guest Post

Posted by Natasha Tracy | Oct 27, 2011

The Bipolar Burble welcomes Leslie Smile for today’s piece on how she recognized that sleep was affecting her bipolar disorder and how she worked to cure her insomnia.

I’ve lost many hours holding the wall up with my glazed stare. Unable to calm my mind yet unable to focus my thoughts clearly, I’ve been sleepless for days on end. I would go on through my days like a zombie. “Just keep going,” I’d tell myself. Some days I would come home from work and collapse on my bed until the next morning. I would wake grouchy, confused and still tired. Insomnia doesn’t keep you awake permanently… just until you crash.

Insomnia’s Effects on My Life

I’ve always envied people who sleep easily. Their brains must be cleaner, the floorboards of the skull well swept, all the little monsters closed up in a steamer trunk at the foot of the bed. ~ David Benioff

The tired feeling morphed into a bone deep lethargy; an energy sucking, crippling fatigue drained me. I began to feel like I could barely survive. I had begun the dip into major depression and bipolar behaviors. I don’t blame my mental illness on my poor sleep nor do I blame my sleeplessness entirely on my mental illness but as I’ve come to learn bipolar disorder and insomnia affect each other in such a way both deserve the attention and respect of proper self-care and good sleep hygiene.