You want to know what growing up with depression taught me?
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mental illness
My own, fragmented life
How do I begin this post? From when do I begin my story? Is in the beginning, where there is nothing but a life displaced from normal reality? Or is it when my time begins to realign into some almost normalcy? Or do I attempt to justify the future that I present with example of others that have glimpsed into the fearful reality of non-normalcy?
“You’re being way too poetic. Just start somewhere.” {“Also, why does this take almost 1900 words?” Banter, cumbersome prose, and a dogged attempt to display deep-mindedness.}
[She’s actually right, looking onto this post again. But I have no sense of inner identity that doesn’t revolve around florescent prose. {“So stop doing it.” No. Wait, you’re here now. “Yup.” You seem sedate. “Of course, you idi-dummy.” There was a big encounter yesterday, so everything’s lackadaisical.}]
Kanye West: Mental Illness is Real
We all know one of the current hot topic at the moment is Kanye West and his mental breakdown. It all started recently during Kanye’s concert for his tour, when he started ranting about different things like his support for Donald Trump, his anger towards Beyoncé’s performance at the VMA for her “formation” song which is based on the Black Panthers theme. He also mentioned Jay-Z and said “don’t send your people for me” referring to the whole illuminati thing, and also how people have been lied to by the media and the radio. A lot of videos have been circulating on twitter showing Kanye really strange and concerning behavior. And a lot of people have been reacting to this, and many people seem to be angry about this. Continue reading
Mental Illness, an existence defined by potential futures and progress
Warning: This blog contains around 1250 words. It could very well be an article in a journal.
In the previous part, I discussed that mental health is constructed by both individuals and society.
Then, what makes a certain state of mental health undesirable? What power is there in claiming a weakened state? Finally, what makes a “normal life”?
In order to understand these questions, it would be important to state the concept of “future”. It is, according to Wikipedia , what will happen in the time after the present, an inevitable event. I will add onto that definition, that future is also a nebulous concept that has not yet been determined. This has political power, in that one can create a variety of potential realities that could come into being as a result of [event].
Mental disorder, where mind, body, and society meet and create identities
Thinking about mental health, part 1:
I begin this post with a question: How can we tell if someone has a mental disorder? According to the National Alliance for Mental Health, “a mental illness is a disease that causes mild to severe disturbances in thought and/or behavior, resulting in an inability to cope with life’s ordinary demands and routines.” According to Wikipedia, it is “is a diagnosis, most often by a psychiatrist, of a behavioral or mental pattern that may cause suffering or a poor ability to function in life.”
What’s most interesting to me is that there are two parts to the definition- “A disturbance in mental thought/pattern”, and “Affects the individuals’ ability to function in life.” Taken at face values, these make perfect sense, if someone has abnormal mental thoughts and it makes them unable to function normally, then they have a mental disorder. Now, what are we comparing “abnormal” to? The “normal” identity, which has been crafted by society.
Anxiety: A Common Body Story
I have Generalized Anxiety Disorder, which means my brain doesn’t know when to stress out about something and when not to. Two of my closest friends also have anxiety, and in a weird way I think it’s made us closer. The stress from our anxiety affects our minds and our bodies. Continue reading
Skin.
I never knew that one’s skin could tell so many stories until I realized that the most common questions I get are about my skin. Continue reading
My Mind Could Never Be Quiet
The Book, “An Unquiet Mind” follows the story of Kay Redfield Jamison journey with bipolar disorder. I had to read this book for one of my college classes and was not looking forward to it. I have been on my own journey with bipolar disorder and was afraid the author would portray people with bipolar disorder, as being “crazy”, but aren’t people with bipolar disorder crazy anyway? Continue reading
Unruly Bodies 