Posted by Atticus on August 14, 2004, at 15:20:49
In reply to Re: comedian Jay Mohr's panic disorder, posted by cpallen79 on August 13, 2004, at 17:44:28
Another one occurs to me: the famed writer Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. ("Slaughterhouse Five"). There's an extensive history of both severe depression and suicide in his family, and he's written a number of essays about this. I know he's on some AD, but I forget which one. He always describes these tragic events in his family related to mental illness, then usually concludes with a typically laconic, understated Vonnegut sentence: "It all comes down to bad chemicals." When I was in the psych ward following a recent suicide attempt and was trying to explain what was wrong with me to my mother, I borrowed his phrase, pointing at my head and saying, "It's bad chemicals." That actually helped me put things into terms she could grasp, although I'm still not sure she's convinced that the bad chemicals will need ongoing management for the rest of my life, and aren't going anywhere. Atticus
poster:Atticus
thread:377125
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20040811/msgs/377651.html