THE MENTAL PATIENT ZEITGEIST

 

 
So here I am year after year – living among nine other people who too – like me – are psychologically (emotionally) disabled – which I believe grants me a unique one on one relationship and a myopic point of view that when merged with (forgive me) what I would arrogantly characterize as a insight – I can both see and analyze it all; from delusions of grandeur, blaring signs of dissociative disorder, the curious presence of homosexual tendencies, personality disorder, paranoid schizophrenia – on and on and on…. All of which – when merged with an absence of life’ s supposedly requisite manna or desiderata – all too often leads to alcohol and drug abuse, obesity, anorexia and bulimia, sexual deviation and severe to moderate neurosis. And to this day – my curious cognition – a ten year relationship involving fifty year-old and over – who have the maturity, education and intellect of that of a five year-old – I have still have not as of yet determined whether past drug and alcohol addiction – primitive (often very harsh) anti-psychotics and the stress placed on the human brain due to mental illness – has lead to or transformed them into the mentally and emotionally challenged – as well as indolent incurious lumps of flesh???!!! No one reads. No one writes. No one votes. No one cares even about children who are combating cancer – physical and or sexual abuse. As such – the great majority of their motives are selfish. They simply lack the capacity for sympathy, empathy or concern. And even an act of obeisance such as prayer or genuflection directed towards god almighty – is ever so carefully girded with a nebulous ephemeral allegiance to an all you can eat church buffet. A free meal that is consummated with a one hour of supplication, oration or lecture – that is neither understood nor even superficially considered. So are they (we) victims of our diseases – and as such warranting compassion? Or are they (we) merely parasitic social cancers whose atavistic condition is only bolstered by a state and county policy that rewards inactivity, languor, idleness, obesity (very poor diets), rotted teeth, bad backs – and a slew of maladies that will – as with any alchemy – manifest down the road due to diathesis. (the predisposition of a disease that manifests once environmental stressors are introduced) as with any (mental) patient — a zeitgeist – those who are mentally disabled are ensconced in our own world of prescription drugs. Like or as the defiant or detached anarchist – we curiously separate ourselves from the status quo due to a bizarre contumacy. We are far more inclined to drink and drug, to use tobacco, to engage in promiscuity, to break the law, to make babies out of wedlock, on and on and on..

So now what? My questions are – just how many addicts and alcoholics are engaging in self-medication? How many among the two to three million who are incarcerated are engaging in self-medication? How many are benumbing a chemical brain imbalance? How many are mildly mentally retarded? How many are attempting to fend-off homosexual feelings, low self-esteem, sexual and emotional dissatisfaction? Just how many are plagued by the ad hoc need to pass down a legacy of runny-nosed, mentally ill dysfunctional progeny???
In other words – just how many of those who are in prison are just like those of us who are living in foster care facilities???

So? Are there any solutions? Stop rewarding bad behavior! Reward a normal healthy weight. Reward an absence of cavities or gum disease. Reward intellectual pursuits – such as classes taken at the community college.

Create and reward part time work. (such as doing chores for the elderly – with the long and short term goals of keeping them out of nursing homes for as long as is possible)

Demand that they (we) take on adult responsibilities.

We can clean highways. We can paint or clean public buildings.

We can work in cafeteria’s.

We can enter symbiotic (therapeutic) relationships that will save society desperately needed tax revenues – while getting the “psychologically challenged off of our lazy fat asses. We can help to improve the quality of life for thousands of the elderly or “disabled”. We can instill pride. We can each bide time constructively. We can counter or mollify the seemingly ubiquitous presence of boredom.

With the proper investment or funding – perhaps we can even learn a bit more about our brains? Maybe we will eventually be able to understand and cure addictions of all kinds – to include sex, gambling, drug and alcohol, spending, adrenaline rushes and yes – even caffeine and nicotine. Might there also one day be a remedial approach for the serial rapist or murderer? Perhaps even the omnipresent pervasive human phenomenon of greed or avarice may very well be understood.

 

Jessy J.T.