Mental Illness Humor - A Manifesto

Is mental illness funny?

Depends on what you mean and who and you ask.

If it's not, well there goes my career. And indeed, in some corners, my career never got out of the gate. But here's my story.

Humor serves several functions for us loonies. The first for me was as a coping mechanism.

Under Construction

This sight is a work zone this week. Pardon my mess during the remodel.

Meanwhile, here is Stephen Fry, The Secret Life of a Manic Depressive.

Also coming soon: WillaGoodfellow.com, with lots of info about Prozac Monologues: A Voice from the Edge, to be published by She Writes Press, August 25, 2020.

Neuroscientifically Challenged - Check it out

Yay! When I found a new (to me) website, Neuroscientifically Challenged, I rewrote the resource section of the book. Given that Prozac Monologues is in proofreading stage, my project manager was not as pleased as I was. But it's now a better book.

Mark Dingman started blogging in 2008 as a way to explore his interest in neuroscience. That interest morphed into a PhD program, then a new career, and now his continued work on a website where he can learn, draw, teach, and talk about his favorite topic, the brain. Take my eclectic blog, focus on the brain part, turn it into a genuine resource, call it Neuroscientifically Challenged.

The website features two-minute videos each with a bite of information. Okay, Dingman has to talk kind of fast to get it done in two-minutes, but really, what do you want? Here is a sample:

A Common Struggle - A Review

In A Common Struggle, Patrick Kennedy tells the story that only he can tell.

There are many memoirs of depression, bipolar, co-morbid substance abuse, families that keep secrets, and recovery. Lately there are memoirs that combine a personal story with a cause: get help, get the right diagnosis, find people who can support you, advocate for better treatment.

Kennedy's unique perspective is the insider's view on the long-term national political work of improving mental health care.

How to Stay Sane

Shock, rage, fear, despair, depression, hopelessness, apathy, or even how about - drinking the kool-aid, surrender. Do we have a better choice?

Robin Chance, behavioral specialist and therapist, did a little therapy for the nation three years ago with her article, How to stay sane if Trump is driving you insane: Advice from a therapist. She offered a better choice.

Two questions: (1) How do we integrate this crisis into our understanding of the world? and (2) what do we do now? Now that the crisis of three years ago is our new normal, it seems time to revisit her words.

Mental Health Care as our Institutions Fail

There are twelve psychiatrists in Zimbabwe for a population of 16 million people. When Dixon Chibanda, one of the twelve lost a patient to suicide because she could not afford the $15 bus fare to get to her appointment, he did not blame her for breaking the appointment. He came up with another system to deliver mental health care. He trained grandmothers.

Prozac Monologues - A Book is Coming

The life of an author - this author anyway:

Mornings I work on finding my peeps. Twitter has been a revelation to me. I resisted it for years until I discovered what was possible. It's not all politicians and celebrities! I thought I was supposed to do Twitter because that's what you do when you want to sell books. That made me feel icky.

But then somebody reframed it for me:

There are people out there who have a question, a need, a pain point. Can I address their pain point? If so, how do they find me?