If only we, of the United States of America, were to follow the example being set by MILLIONS of gentle, long-suffering, Christian, (98% Roman Catholic)- the people of Haiti. They bear witness; individually, collectively, publicly and repeatedly giving praise to the Almighty amidst a set of catastrophes of epic proportions. They are of the Americas, too. Therefore, they are our American neighbors.
We
are called to serve them and learn from them. I pray our military
personnel are given permission to respond compassionately as God's servants and to be deeply touched by the plight of the
Haitian people. I pray they will not be used as tools for another US military
takeover that serves only the elite Haitians, as well as corporate and private US, Canadian and French interests.
This is the foremost moral issue confronting America in our life time. We can not afford to fail Haiti in the short-term or the long-term. It's within our collective power and ability to help the people create and cultivate the first 21st Century infrastructure including clean water, housing, hospitals, schools, roads, cell and satellite communications and to afford the ability to feed themselves. The Haitian people are refuges in their own ravished and decimated country. WWJD?
Their faith and courage and perseverance are unwavering. Who amongst us thinks they could endure even a fraction of their suffering?
Have you noticed the quiet, patience and still registered shock on the faces of the Haitian people? Have you noticed how the media keeps wanting violence to erupt? Have you noticed how thousands can be congregated in quiet? Have you noticed that people are not screaming but are standing quietly in lines? Have you seen the boys, usually 10-16 years, scavenging for the food being distributed? These boys, usually in small teams of two or three are trying to get meals for themselves and their families. This is the boys work. Getting the food and water for their mothers and sisters? This is the only security problem even according to the military commanders reporting to the Washington press.
Isn't it enough that Haiti has collapsed in a pile of rubble? Isn't this enough of drama for CNN? Be very careful of what you believe from the media. I've noticed they are still dishing out the same rehashed mistaken 'facts'.
The wonders of technology never cease to amaze me. I was up very early and didn't head straight to my computer as is my habit. Not much time to write today but it seems like I'm breathless with things to say about what is happening on the ground in Haiti. The search and rescue has barely begun, the media images and same stories are repeated over and over. Tom Brokaw has the worse sun burn. It's an international relief effort. Iceland is one of the first arrivals, along with Spain. As I pondered what to write about today for there is much to say and so very little time to say it, I went to check my email. Ah, a letter from Ophelia Dahl of pih.org, my team of choice.
So what is the real story? If coming from the Artibonnite region and approaching PAP the destruction gradually gets worse. Pull up your Google map and you see very quickly the names of the towns and though distances are not that great, the journey is arduous on any given day. You are in a new car as you witness old and young walking up steep mountainsides. The graceful Haitian women carrying bundles like you've never seen on their heads. There are now thousands congregated in the national plaza. Tremors, aftershocks are still being felt in Port Au Prince. What do you do with rubble? Can we in partnership with the world help create a 21st Century infrastructure that serves the Haitian people? We have much to learn from the Haitians.
Three a.m. I'm surfing Nordstroms for resort and cruise wear. Both of these are anomalies for me and it would never occur to me that I could find joy in doing both at the same time. I'm not a woman who loves to shop. Financial hardship is a real kill joy in this department. However, I trust that chapter ended with the last decade. Why look back?
Yesterday, I tore my apartment asunder. It's time for a a new style, new feel of the essence of truly inhabiting this space where I live. When I first arrived here, I was escaping. Everything was done quickly and with skeletal help but with the financial assistance from a charity. Today I have the freedom of making my own choices, of buying what I want, not just what I need.
This extension of joy, its essence, fills every cell in my body. My body is stretching, coming alive, expanding to accommodate my emotions as I tug the storage boxes to keep in my mile high utility closet. I was relieved to see when the old TV that terrorized my girlfriends on New Years Eve with its constant on-off flickering, headed off to the Transfer Station. It was like putting an ironic spin on the last decade.
