Comments on: What We Think About When We Think About Mental Illness http://newrambler.net/ramblings/back/93 a blog by Laura Crossett Thu, 02 Feb 2012 17:30:58 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Laura http://newrambler.net/ramblings/back/93/comment-page-1#comment-26129 Laura Sun, 20 Jan 2008 03:18:18 +0000 http://www.newrambler.net/ramblings/back/93#comment-26129 Yes, I've read <i>Touched With Fire</i>, too. It's odd, though--in some ways the 1950s mental health system seems like a nightmare, but on the other hand, in the days before managed care, you could be hospitalized for longer--and, I suspect--more therapeutic lengths of time. Psychiatric hospitals now are, for the most part, just sort of holding tanks for people considered to be suicidal. There are plenty of horror stories about lengthy hospitalizations, of course, but then there are accounts like that of William Styron, in <a href="http://worldcat.org/oclc/21442999" rel="nofollow">Darkness Visible</a>, where it seems that a stay in the hospital was beneficial. I suppose, as with most things, that It Depends. I'd just be happier if our health care system, and our society, made more room for those various dependencies. Yes, I’ve read Touched With Fire, too. It’s odd, though–in some ways the 1950s mental health system seems like a nightmare, but on the other hand, in the days before managed care, you could be hospitalized for longer–and, I suspect–more therapeutic lengths of time. Psychiatric hospitals now are, for the most part, just sort of holding tanks for people considered to be suicidal. There are plenty of horror stories about lengthy hospitalizations, of course, but then there are accounts like that of William Styron, in Darkness Visible, where it seems that a stay in the hospital was beneficial. I suppose, as with most things, that It Depends. I’d just be happier if our health care system, and our society, made more room for those various dependencies.

]]> By: Rachel http://newrambler.net/ramblings/back/93/comment-page-1#comment-26087 Rachel Sat, 19 Jan 2008 02:25:11 +0000 http://www.newrambler.net/ramblings/back/93#comment-26087 Kay Redfield Jamison wrote another book <i>Touched by Fire</i> - where she outlined countless poets, artists, composers and politicians that she believed suffered from bipolar disorder or something similiar. As for your question, I believe mental illness and diagnosis has come a long way from <i>The Bell Jar</i>. And even the 50s hospitals were much more "humane" than the 19th century asylums/prisons. In the present, most people have one or more people in their family who have been diagnosed with depression. I think we're slowly moving past the stigma mental illness and its treatment once had. As for the pulp headlines, well, if I believe there are some truth to the claims - I hope that the celebrities in question get the help they need. That's really up to them though. Some, perhaps, might be able to write books about their experiences - like Brooke Shields did with post-partum depression. With the intense worship of celebrity - it might help someone think twice about seeking treatment/asking for help. It always feels easier when you know you're not the only person who has been through a particular hell. Kay Redfield Jamison wrote another book Touched by Fire – where she outlined countless poets, artists, composers and politicians that she believed suffered from bipolar disorder or something similiar.

As for your question, I believe mental illness and diagnosis has come a long way from The Bell Jar. And even the 50s hospitals were much more “humane” than the 19th century asylums/prisons. In the present, most people have one or more people in their family who have been diagnosed with depression. I think we’re slowly moving past the stigma mental illness and its treatment once had.

As for the pulp headlines, well, if I believe there are some truth to the claims – I hope that the celebrities in question get the help they need. That’s really up to them though. Some, perhaps, might be able to write books about their experiences – like Brooke Shields did with post-partum depression. With the intense worship of celebrity – it might help someone think twice about seeking treatment/asking for help.

It always feels easier when you know you’re not the only person who has been through a particular hell.

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