very busy and important

what i should have 'effing said: #wishes

Tue, 22 May 2012 20:04:55 -0400

what i should have 'effing said: #wishes:

mastery/narrative therapy is what i discuss with clients all the time…i this is a nonformal way to navigate that stress we face after leaving particular situations and feel unsettled or still have something to say, but can’t.

whatishouldhaveeffingsaid:

Retelling a story in the way one wishes it would have gone gives an individual mastery over a less than ideal situation. This, in return, gives the individual a sense of healing and becomes therapeutic. You KNOW you’ve left a situation and kicked yourself for thinking of the…

Can You Call a 9-Year-Old a Psychopath?

Mon, 14 May 2012 13:48:02 -0400

Can You Call a 9-Year-Old a Psychopath?:

I can’t think of anything more immediately stigmatizing/pathologizing than being diagnosed with psychopathy as a child, but the article makes a good case for early identification and treatment:

“In my view, these kids need intensive intervention to get them back to normal — to the place where other strategies can even have an effect. But to take the attitude that psychopathy is untreatable because it’s genetic…that’s not accurate. There’s a stigma that psychopaths are the hardest of the hardened criminals. My fear is that if we call these kids ‘prepsychopathic,’ people are going to draw that inference: that this is a quality that can’t be changed, that it’s immutable. I don’t believe that. Physiology isn’t destiny.”

Video of testifier's anti-gay words goes viral, but there's more to the story

Sat, 12 May 2012 20:56:00 -0400

Video of testifier's anti-gay words goes viral, but there's more to the story:

When watching this video—unless you’ve been around many people with untreated schizophrenia—you may not pick up what’s going on. At first watch, maybe you just pick up on the words—similar to those you’d hear in a run of the mill conservative homophobic rant. However, if you try to understand the overall message of her speech…you can’t. I’m still having trouble figuring out exactly why the video of her went viral vs. other people who are taped giving incoherent homophobic speeches. I’ve seen videos of say, the Westboro Baptist Church, but I can’t say I’ve ever seen a “viral” video of them. The only difference I can pin down is the extremity in lack of connectedness between each of her statements, which points to the symptoms of her mental illness. If this is truly the case, the viral nature of the video seems like a virtual pointing of the finger along with the statement “look at the crazy lady” and that just doesn’t settle well, no matter what she was saying.

"what's your diag-nonsense?"

Fri, 11 May 2012 18:32:00 -0400

"what's your diag-nonsense?":

Just a common real life scenario to reemphasizes the issue presented in the article:

When I ask clients if they’ve ever been diagnosed with a psychiatric disability, they tell me they’re Bipolar. When I asked them to describe the symptoms, they tell me they’re “angry.” More people have sat in my office stating that they were given a diagnosis of Bipolar because they get “angry” than have sat in my office stating they were given the diagnosis because they actually have experienced true episodes of Mania (when I describe specific manic symptoms someone may endorse a symptom or two, but never meets clinical significance).

Most times what seems to be occurring—at least with the individuals I work with—is that that the they have been chronically traumatized throughout their lifetime and the anger results not as a symptom of a manic or depressive episode—per their given diagnosis—but as a reaction to trauma. “Irritability or outbursts of anger” is one of the hyperarousal symptoms in the criteria for PTSD, as described in the DSM-IV TR, but whatever, why not just skip that and slap someone with Bipolar and a completely different treatment outlook. And according to this article, it looks like the DSM-5 won’t be doing us any favors.

(**I want to point out that I fully understand that there are MUCH more intense complexities of (mis)diagnosis that include—but are not limited to—the biases (of race, class, gender etc) of the diagnostician. However, to address this adequately and with justice it would take much more than a blog post!!)

'should' is a tricky word.

Thu, 10 May 2012 13:48:00 -0400

‘

Should’ is a tricky word. Emotionally loaded, one might say. Often times we use it in conversations to describe a situation that has already occurred—”I should have studied harder” or ”I shouldn’t have had that last drink.” This implies feelings of regret, guilt, or lack of control. I usually tell that person “don’t ‘should’ on yourself” (a take on “don’t shit on yourself”), as it’s not productive to dwell on decisions that have already past; we don’t have time machines (unfortunately).

In other situations, should is used in the present tense—”I should go to the gym” or “I shouldn’t be eating this.” Again, the same emotional and control themes reemerge, but in this state there is also opportunity for change. The word ‘should’ most importantly indicates that one has identified that something isn’t working and may need to be different.

Yesterday, Obama stated “same-sex couples should be be able to get married.” I agree with him and thank him for his support. Now that he’s made this statement as our nation’s leader, hopefully momentum will build behind him from places it may not have otherwise. It would be about this time, if I were in a crowded room with Obama, that I would yell, “THIS IS YOUR MOMENT!” I hope he uses it well and doesn’t get any of those yucky feelings of guilt or regret, because I really don’t want to try to figure out how to build a time machine.

one of the reasons why it’s imperative that obama’s...

Wed, 09 May 2012 20:28:00 -0400

one of the reasons why it’s imperative that obama’s words (as posted below) are transformed into actions. “it has been said that sharing personal stories is one of the most effective ways to change people’s hearts and minds” #EqualLoveEqualRights

Obama

Wed, 09 May 2012 18:17:00 -0400

Obama :

Hopefully, he follows up with some action to back up this statement. It would be nice to add to the chart below.

breaking down gay rights, state by state

Wed, 09 May 2012 18:11:00 -0400

breaking down gay rights, state by state:

skibums:

In light of the disappointing news from North Carolina, the Guardian has put together an insightful, illuminating portrait of LGBT rights, state by state. Share this with your friends and everyone who cares about how far we’ve still got to go!

View the excellent infographic >

New NYPD Ad Campaign Targets Domestic Violence Reporting

Wed, 09 May 2012 12:29:00 -0400

New NYPD Ad Campaign Targets Domestic Violence Reporting:

I don’t think people should be silent, but there are many reasons people don’t report besides not knowing how to. I think that there are other issues that are important to think about when running a campaign pushing to increase reporting, like increasing funding for the programs that provide direct services to survivors. The threat of budget cuts (or as in this past year a complete zeroing of funding) is devastating to effectively addressing this issue. So this ad campaign increases reporting of domestic violence. Great. What programs are you going to send them to so that they can heal from their experience? The ones who just had to cut their services? Where are they going to get safe housing because they had to leave? Those programs have been cut as well. Yes, it would be ideal if there were safety on the other side of the report, but the way the system is currently structured, this is not ensured. You can’t put band-aids on gaping wounds.

Interactive Map of NYC Racial Diversity

Wed, 09 May 2012 12:11:00 -0400

Interactive Map of NYC Racial Diversity:

Interesting to see laid out, but I suppose if you know the city’s neighborhoods and patterns of gentrification, it’s not all that surprising.

Homophobic? Maybe You’re Gay

Wed, 09 May 2012 12:04:00 -0400

Homophobic? Maybe You’re Gay:

“Empirical evidence of a connection between homophobia and suppressed same-sex desire.”

I appreciate this methodology. Very creative. Finally numbers behind what has always been so obvious!