I expect he has grown accustomed to the way women desire to redecorating and rejuvenate their surroundings. Furnishings and color schemes uplift the spirit. and there is no time better than when you take down Christmas. to accomplish this task My gift cards were used at Bed &Bath and Overstock.com. I get it!
If you don't enjoy the malls and I do not, online shopping rocks. Of course, you need a credit card or a Paypal account. So this surfing the net for resort wear when the winter sale has begun surpises me. Why? Because in New England, winter is the forever season. The practical me says sale, the authentic me says designer handbag and lets stimulate the economy.
It was a weird day. I ran out of gung-ho around 3 pm. So I made a late lunch and sat down to relax. I rarely turn on the TV during the day but as the time neared 4 pm I put on Oprah. What's the topic of the day? I was riveted by her show about missing children and babies in the after math of that miracle rescue after 18 years in captivity. The show was building toward the impact of the abduction of so many children. A sidebar on the right moved in a continuous motion of the faces of hundreds of abducted kids and babies here in the US.
The hope and vitality of a mother balanced with the somber, reflective and stilled pained face of her husband. The shyness of the siblings publically to a world-wide audience was moving. Tears of empathy rolled down my cheeks.
Then the talking heads of the network interrupted to discuss, what they all know will be said, by the President about that sneak CIA attack Christmas day in Yemen. We are reminded of the miraculous actions of an aware and responsive passengers. On Christmas night we heard through the grapevine that all aircraft had been grounded temporarily. Another bombing attempt? Was it successful or not? News travels fast, bad news travels even faster.
A failure to connect the dots? Party crashers? Security failures? You think there is a theme here? It's time to clean house. Get rid of the people who got us into this situation in the first place. Keep the creative, the doers, and send the rest into retirement where they will make outrageous fees for their speaking engagements.
Personally, I believe politicians create more problems than they solve.
I've had several cups of tea over the past five days. There has been little time to write. My girlfriends are coming by or calling me some in tears from the TV images. After 20 years of listening to me advocating for the Haitian people, finally the world is paying attention. Praise to Mother Earth and the Almighty duo-combination. I'm so grateful for the outpouring of your hearts and your comfort. Now the world will see and hear about the amazing fortitude and perseverance of these courageous, faithful people.
The TV is on Mute and I catch glimpses of the aftermath destruction. I wonder about the people in the rural and unreachable areas. When will the cameras reach the remote regions surrounding PAP. This morning, I heard the current Haitian president, obviously out of touch with reality, speak of "his" palace being destroyed. His palace? This is how democracy has been crushed over the centuries but not the spirit of the people.
The palace in all its splendor stood as a symbol and in sharp contrast of what was wrong in Haiti. I do not mourn its collapse. I feel the collapse is statement enough. I pray for the families who have lost loved ones during this catastrophic earthquake.
When I visited Haiti 5 years ago, I was surprised to learn I was going to have my picture taken with the palace in the background. With its green manicured lawns, glistening white stone it was breathtaking structure. However, standing there alone was discomforting. The architectural vision that had been carried through was exceptionally executed. It was a beautiful palace but it failed to mask the extreme wealth of a few and the extreme poverty of 98% of the people. The grinding poverty was noticeable even on Port au Prince's fashionable streets.
President Obama spoke eloquently of and clearly to the Haitian people this morning. Quality attention has been a long time coming. I read the Montana collapsed, too. The luxury hotel where the media and diplomats usually stay was frequently used as a backdrop overlooking the former Port au Prince. Where is the media staying these days?
I recall dining at the Montana as a group one lovely evening. The ambiance and food were delicious. Here I had my first glass of clarin, a potent, clear Haitian liquor. I shocked everyone when I announced I'd like another. What can I say? I liked it.
Ah, the places you'll go indeed. Now we have cameras on the ground, a bunch of shocked 'broadcasters' and a pile-up in the skies over PAP. Google maps, medical and wireless 21st Century technology are facing massive casualties and destruction. Every little last thing will need to be brought in. This is a moral story of epic proportions. Stay tuned.
