# Stigma of mental problems



## BlueTank (Jun 2, 2010)

I dont' know if this has been posted yet, but I thought I would post it. Although its surrounds the Jared/Arizona shooting, its a LOT to do with the stigma behind mental health.

When I first heard of the shooting, with very little information I emmediatly figured Jared might be an untreated Schizophrenic. I did extensive research on schizophrenia in college and wrote a big paper on it. The teacher I had had a life-time of work with Schizophrenia and was teaching at the school.

Although schizophrenics rarely act on violent thoughts (much like you and I... yes everybody thinks fucked up things they don't do)... there are signs of schizophrenia. This video shows him with a shaved head! Thats supposed to be no.1	Now I don't know why he did. could be after the shooting. But early signs are somebody shaving their head.. Paranoia.. Delusions of grandeur (like when he talks about how he's going to be on TV and all that).

So who knows what will happen.. Sadly people will probably lean towards what will get them a dollar and we'll have debates over extended magazines for weapons and war-words for campaigning etc.. etc... and in the end some new gun law will be around and people will still think of schizophrenia as this 1 in a million thing of crazy people.

What can ya do...


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## sonnl (Apr 15, 2009)

wait.. the no1 sign of schizophrenia is a shaved head?!? im pretty fucked..


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## Guest (Jan 12, 2011)

Blue Tank, you make a lot of good points. This could help how we avoid such catastrophes in the future or hurt. This individual "slipped through the cracks" and is NOT representative of the majority of people with brain disorders such as schizophrenia.

To combat stigma, I encourage everyone to join: (Sorry if any of these links are screwed up, you can Google them)

National Alliance on Mental Illness http://www.nami.org You can write letters to media, legislators, The President, etc.

Bring Change 2 Mind http://www.bringchange2mind.org Tell your story. Share more about DP. Get involved in activities. I was in a walk last September - I raised $400

No Kidding, Me Too! http://www.nkm2.org Another advocacy group. The site is not is in as good shape as the FB site

NARSAD National Association for Research into Schizophrenia and Depression (also all other mental illnesses have been added) http://www.narsad.org

TAC -- Treatment Advocacy Committee More radical offshoot of NAMI, headed by E. Fuller Torrey, M.D. discussing the need for forced compliance for treatment

Mental Health America

If you are on FB .... I may have asked you this before, I would recommending joining these and many other mental health groups. I get updates all the time and instructions on how to take action. Whom to write, etc. On many of these sites you can post your story anonymously. Add to the growing number who speak out to educate others.

There are MANY ways to participate in fighting the mess this has caused. Politics is so ... stupid ... no one sees this from the mental health angle. I am trying as best I can on FB (where I am completely out of the closet) to counter stupid statements/claims, etc.


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## Guest (Jan 12, 2011)

sonnl said:


> wait.. the no1 sign of schizophrenia is a shaved head?!? im pretty fucked..


LOL.
Actually he may have been required to shave his head to go to his arraignment. Or he had indeed done that himself before.

Can't take one action alone, but things like that (Brittney Spears did that and I believe she is bipolar. Sinead O'Conner, etc. -- these are "self-destructive acts in a way for some people, like cutting). You can also do it as a fashion statement however!


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## BlueTank (Jun 2, 2010)

sonnl said:


> wait.. the no1 sign of schizophrenia is a shaved head?!? im pretty fucked..


An early sign for parents to look out for children is them shaving their head. Now this isn't just for kids.... and it isnt just for schizophrenia. Some people just do it when they are super stressed out. My ex did. few years after we broke up she got pregnant and the father is horrible. She ran into a bunch of stress and gained weight and cut her hair REALLY short. Lots of these things are interelated

But yes, it is a fact that early signs of schizophrenia are shaving your head, isolation, and delusions of grandeur. So if you have a kid who is like 16 and he shaves his head and lays on his bed thinking about being a movie star for days on end. Yeeaaahhhhhh....

Often times younger schizophrenics will think they are the only thing that is real, or that their parents are robots and trying to poison them or are working behind the scenes against them.

When I first got DP/DR I wanted to buzz my head. just so I didn't have to deal with it.

On a note: At the time i did this research they didn't really know a real specific cause for schizo. Its all so complex. Just like DP/DR!!!!	They notice that there is "pressure in the head" with some poeple. That some of the cause sometimes seems to be pressure in the head. So shaving your head seems natural. Get it out of the way. Do anything to feel less encumbered etc..

But i'm not a doctor or anything.


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## BlueTank (Jun 2, 2010)

Dreamer* said:


> LOL.
> Actually he may have been required to shave his head to go to his arraignment. Or he had indeed done that himself before.
> 
> Can't take one action alone, but things like that (Brittney Spears did that and I believe she is bipolar. Sinead O'Conner, etc. -- these are "self-destructive acts in a way for some people, like cutting). You can also do it as a fashion statement however!


Yeah, Its not a sign like a medical problem like herpes or something







. I think a lot of people do it under stress. I'm now remembering a friend of mine! He shaved his head in college around the same age... 22. (the highest area of schizo is age 18-23.. college years)...

He was in college and stressing out comletely and he shaved his head a lot. Word god around because it wasn't like him. It was not fashion at all. He was just losing it over his parents pressure for him to become a doctor or rocket scientist. He is a prime example of why you shouldn't push your kids TOO far.

