TANGENTS: Do I Laugh or Do I Cry?

How's my mental health today?

It's Sunday - I'm trying to relax and prepare for the coming week.

Yesterday evening I was searching through my binders of CDs looking for music discs that I had misfiled. I came across a stack of CD ROMs that I had used to back up my files years ago. Some of the disks files were more than 10 years old. I even found a few of the cartoons I used to use to make a point in the mental health workshops I presented. One workshop stands out in my memory - I had been asked to share a bit of my story, and I used a number of these cartoons in a PowerPoint show during my talk. One participant told me afterwards that she didn't know whether she should laugh or cry.

Since I ranted about things mental health several days ago, I thought now would be a good time to share a few of these "borrowed" gems.

When you live with a mental illness, you never know what you're going to encounter:

Sometimes, it feels like others dismiss or severely minimize your experience and your pain.

Or you get the feeling you've been written off.

One of the worst feelings is when you feel you've been stripped of your dignity.

Accessing the right service can be a challenge!

Some of the directions you get are hard to follow.

Some treatment programs and approaches can strike you as being somewhat odd.

Program cuts and cost-cutting measures often exact a high price on the patient.

Some treatment decisions weren't necessarily thought thru enough. (Some unexpected consequences).

I once ( almost 10 years ago) had my medication side-effects concerns dismissed by my Doc. So I stopped taking them and four weeks later I was in hospital.