Send your money to the health care organization headed by Orphelia Dahl and Paul Farmer, MD. Partners in Health. Every little bit makes a difference.
Yes the trip to the DR is still on. No, I have no intention of going to Haiti. I'd only be in the way.
Timing is everything. As I wrote, planned and developed this blog I noticed there were increasingly more public ad-formation about the treatment of Depression. I'm not talking about just pharmaceutical advertising, with their sad-faced, rolling balls but a full-fledged evolution of the ad business used to "educate" the public.
My favorite button on my TV remote is Mute. Especially when those pharmaceutical ads roll on about their possible side effects and skip over the, perhaps, "educational" benefits. Depression is getting a lot more attention today than 15 years ago when I began my recovery/treatment. There was no media advertising or print ads. Even then, I saw the advertising potential and fancied I could write brilliant pharmaceutical or public service announcements. (PSA)
So why is the media "on topic" about Depression? We are closing in on an epidemic but do not have enough psychiatrists to treat the growing number of patients. With research and science we are rapidly learning more about the chemistry and function of the brain related to mood. I find it encouraging but the health-care system, as we know, is dysfunctional. The only ones making money are the US pharmaceutical companies. Another great amount of money is used to prevent proven European and Asian pharmaceuticals from reaching American consumers hands.
In 1995 when I was diagnosed and began my own research, the facts were grim. They haven't improved much since. 50% of Americans will have at least one, serious episode of depression in their life. In a country of 310 million, it's estimated 10% of the population has bipolar depression. That is 31 million souls of whom 90% will never seek a diagnosis or treatment. That means only 3.1 million people are in treatment at any given time. Of this significant group, 98% of individuals will go off their medication! For every time an individual goes off their medication, it sets the course of the disease further back.
Feel free to correct my arithmetic, but I believe that means, only 2% of the population accepts the diagnosis and stays on the 'right' medications to remain stable. How is it possible that only 62,000 people out of 3.1 million with bipolar depression may achieve some degree of wellness? I had about as much of a chance of remission, as a camel passing through the eye of the needle!
The only known and repeatedly stated chance at medical success was to never go off the medication. I have stayed that course for 15 years and watched in horror as friends and acquaintances died of "complications" of this dreadful, inherited-by-chance-disease. Psychiatric medications, like insulin and ,are tools to prevent death. Yet the treatment outcomes for diabetics, most cancers and HIV-AIDS is far greater than for this "common" medical affliction. You hear that word often, trust me, these statistics are not common. Numbers tell the truth.
Denial is a powerful force but our minds and our spirits are more powerful than even denial. Where does your mind live? It's not in your brain, it's not in your heart or your soul. Your/Our minds exist in the life of every cell of the body.
It's the 21st century. Bipolar depression is a very expensive disease to have. We know the drugs work but not why. My drug costs alone are about $12,000 a year. These pharmaceuticals are only one part of the recovery equation. However, they play a very important part. To receive public health care benefits in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, I am fortunately required to have counseling and talk-therapy. This is another equal part of my recovery mission. When I lived in Florida, I did not qualify for public health-care assistance so therefore there was no counseling. I love the talk therapy. I can unburden myself on a weekly or monthly basis without ever over-burdening others. Early on medicine divorced itself from the treatment of the mind and the teeth. Therefore, I have a team of well-educated, altruistic doctors. Another medical expense. Spirit/soul/faith is other equal partner.
Let me tell you there is an epidemic of Depression in the USA. There are two new and very vulnerable groups of people that are of great concern. They are deployed troops and their families. The other is the growing population of children with autism where the foundation of attachment and communication is affected. Like any other medical illness, early detection means an intervention, and a better prognosis. This is according to an awesome documentary production called The Emotional Life. It's currently running on PBS. Check it out. It's worth you're while as it focuses on teens, college students and the developing brain. http://www.pbs.org/thisemotionallife/
It has long been the assumption that humans are thinking beings who feel. Perhaps the best perspective is, we, humans, are feeling beings that think. Follow your heart! Trust God. Let your mind serve.
