Dumelang

My eye wont stop twitching

>> 19 November 2009

When I googled "How do I get my eye to stop twitching?" I found an answers website. I did NOT like any of the answers.
One suggestion says this unwanted twitch is caused by all of my botox use.
The second most popular answer is that the twitch is a side effect to medication which, to my knowledge, I am not taking (though all of my clients are).
Last, and most popular, the website says that this is probably an extra-pyramidal symptoms called tardive dyskinesia. Tardive dyskinsesia is a positive symptom of schizophrenia (which my clients also have).

Uh oh. Twitch* Twitch*

I think I'll just trust this last answer. Sure it may not be the most scientific or lengthy, but its a lot easier to 'swallow.'

My doctor suggested drinking tonic water with quinine, you can buy it at any store. I drink it as needed or about 8 oz per day. It does help. I don't remember why it twitches, I guess the cause is not serious.

Phew! I'm just quinine deficient!
Quinine is made from the bark of a tree used by Quechua Indians to treat malaria. Now which do we really think is more likely? Do I use botox, have malaria, or have schizophrenia? Sorry folks, those are the only options listed.

I met Kate in Ballet class when I was in third grade. I liked her immediately and haven't stopped since.

>> 17 November 2009

Oh my Kate, so pale and great. I will shade thee from the sun and with you stay up late.
We may be vain and from pirouettes obstain, but there's no one else i'd rather dance with, come snow, cold, or rain.
Digital cameras you refuse, only disposable film will you use, recording our unstoppable reign, for your friendship over all others do i choose.
-verses by Jared Lindsay Clark

"Don't point that at him, he is an unpaid intern." -Steve Zizzou

>> 13 November 2009

I'm eating lunch at my job right now. I just wanted to say that hands down, the best thing in my life right now, is my job. I love it like I thought I never would a job. It is so relieving. I almost thought for a second there, that I would never be able to find a job I actually liked doing.

The largest public facility for mental health is the LA county jail.

>> 10 November 2009

I listened to the this NPR clip today. It played on the radio this week in Utah. This man says that mental illness is turning from a health problem to a criminal justice problem. I would argue that Mental illness has NEVER been seen as a health problem. I WISH that it was seen as a health problem. The brain is an organ in the body just like your liver or your gallbladder. If you have a heart condition or diabetes, you take medications and get treatment. Instead, mental illness has a stigma so deep and strong that suicide and depression are the end result of those who have to live in a society that shuns them for their health problem. I would urge everyone to take time to understand those in your life who are suffering from a mental illness. It is a hard road to walk, especially when no one in your life understands it. A mental illness is not something you can just snap out of. The sooner you understand mental illness, the sooner we can get to the prevention of these problems in the first place.
Second, I can attest to the fact that those will mental illnesses end up in the justice system. I work in the forensics unit at the Utah State Hospital. Prisons and jails are the new asylum. Perhaps justifiably so, the public deals with those with mental illness by calling the police. "Mom there is a man using our lawn mower- and it is not turned on." is bound to get the police there. There is a great fear of the unknown. I think I understand that. We can not count on our neighbors to protect us if we confront him. We have to call the police. The man may be dangerous if he is unstable. That is true, but not the rule. I'm not saying don't call the police. I am saying its important to try to develop a real understanding an compassion for those with mental illness.

As a side note: I feel this father should be advocating to the public in understanding mental illness rather than brow-beating the systems that are dedicated to them already.

The Harold B. Lee Library

>> 07 November 2009

You know you have been in the library too long when you walk into the bathroom, sit down, and forget to shut the stall door.
This may or may not have just happened to me- and I may or may not have been jolted into reality when someone else walked in.