The brother is doing better and yet he didn't have the pressure and did acid/mushrooms and got bad grades. He has a great job now and is happy all the time.

Schizophrenia is ok. I've had a couple of schizophrenic friends. One was bad (talks to animals) but is on medication. Sad thing is he's pretty lethargic on the meds a lot. Totaly harmless guy.

Edit: Oh and yeah, Who knows on the shaved head. I think a lot of questions are not answered yet. And honestly I believe a lot of questions may never be answered. There are things that happened AGES ago that I'm still learning out. I hear new info about Columbine now and then.


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## sonnl (Apr 15, 2009)

Idk I used to always want a shaved head when i was a kid, i thought it looked cool, and eventually when i got older that became the prefered way to have my hair. I also like to grow out a beard sometimes, and I remember when I was in rehab they told me that a big sign of being an alcoholic is having a beard. I think people look to much into things like this, I could be wrong, but thats just my 2 cents. I say the guys with hair longer than girls are usually the crazies haha.


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## Guest (Jan 13, 2011)

Man, I have been just swimming in all of this, as I am fascinated by forensics, by psychology, psychiatry, and yes, have been reading about the "proflie" of individuals like Jared Loughner sp? Why can't I remember the spelling ...

At any rate, I think the point is, in terms of LOOKS/IMAGE of an individual being a sign of something "amiss" -- particularly in a young person ... you have:

1. Rebellion -- that's common, but if it goes to an EXTREME, far outside "the norm" it can be a warning sign.
2. Not taking care of one's self -- not bathing, wearing the same clothes for days
3. Dressing far outside the norm. With girls, especially provocative clothing, with boys and girls -- "Goth" or OMG, I nearly had a stroke when I saw a young girl with red "Devil" contacts in.

I went to a private school my entire life where we were required to wear uniforms and had a dress code in the upper years. I think something like that is important. Public schools feel kids should be able to "express themselves" ... well, yes, but you must admit there will be people you see or know who are wearing something that is so ... inappropriate ... they are making a statement that is indeed a cry of rage, or a cry for help, or a feeling of isolation.

Little things like that alone are tip offs.

As I said, shaving one's head, in and of itself is not indicative of a mental illness, but is usually part of a group of behaviors, and Loughner was displaying so many I still don't know how he slipped through the cracks, though we also have civil liberties. I also think there was something amiss re: his parents, but I can only speculate on that one.

Also, re: long hair on men. I say, let rock stars do that. Cool. The entertainment industry is full of eccentric people. It's where I always felt I belonged. But there are some older men with very long hair who in a sense have "never grown up", are stuck in a rebellious past, or use that as a sign of "leave me alone" or "don't mess with me."

Everything about us, how we present ourselves, is a sign of what's inside. I have no problem with that, but sometimes these are warning signs.


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## Guest (Jan 13, 2011)

I was just thinking, I've never really heard of shaving one's head as a sign of schizophrenia, but here's the thing. Most girls/women value their hair very much ... little girls like fixing their hair or their doll's hair, etc. Men seem to like lustrous hair in women. It is actually a sign of health for child bearing, literally, instinctually.

So if a young woman shaves her head, I'd say that is UNUSUAL. It is indeed outside the MAJORITY of what you would expect most girls to do.

But I live in a university town. College age. You've got everything from preppy to mohawks to shaved to multicolored hair.

It's when someone never leaves that stage, and especially if one is required by employment to have a certain look to fit in -- even a uniform -- and someone refuses to comply. There is something ... different there. Depends on where you work, etc.

Interesting, there is one doctor in practice in my GP's office who has a pony tail -- not especially long, neatly pulled back and say he's early 40s. Some people don't want to have him as their doctor, literally, though he is one of the better doctors in the practice. He's also good looking, but he's very liberal, laid back, etc.

We like things predictable, within a "norm."

We are keenly aware of "things outside the norm" -- again, many people knew something was wrong with this assassin ... this did NOT come out of the blue. We'll learn more as weeks/months, the trial go on. I still want to know more about the parents. I think something was not right with his father. They were recluses -- the entire family -- or at least Jared and his father were. The mother was more socially outgoing, had a job with the Parks & Rec department or something?


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## sonnl (Apr 15, 2009)

Dreamer* said:


> 1. Rebellion -- that's common, but if it goes to an EXTREME, far outside "the norm" it can be a warning sign.
> 2. Not taking care of one's self -- not bathing, wearing the same clothes for days
> 3. Dressing far outside the norm. With girls, especially provocative clothing, with boys and girls -- "Goth" or OMG, I nearly had a stroke when I saw a young girl with red "Devil" contacts in.


Honestly, and I know I dont really have talking rights because I currently suffer from dp, and severe depression, but I dont think I was always fated to have these things. But the point im getting at is, I was extremley rebellious in my youth, and I always went outside the norm. This was in no way related to an underlying disorder in my opinion though. Had I not made certain mistakes in my life I know for a fact I wouldnt be here right now. But I know lots of people who were just as bad or worse than me, and are doing great now. Not every punk/rebel/thug grows up to be a schitzo.


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## sunyata samsara (Feb 18, 2011)

i cut my hair with 1/2 clippers thats right above a 0 which is no clippers. i guess im crazy. oh noes


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