A Conversation for Robin

When I came across a post from NBC News announcing Robin William’s death, I gasped. “No!” I said, and immediately went to check to see if it was a hoax. I found similar articles from the LA Times, CNN, New York Times. It wasn’t. Robin Williams was gone, and had apparently taken his own life. Facebook and Twitter lit up with posts expressing shock, sadness, and sympathy for his family. I knew it was only a matter of time though and braced myself for the inevitable-and wasn’t disappointed.

this guy was a drug addict and now his pain is over but now his friends and family have 2 deal with the pain, he made a very selfish choice 2 take his own life, nice role model!

I’m not here to judge a man that I only met a few x in San Francisco; however, using suicide as the last arrogant and self-centered act is profoundly SELFISH! He had ZERO regard for his children, family, friends, and the ‘so-call’ charities he professed to love; clearly he didn’t love anyone; not even himself! COWARDICE in the extreme.

And on it went…whenever news of a suicide breaks, the scorn, the judgment, the hate starts flying.  It’s the recipe for STIGMA, especially the incredibly destructive stigma surrounding mental illness.

Robin Williams struggled with deep depression for years. Why you might ask. Why would a man who had gained acclaim, adoration and wealth have any reason to be depressed? There is no simple answer. Depression can be genetic. I know, I come from a family where there is both a history of depression and substance abuse. It can also be due to chemical imbalances in the brain. Depression is as much a disease as diabetes or asthma, and like those other diseases, sometimes they can be controlled with proper treatment-and sometimes not. For Robin Williams, the disease won. He was not selfish. He was not a coward. He was a man. A husband, a father, a flawed and simple human like the rest of us-and one in agonizing emotional pain.

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Where is the Outrage?

Enough with all the grandstanding and finger-pointing. Everyone is looking for something or someone to blame for the latest school shooting.

What happened in CT will NOT be prevented in other places by gun control or allowing God in schools, because it wasn’t about guns or religion. It was about the fact that the mentally ill are largely ignored in this country. The stigma is still there and the treatment options are not. A large portion of our homeless and prison populations are mentally ill. They need to be in psychiatric hospitals or treatment programs, but because in this country, mental health services, like healthcare, are a luxury item too few can afford, and many more are afraid to ask for. People with mental illnesses are often ridiculed and shunned thanks to the horrible stigma we’ve attached to mental illness. In this country if you don’t understand something, it’s acceptable to ridicule and attack it. Movies and TV shows help perpetuate this. Comedies use mental illness for laughs, horror films to frighten, and millions of dollars are raked in.

Guess what? You know someone with a mental illness. Since the age of 8, I’ve struggled with depression, anxiety disorder, and mild OCD. In my 20’s I developed PTSD as well after becoming the victim of a violent crime. I am lucky though. I got treatment and got better. I still have bad days but I am a happy, healthy, contributing member of society. I have friends who’ve had their own struggles with depression and anxiety, and a friend who struggles with a child’s mental illness. Most of us who have struggled with a mental illness have never been a danger to anyone but ourselves. Tragically though, there are exceptions.

28 people were murdered not because of a gun or because God wasn’t there-they were murdered because a severely mentally ill person did not get the help he needed. Granted, not all mental illnesses can be treated. Pedophiles will always be pedophiles, sociopaths will always be sociopaths. But there are many mental illnesses that CAN be treated-depression, OCD, schizophrenia, PTSD, anxiety disorders, etc. Yet many people with this illnesses suffer due to the stigma, or because they can’t afford the treatment they need to get well and insurance companies refuse to cover it. That is a national disgrace. If the outrage over that was as strong and vocal as the outrage over gun control is, there would be a lot less suffering and grief today. We should all be outraged, not at gun control or the lack thereof, and not at the lack of religion in schools. We should be outraged that the mentally ill are forgotten and ignored, left to suffer and in some tragic cases, become a ticking time bomb that eventually, horrifically explodes.

Where is the outrage? Where are the solutions? Where??

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Secession: Be Careful What You Wish For!

As of this writing, the White House has received petitions for secession from all 50 states. The chances of any of those states actually seceding from the union are slim to none-even the governor of Texas, one of the only states to actually reach the 25,000 signatures needed in order for the petition to be reviewed by the Obama administration-has said he’s not interested in seceding. It’s really just a mass tantrum orchestrated by those who are upset that President Obama was re-elected.  Perhaps some are under the mistaken idea that they can force a state to secede if they can get enough signatures? Not gonna happen. New York is staying.

Ever wonder what would happen if a state did secede? Speculation about another Civil War aside, here are some certainties that a state that left the union would have to deal with:

Federal Aid- This is the most obvious. The state would lose Medicaid, food stamps, WIC, school lunch program funding, funding for highways, schools, access to Small Business Administration loans, Department of Agriculture assistance for farms, FEMA, federally funded flood insurance and housing programs, funding to help maintain critical infrastructure, unemployment insurance, Social Security, etc. The U.S. does allow expatriates to keep receiving Social Security IF they live in a country the U.S. hasn’t leveled sanctions against. It’s not unreasonable to think the U.S. might not be very friendly toward a state that seceded.

Economy-The now ex-state would have to create their own monetary system and then have it recognized by the rest of the world. Until then their economy would be in collapse. Citizens that work for companies not headquartered there will see their jobs disappear until they apply for and are granted a green card, since U.S. companies are not allowed to employ foreign citizens without one. They also have to hope their companies will want to keep employing people from the now ex-state. If the state was home to military bases or facilities for federal entities such as NASA, they’ll be gone, along with all the jobs and tax revenue they gave the now ex-state.

Trade– The ex-state would not be allowed to import or export anything until they establish trade agreements with the U.S. and other governments. That means they must be entirely self-sufficient as they would not be able to stock their supermarkets with food from other states or countries, or their stores with clothes and other supplies.

Energy and Infrastructure– The United States has a national power grid that sustains all it’s states except Texas. Therefore if a state other than Texas secedes, they’ll be taken off the grid. That means no electricity. Oil and gas pipelines are also owned by the federal government, and sorry Texas and Louisiana, but the off shore oil beyond the first three miles belongs to the U.S.

A state that secedes will also have to maintain its own water and sewer systems, build and maintain their roads and bridges themselves, and figure out how to run their airports now that the FAA isn’t doing it anymore.

Day to Day Life- Citizens wouldn’t have cable TV or internet service, the now ex-state would have to create their own, but since they also won’t have electricity, they wouldn’t be able to use it anyway. Cell phone service won’t exist either, as U.S. cell companies don’t offer service in foreign countries. Instead they rely on roaming agreements with cell providers in those countries. Colleges and universities would no longer be accredited and would lose money when students from the U.S. leave. The National Weather Service would be gone, meaning the state would have to rely on its own means to figure out when a hurricane or other severe weather is coming. Companies with government contracts would lose them, which could lead to mass layoffs or shutdowns. Schools would lose funding, meaning programs could be shut down. Headstart and school lunch programs would end. Students would not be able to get federal student loans or grants any longer. Food shortages could be a possibility since the now ex-state won’t be allowed to import food shipments from the U.S. until a trade agreement is put into place. Say goodbye to all that lovely California produce,Idaho potatoes and New York apples.

Aside from what secession would mean for a state that chose to leave the union, it would also be a problem for the U.S. We would face having enemy territory in our own backyard. We’d lose valuable imports, tax revenue, natural resources, national parks, and our sense of unity. Companies based in a seceded state could refuse to do business with the U.S.

Let’s face it, secession hurts us all, and no matter what side you’re on, we all lose.

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