The following list may be any individuals mood for a particular time and place. However, since we may agree when someone is in a prolonged elevated or is having an irritable high, the problem is the lack of awareness and using the communication techniques.
If I can hear myself speaking in a loud voice, a genetic trait, if there ever was one. I'm aware, so I can lower its volume. Alone, it's quite harmless and do-able. Telling me to tone it down or shh-ing me only serves to irritate me. It's when there is the "explosive element" that catches you by surprise. Coupled with a spending spree, recklessness, and inappropriate responses one may be happening upon an unmedicated hyper adult or college student.
Who isn't stressed out? What's the best remedy? A cup of tea and then taking a long drive. Staying home is safer.
Dee's compiled list of moods and behaviors associated with an elevated mood:
changes in sleeping patterns, especially if one has
lots of energy on just a few hours of sleep or you live with or know
the 'energizer bunny'
described by family and friends as moody, temperamental
seeks stimulation
unusual reckless attitude and behaviors
unable to sit down for a lengthy period and simply relax, must be busy, puttering all/most of the time
endless, abundant energy, often accompanied with irritability, self-righteousness, thinly controlled or explosive anger
hostility when a plan or desire is thwarted
restlessly searches for ways to work off extra energy? Gym, athletic sports, running, consumed with youthful, appearance.
increased talkativeness. if the "mouth runneth
over", if the talk seems pressured or lots of over-talk takes place, a
desire to unburden themselves, or an obsessive focus on an object or
person
spouse/partner is sexually demanding (known as hypersexuality)
promiscuity, serial, multiple relations outside and inside of marriage, multiple marriages
hypersexuality includes 900 sex numbers, entranced with online porno sites
arrogance and more
disastrous spending sprees, rewarding oneself because "I deserve it", hoarding
can't stay out of the stores? Multiples of particular items?
uncontrollable racing thoughts
delusions of grandeur - making exaggerated plans (more on this later)
auditory or visual hallucinations or shows paranoid behavior
likely to wear brightly colored or flamboyant clothing
changes in medications can mean changes in behavior
distancing themselves from family, friends
changes in production in college and/or the work force
being challenging, difficult, rebellious
speaking in rhyme, poetry
voice and music volume is loud
over-bearing
creativity, productivity more than usual
THINKS AND BELIEVES these symptoms are their PERSONALITY.
master manipulators, use anybody or any thing to justify the ends
demanding
unaware and/or doesn't care their attitude and behavior may be injuring relationships
multiple telephone calls, (texts, emails) with a change in tone, urgency, frequency
surprise travel, desire to "get away"
keeps depressive episodes secret
lives in fear of discovery and diagnosis of a mental illness
is mean, is angry a lot and this behavior is directed outward on the world
generous to a fault, buying and giving to others
sudden loss or gain of weight
me, me me: needs to be the center of attention
bad to poor credit, credit card debts or liens on property
believes others are a "kill joy" of their euphoria
alcoholism, narcotic additions
lots of lying and questionable embellishment of stories
very secretive, private about experiences
family genetic history of depression, bipolar (manic-depression), psychosis,
history of suicide or attempted suicide in the family, first generation relative with a psychiatric disease
no appetite or reduced appetite
delusions, which is another way of saying ,"I'm
making or made a HUGE mistake believing...x, y, z. There is always a
theme or story around delusions that outsiders can see through
DO YOU HAVE THE INTEGRITY, THE COURAGE and THE FORTITUDE to fight the ravages and destruction as this disease wrecks lives?
REMEMBER there is no pink or red or any other colored ribbon for this disease.
Have YOU ever attended or ever heard about a fundraiser for Mental Illness or even Mental Wellness?
WHAT CAN YOU DO ABOUT IT?
invite a loved and trusted family member or friend to identify and communicate their observations
keep a journal of moods, thoughts, beliefs, activities
