(no subject)
Another restless night. I think I'm becoming nocturnal, thanks to finals. But at least they're over. Now I just need to clean up the mess I left myself last spring with my missing work and subsequent Incomplete/Fail. The upside of all this is that despite my receiving an F in that class, my GPA is still a 3.3. I suppose I should be proud, but my perfectionist nature weighs my mistakes far heavier than my successes.
I've nearly finished Peter Kramer's Against Depression. It's a fascinating book that attacks the "cult of melancholy," so to speak, which glorifies depression and prevents the proper treatment of one of the most debilitating illnesses, damaging to both our external social structures (work, family) as well as our organs--I was amazed at the extent to which depression harms the brain and other organs in the body). It's highly polemical and open about that fact, something which I appreciate. He desires the elimination of depression as one would desire a cure for cancer.
As the summer approaches I'm (as usual) developing elaborate plans to make this summer as productive as possible. While I hope to teach myself as much Ancient Greek as possible while working and reading some good books, I can already see the inevitable listless, agitated depression which so often seems to accompany my extended stays at home. I don't know what causes it--maybe it's the unstructured environment, maybe it's the boredom, maybe it's the temptation of mindless video games and the subsequent guilt that follows my staying up all night playing xbox. Despite the bleak outlook, I nonetheless remain in a state of futile optimism, a condition I seem to share with much of the human race (except the chronically depressed, of course). Maybe this summer will be different.
The Icarus Project is an organization that describes itself thusly: "The Icarus Project envisions a new culture and language that resonates with our actual experiences of extreme states of consciousness rather than trying to fit our lives into a conventional framework. We are a network of people living with the dangerous gifts that are commonly labeled as bipolar or related 'mental illness.'" The tagline on their website reads "Navigating the space between brilliance and madness." I mention this organization because it was recently spoken of at an awards ceremony for NYU's Office of LGBT services as collaborating with the office in creating educational programs.
While I believe that it is important to question the standards which our society imposes upon us, I think that this organization's purpose in no way coincides with the agenda of the various LGBT and queer movements, even the more "radical" ones. "Bipolar disorder" is a name applied to the coincidence of certain symptoms which cause significant distress. One does not suffer from such a disorder if one lives comfortably with severe and uncontrolled mood swings, as this organization seems to imply is possible. Though I agree that the stigma of mental illness ought to be eliminated, I think so because I believe that it will lead to better treatment, not because I imagine that severe mood swings are "a dangerous gift to be cultivated and taken care of," as their website states. Such romanticization of mental illness is exactly what is preventing proper treatment for those suffering from bipolar disorder. If everyone believed that severe mood swings were a gift, then they would go untreated and the approximately 20% of those suffering from untreated bipolar disorder who commit suicide would have died as the result of society's false belief. Of course, the organization does not imply that it believes in denying treatment, but it does have a clear anti-psychiatric bias and places stock in "alternative" methods of treatment, despite the fact that it has been proven that the most effective treatment is "Western" medication. Until somebody proves that meditation and vitamins prevent mood swings better than lithium, I'll stick to Western medicine.
To return to the comparison between the Icarus Project and queer politics, I believe that they are in fact opposites--one progressive, the other regressive. Queer politics seek the breaking down of oppressive social institutions and structures, while the Icarus project (and other seemingly anti-psychiatric organizations) seek the breaking down of beneficial social institutions. Nobody forces anybody to take medication. However, if bipolar disorder and depression continue to be portrayed as "dangerous gifts" or anything besides ordinary illnesses, the harm that these mood disorders cause will continue unabated. Western society once idealized melancholy, and it only hurt those suffering from mental illness and society as a whole. We ought not to return to such a belief.
I conclude with a random lyric from Radiohead: "After years of waiting, nothing came / And you realize you're looking in / Looking in the wrong place" (from "Packt Like Sardines In A Crushd Tin Box") I don't find it meaningful or anything, but it's what I'm currently listening to and figured that the quote presents an idea which should be considered every so often.
I've nearly finished Peter Kramer's Against Depression. It's a fascinating book that attacks the "cult of melancholy," so to speak, which glorifies depression and prevents the proper treatment of one of the most debilitating illnesses, damaging to both our external social structures (work, family) as well as our organs--I was amazed at the extent to which depression harms the brain and other organs in the body). It's highly polemical and open about that fact, something which I appreciate. He desires the elimination of depression as one would desire a cure for cancer.
As the summer approaches I'm (as usual) developing elaborate plans to make this summer as productive as possible. While I hope to teach myself as much Ancient Greek as possible while working and reading some good books, I can already see the inevitable listless, agitated depression which so often seems to accompany my extended stays at home. I don't know what causes it--maybe it's the unstructured environment, maybe it's the boredom, maybe it's the temptation of mindless video games and the subsequent guilt that follows my staying up all night playing xbox. Despite the bleak outlook, I nonetheless remain in a state of futile optimism, a condition I seem to share with much of the human race (except the chronically depressed, of course). Maybe this summer will be different.
The Icarus Project is an organization that describes itself thusly: "The Icarus Project envisions a new culture and language that resonates with our actual experiences of extreme states of consciousness rather than trying to fit our lives into a conventional framework. We are a network of people living with the dangerous gifts that are commonly labeled as bipolar or related 'mental illness.'" The tagline on their website reads "Navigating the space between brilliance and madness." I mention this organization because it was recently spoken of at an awards ceremony for NYU's Office of LGBT services as collaborating with the office in creating educational programs.
While I believe that it is important to question the standards which our society imposes upon us, I think that this organization's purpose in no way coincides with the agenda of the various LGBT and queer movements, even the more "radical" ones. "Bipolar disorder" is a name applied to the coincidence of certain symptoms which cause significant distress. One does not suffer from such a disorder if one lives comfortably with severe and uncontrolled mood swings, as this organization seems to imply is possible. Though I agree that the stigma of mental illness ought to be eliminated, I think so because I believe that it will lead to better treatment, not because I imagine that severe mood swings are "a dangerous gift to be cultivated and taken care of," as their website states. Such romanticization of mental illness is exactly what is preventing proper treatment for those suffering from bipolar disorder. If everyone believed that severe mood swings were a gift, then they would go untreated and the approximately 20% of those suffering from untreated bipolar disorder who commit suicide would have died as the result of society's false belief. Of course, the organization does not imply that it believes in denying treatment, but it does have a clear anti-psychiatric bias and places stock in "alternative" methods of treatment, despite the fact that it has been proven that the most effective treatment is "Western" medication. Until somebody proves that meditation and vitamins prevent mood swings better than lithium, I'll stick to Western medicine.
To return to the comparison between the Icarus Project and queer politics, I believe that they are in fact opposites--one progressive, the other regressive. Queer politics seek the breaking down of oppressive social institutions and structures, while the Icarus project (and other seemingly anti-psychiatric organizations) seek the breaking down of beneficial social institutions. Nobody forces anybody to take medication. However, if bipolar disorder and depression continue to be portrayed as "dangerous gifts" or anything besides ordinary illnesses, the harm that these mood disorders cause will continue unabated. Western society once idealized melancholy, and it only hurt those suffering from mental illness and society as a whole. We ought not to return to such a belief.
I conclude with a random lyric from Radiohead: "After years of waiting, nothing came / And you realize you're looking in / Looking in the wrong place" (from "Packt Like Sardines In A Crushd Tin Box") I don't find it meaningful or anything, but it's what I'm currently listening to and figured that the quote presents an idea which should be considered every so often.