UPDATE ON the Mental Health Humor: Cartoon-a-thon

——– Original Message ——–

Subject: UPDATE ON the Mental Health Humor: Cartoon-a-thon
To: Andy Alt
Date: Wed, 27 May 2009 12:50:36 -0400
From: Chato B. Stewart
Organization: Mental Health humor

Dear Peer, Provider or Caregiver,

Wow, what a great Mental Health Awareness month! This year so many
people are really putting in a lot of effort from the DBSA, NAMI and
many other organizations like Mental Health America and also not to for
get many of our peers and their individual efforts.

The Mental Health Humor Cartoon-A-Thon is a free and fun project to use
humor as a coping skill. Each day during the month I’ve volunteered to
draw one cartoon. Now we have 26 new cartoons for this month to use
humor to bring awareness to many different mental health issues. It’s
meant to use positive humor as a way to cope with our serious disorders.

Life and Death are Forever Nothing

Life and Death are Forever Nothing
By Andy Alt / Mental Dimensions

May 24, 2009

Death decaying in the smoldering, burning pit
Vile demons flying around a black, dusty corpse

Flesh ripped off by slimy filth-ridden vultures
Eternal torment a hair’s-breadth away

TIME: Why Antidepressants Don’t Live Up to the Hype

Philip Dawdy at Furious Seasons pointed out an article on TIME magazine’s web site and provided commentary.

I won’t be commenting on it, just providing publicity. Although the staff at TIME has expressly forbidden me to promote their magazine or be their spokesperson, they didn’t say anything about promoting their articles.

Alison Bass: Brown psychiatry chief Martin Keller to step down in June…

The latest from the blog of Alison Bass:

Alison Bass: Brown psychiatry chief Martin Keller to step down in June…

[...]
While Brown officials insist that the decision to step down was Keller’s, my understanding from several sources is that the university has been under pressure to take action ever since Side Effects was published last June and Sen. Charles Grassley began investigating Keller’s undisclosed conflicts of interest in July. Keller is the latest psychiatry kingpin to fall. In recent months, Stanford’s chief of psychiatry Alan Schatzberg and Emory University’s chief Charles Nemeroff were forced to step down after reports that they too failed to disclose years of lucrative financial payments from the pharmaceutical industry.
[...]
In addition, the American Journal of Psychiatry, the pre-eminent journal of the profession, just published a review of Side Effects,[...]

Alison Bass: Brown psychiatry chief Martin Keller to step down in June…

My desire to promote psychiatric medication and their positive effects

By Andy Alt / Mental Dimensions

March 1, 2009

It may seem strange reading this on my blog, but I wanted to take the time to write about all the good that medications can do, and their positive effects. Some people may think that my brain has been affected by subliminal messages in the manufacturers’ advertisements, but because I’m currently consuming and withdrawing from all of these pharmaceutical drugs outlined below, I’m reasonably confident that my head is clear and my mind as sane as it ever was.

Effexor effectively treats my symptoms, and is effective at treating everything the manufacturer claims it can treat.

Wellbutrin makes me feel well, generally speaking.

Ambien surrounds me with a pleasant ambience, so I feel calm and relaxed, allowing me to sleep normally and naturally at night.

Dark Descent

Dark Descent
By Andy Alt / Mental Dimensions

February 23, 2009

Death digs into my neck with its sharp, bony fingers

On my way down the slippery slope past the point of no return

Hope lost like a grain of sand thrown in the ocean

Can’t trust anyone
because I don’t trust myself

Always doubting others
because I doubt myself

Crippled inside and emotionally retarded

Weapons of Darkness and the Dying Light

Weapons of Darkness and the Dying Light
By Andy Alt / Mental Dimensions

February 3, 2009

Loneliness crowding my peace
Seeds of torture growing within

Sword of despair on the left
Spear of hopelessness on the right
Drowning in quicksand

Escape merely a thought
Chains are the reality
No way to move forward
No solace in looking back

Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT), WCCO, CBS, MindFreedom, and Ray Sandford

Electroconvulsive Therapy Can Treat Depression

NEW YORK (CBS) ― Anti-depression drugs like prozac have revolutionized the treatment of depression, but are not for all patients. For those who don’t respond to the medication, ECT, or electroconvulsive therapy, can be a lifesaver, reports CBS station WCBS-TV.
[...]

This unfortunate and one-sided piece of journalism is from CBS, the same network who employed ethical and courageous journalists like Edward R. Murrow and Walter Cronkite. In the article above, you’ll read about the wonders and magic of ECT. What you won’t hear much about, unsurprisingly, are the people who haven’t been helped by ECT. Some of the people who you won’t hear from are those who are figuratively or literally in chains. This basic principle of silence also applies to many people who haven’t been helped, who have only been hurt, by psychiatric medications. Dead men tell no tales and yes, Virginia, there is such a thing as living death. For some people, Electroconvulsive therapy and psychotropic medication have stolen their identity and virtually killed who they were.